David Gray Email & Phone Number

Austin, Texas, Us

Appointed by the Interim City Manager to serve as the City of Austin's Homeless Strategy Officer. In this role, I am responsible for managing City of Austin initiatives and cross-agency collaborations to make homelessness rare, brief, and nonrecurring. Specifically, the HSO is responsible for: • Procuring, managing, and monitoring homelessness-related contracts between the City and third-party vendors, per the City of Austin’s purchasing policies and procedures.• Overseeing operations at City-run and City-owned homeless shelters.• Collaborating with City agencies and community organizations in efforts to expand the availability of housing across the continuum of need (e.g., emergency shelters, rapid rehousing, permanent supportive housing).• Overseeing and approving plans for public space management, including outreach, clean-up, and compassionate encampment closures.• Managing communications regarding the City’s approach to assisting individuals with resolving their homelessness.• Working with the City of Austin's Intergovernmental Relations Office to manage relationships between the City and local, state, and federal agencies and officials.• Collaborating with Austin/Travis County's Homelessness Response System partners to uphold best practices, policies, and procedures for organizations that serve unhoused people in our community.• Engaging with local businesses and philanthropic entities to broaden the funding base for homeless response services.

Austin, Texas, Us

Appointed by the Interim City Manager to serve as the City of Austin's Interim Homeless Strategy Officer. In this role, I am responsible for managing City of Austin initiatives and cross-agency collaborations to make homelessness rare, brief, and nonrecurring.

Austin, Texas, Us

Appointed by the City of Austin's Interim City Manager to support the City of Austin’s response to homelessness by focusing full-time on the broad spectrum of programs, policies, and funding the City uses to address this issue, with the goal of arriving at overarching strategies that cohesively advance the City’s work.

Austin, Texas, Us

Hired by the EDD Director to oversee the Cultural Arts Division, Music & Entertainment Division, and Heritage Tourism Division. Together, these teams sustain Austin's world-renowned cultural ecosystem through policy, programmatic, and financial support for local creative professionals, organizations, and events. These teams also lead tourism efforts to derive economic, business, and community benefits for local creatives. Additionally, hired to oversee the Public Information and Marketing Team, which manages strategic marketing, communications, and advertising campaigns for the department.

Austin, Texas, Us

In this interim capacity, I am responsible for guiding the re-established Planning Department through a citywide reorganization, while simultaneously directing planning and zoning strategies for the City of Austin.

Austin, Texas, Us

Formulated, communicated, and managed business strategies for the department’s Inclusive Planning, Displacement Prevention, and Strategic Data and Demographics divisions. Facilitate strategic planning processes regarding displacement prevention, tenant stabilization, Project Connect anti-displacement, City code amendments, small area plans, strategic data implementation, and related functions. Motivate internal staff and cultivate external partnerships to successfully implement major initiatives and policies.

Austin, Texas, Us

Appointed by the City of Austin's Chief Economic Recovery Officer, David oversees the development and implementation of the City of Austin's COVID-19 economic recovery programs totaling more than $50 million. David also facilitates the coordination of information between City departments and community partners to ensure COVID-19 programs are equitable and responsive to the real-time needs of residents and local businesses.

Austin, Texas, Us

Hired through a competitive process, David established the first Communications and Public Information Office for the City of Austin's Economic Development Department (EDD). Under David's supervision, this five-member team of communications professionals manages strategic marketing, communications, and advertising campaigns for the department's six divisions: Cultural Arts, Global Business Expansion, Heritage Tourism, Music & Entertainment, Redevelopment and Small Business.

Austin, Texas, Us

As the Community Engagement Specialist for Vision Zero, David coordinated all communication and stakeholder engagement activities for the Austin Transportation Department's traffic safety programs. This position required David to plan and implement public safety campaigns with various city departments; develop and maintain relationships with civic and community stakeholders; and represent Vision Zero at meetings and events with elected officials, government agencies, the press, and the public. David developed Vision Zero's first Strategic Communication Plan, a comprehensive communication strategy that included a style guide, collateral toolkit, stakeholder engagement calendar, and strategic messages for diverse audiences. David also managed the Vision Zero Outreach and Communication Working Group, a 13-member interagency team that coordinated public safety campaigns throughout the City of Austin based on crash trends and behavioral change data.

As the Acting Director of the Community Benefits Division, David was responsible for supervising a fifteen-person team that administered more than 30 community projects across six Northern California counties. This position required David to establish and maintain his division's budget; define and achieve departmental goals and objectives; develop strategic messaging for the division's programs; represent the division and agency to a variety of audiences; lead multiple complex projects in the areas of workforce development, public education, public art, environmental justice and land use, neighborhood partnerships, and small business development; and develop and implement effective strategies addressing time-sensitive and politically-sensitive matters. David also designed and implemented several cross-departmental equity programs to close racial disparities in academic, workforce, and business outcomes.

