Candidate for
State Assembly Member; District 51

Gloria D. Gray was elected to the West Basin Municipal Water District Board of Directors in 2006, representing the Division II cities of Inglewood, South Ladera Heights, and a portion of Lennox and unincorporated areas of Athens, Howard and Ross-Sexton. Gray dedicated her 36-year career to the Los Angeles County Departments of Human Services and Health Services in the areas of community relations, administration, health care management and human resources. Committed to public service, she has also been active in local government and community organizations.

Director Gray was elected by her peers in March 2009 to serve as Vice President of West Basin and to serve on the (MWD) Metropolitan Water District Board of Directors. MWD is a consortium of 26 cities and water districts that provides drinking water to 19 million people in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura counties. L.A. County Supervisor Mark Ridley Thomas has appointed her to serve on a water quality Community Task Force; Clean Water, Clean Beaches because of her leadership on water issues.

Gray, an Inglewood resident, was elected to the Inglewood Unified School District Board of Education in 1995, retiring after serving two terms. In that time, she earned the respect of her colleagues who appointed her President and Vice President for two terms. Prior to her service on the school board, Gray was elected to serve as an Executive Board Member for the Los Angeles County Democratic Party Central Committee 51st Assembly District from 1994-1998 and 2006-2010. In 2003, she was appointed to the Los Angeles County Hospitals and Health Care Delivery Commission by Second District Supervisor Yvonne Burke. She was reappointed in 2007. She is the co-founder and past-President of the Black Health Services Action Committee and Black Organizations Alliance and serves as on the Board for the King/Drew Medical Center, Charles Drew University of Sciences and Medicine, Los Angeles County Community Action Board, Maxine Waters Employment Preparation Center, KCET, Los Angeles County Democratic Party Central Committee, New Frontier Democratic Club, Southwest Community College, South Bay Workforce Investment Board, Black Women's Forum, Inglewood Neighborhood Housing Services, Inglewood Y.W.C.A., Inglewood Chamber of Commerce, Inglewood Leadership Council, LAX Area Community Advisory Committee and South Central Multi-Purpose Senior Citizen Center.

In recognition of her devoted community service, Gray has received several awards and commendations, including 2007 "Women in Water" from the Water Replenishment District of Southern California, 2002 Woman of the Year from the California Legislative Assembly 25th Senatorial District, Outstanding Leadership Award from the American Business Women Association and Living History Maker + Outstanding Community Service Award from Turning Point Magazine. She was also awarded the Black Woman Achievement Award for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and the 1st Annual Los Angeles County Health and Fitness Award from the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. Her service has also earned commendations and recognitions from several organizations and elected officials, including Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Governor Gray Davis, Lt. Governor Cruz Bustamante, Congresswoman Maxine Waters, Former Congressman Walter Tucker, Congresswoman Juanita Millender-McDonald, Congresswoman Diane Watson, Senator Edward Vincent, Senator Bill Greene, Former Assemblymembers Curtis Tucker, Margarite Archie-Hudson and Willard Murray, Assemblymember Mark-Ridley Thomas, Supervisor Yvonne Brathwaithe Burke, Former Supervisor Kenneth Hahn, Supervisor Deane Dana, Former Supervisor Pete Scharbarum, Los Angeles County Department of Health Services, KCET, Los Angeles County Community Action Board, National Baptist Convention's Labor Relations Roundtable American Legion, Inglewood City Council, Inglewood Mayor Roosevelt Dorn, Inglewood Councilmember Curren Price, Brotherhood Crusade, Black Women Forum, Black Organizations Alliance and Inglewood Neighborhood Housing Services.

Gray earned her Bachelor of Science Degree in the Business Administration Program at the University of Redlands and her Health Services Management Certificate from the University of California Los Angeles. She earned a Louis Allen Management Certificate from the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services, where she spent her entire 36-year career, and earned her Masters in Governance Certificate from the California School Boards Association in 2002 after completing a two-year program. She retired in 2003 as a Health Care Administrator for the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services. In 2008 she completed a two-year Leadership in Management Program with the Special District and Local Government Institute focusing on finance, administration and governance.

Gray is a proud mother of two daughters and grandmother of five grandchildren and one great-grandchild.