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In 1991, then Mayor Sharon Pratt appointed Mr. Gray to the post of Director of the Department of Human Services, where he oversaw the functions of a 7,000 person department and directed activities related to Public Health, Social Services, Mental Health Services and Health Care Finance.  Mr. Gray shepherded the implementation of several initiatives to address the developmental needs of children, and served longer than any other Director since the department became DHS in 1980. 

In December 1994, he was selected as the first Executive Director of Covenant House Washington, an international, faith-based organization dedicated to serving homeless and at-risk youth.  During his decade of service, Mr. Gray guided Covenant House Washington into one of the most effective agencies of its kind in the city and led successful campaigns to purchase and renovate a crisis center for homeless youth, a multi-purpose center, and to build a new community service center in the far southeast community of the District of Columbia.

In the September 2004 Democratic primary election, Mr. Gray defeated the incumbent Ward 7 Councilmember, and went on to win the November general election with 91 percent of the vote.  He was sworn-in as a member of the Council of the District of Columbia on January 2, 2005. 

In September 2006, Councilmember Gray won the Democratic primary election for the office of Chairman of the Council of the District of Columbia.  He received 98 percent of the vote in the November general election, and was sworn-in on January 2, 2007.

Since becoming Chairman, Gray has led efforts to improve the Council’s operations and transparency, and presided over the Council’s deliberations on public education reform.  He also spearheaded the Pre-K Expansion and Enhancement Act, which establishes a voluntary, high-quality pre-school program that will provide 2,000 new classroom slots for 3 & 4 year olds over the next six years. 

Gray is a native Washingtonian and a proud graduate of the District of Columbia public school system. He attended undergraduate and graduate school at George Washington University.  His wife, Loretta, an outstanding educator in the D.C. Public Schools, passed away in July 1998.  He has two children, Jonice Gray Tucker and Vincent Carlos Gray, and two grandchildren.  He lives in the Hillcrest neighborhood of Ward 7.