Path to Power is a popular event series hosted by AWWEE for many years to showcase the experiences of women who have achieved professional success in our fields. These events provide a unique opportunity to hear directly from women we admire about their professional journeys.
Gloria D. Gray was elected to the West Basin Municipal Water District (West Basin) Board of Directors in 2006 and is the first African-American woman elected to the Board. She represents the Division ll city of Inglewood, and the unincorporated Los Angeles County areas of Lennox, South Ladera Heights, West Athens and Westmont. Gray is the Secretary of the Board, and is currently Chair of West Basin's Water Policy and Legislation Committee.
Gray was appointed to the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD) Board of Directors in 2009 to serve as one of two West Basin representatives. In 2018, she was elected Chair of the MWD Board and was unanimously re-elected in 2020, where she is currently serving her second two-year term. Gray is the second woman and first person of color to serve as Chair of the MWD Board, the first African-American woman to serve as Vice-Chair, the first African-American woman to chair a Board meeting and currently serves on the Executive Committee, Personnel and Technology Committee, Special Committee on Bay-Delta, and Vice Chair of Communication and Legislative Committee. In 2017, Gray was appointed Chair of Water Planning, and Stewardship Committee, making her the first African-American woman to chair this important committee which focuses on MWD water projects and programs.
Her other service includes:
Appointed by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors to serve on a water quality Community Task Force.
Inglewood Unified School District Board of Education where she served as President for two terms.
Appointed to the Delta Stewardship Council by former Assembly Speaker Karen Bass and served a four-year term.
Confirmed by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors as a member of the Oversight Commission for the dissolution of the City of Carson Redevelopment Agency.
Appointed by the West Basin Board of Directors as their representative to the Association of California Water Agencies (ACWA) Region 8 Board. For the 2020-2021 term, Gray serves as the Vice Chair. Effective Jan. 1, 2022, Gray was selected as ACWA Region 8 Chair for the 2022-2023 term.
Appointed to represent West Basin as a voting board member on the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Commission.
She is the recipient of numerous awards and recognitions, including “Visionary of the Year” by Playa Vista Jobs for her work in the water industry to the Black Woman Achievement Award from the NAACP Legal Defense Fund among dozens of others. Read her full bio and descriptions of her achievements here.
In the past years, she has commendations from former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, current Mayor Eric Garcetti and numerous elected officials. Gray is a union member of Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 721 for over 30 years. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Business Administration at the University of Redlands, and her Health Services Management Certificate from the University of California Los Angeles. She retired as a Health Care Administrator from the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services.
Registration
Registration for this event is free for AWWEE members and up to two guests (individuals new to AWWEE, please). Non-member registration is $20.