As the Deputy Director of the Community Benefits Division, David supervised five staff, recruited community representatives for various SFPUC boards and commissions, and developed and implemented affordability and economic opportunity programs. He also managed five staff while operating a community center in the city’s Bayview-Hunters Point neighborhood. David's key accomplishments in this role included: ushering the design and approval processes for SFPUC’s $70 million Southeast Community Facility; co-developing a strategic communications strategy to explain the agency’s various community programs; enhancing a summer internship program called CityWorks to expose and prepare students of color for careers in engineering, architecture, and construction management; and creating on-boarding and training materials for new staff to ensure best practices in the fields of stakeholder engagement, communications, and program management.

As the SFPUC’s Equity and Inclusion Manager, I was responsible for ensuring the agency’s $6.9 billion Sewer System Improvement Project maximized contracting, workforce, and educational opportunities for San Francisco’s residents of color. My specific responsibilities included: establishing clear project goals related to equity and inclusion; setting and communicating program priorities to achieve equity goals; revising SFPUC’s policies and procedures to yield more equitable and inclusive outcomes; coordinating multi-sector partnerships to close racial and ethnic achievement gaps; and developing and maintaining indicators of racial and social equity. My key accomplishments in this role included: effectively coordinating SFPUC’s involvement in the San Francisco My Brother and Sister’s Keeper Initiative, which supported educational and workforce opportunities for thousands of African American, Latino, and Native American residents; developing a one-million-dollar grant program to prepare disenfranchised residents for permanent, living-wage jobs in the horticulture, agriculture, green infrastructure, and culinary sectors; ensuring all Community Benefits staff completed racial equity training; and strengthening partnerships with local nonprofits to administer programs addressing racial achievement gaps in the areas of education, workforce development, business, and environmental justice.

Richmond, Ca, Us

As the Chief of Staff in the Office of the Mayor, David served as the mayor’s lead adviser and spearheaded the execution of the mayor’s public policy agenda. David secured funding for the creation of Richmond’s Comprehensive Economic Development Plan to ensure that all residents have opportunities to receive a high-quality education, strong workforce development programs, employment in traditional and emerging sectors, and tools to launch and scale entrepreneurial ventures. David also coordinated efforts between local workforce development partners and the My Brother’s Keeper Alliance to improve employment outcomes for boys and men of color; sat on the steering committee for the Reentry Success Center, which provides formerly incarcerated men and women with integrated resources in a restorative environment; and facilitated the rollout of a new mayoral taskforce to assess challenges specifically affecting Richmond's African-American community.

Richmond, Ca, Us

As the Mayor's Office Director of Projects and Programs, David garnered support from the White House’s Strong Cities, Strong Communities initiative to help Richmond structurally balance its general operating budget; assisted with the launch of the Richmond Promise Scholarship Program, which provides all high school graduates from Richmond with up to $1,500 per year for college and works to create a college graduating culture in the City of Richmond; advised Downtown Richmond stakeholders on the launch of Co-Biz Richmond, a co-working and business incubator that addresses specific challenges faced by small business owners; and spearheaded Richmond’s involvement in the Government Alliance on Race and Equity, which trains civic leaders to identify enacting policy and institutional strategies to advance racial equity.

Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Us

In his role as the Poverty to Opportunity Project Coordinator / State Policy Fellow, David spearheaded a statewide alliance of non-profit organizations, faith-based institutions, credit unions, and volunteers to advocate for stronger regulations on payday and predatory loan providers. David also facilitated workshops across Louisiana to educate residents about the hazards of predatory loan products, and collaborated with mainstream banks and community organizations to create financial support programs for low-income residents. These newly designed products were non-predatory and helped residents build their credit and develop relationships with community-focused financial entities. Additionally, David produced award-winning research studies of Louisiana’s tax structure and worked directly with elected officials to promote fiscal policies that benefited the working poor, entrepreneurs, and small businesses.

Richmond, Ca, Us

In this role, David leveraged his research and analytical skills to prepare policy briefs and position papers for City Council members. He also assisted with the planning and implementation of community events.

David assisted with the creation of Downtown Berkeley's Property-Based Business Improvement District by hosting one-on-one and group meetings with local property and business owners. During these meetings, David ensures participants understood the benefits of the proposed Business Improvement District fee structure. David and the Downtown Berkeley Association team successfully generated enough broad-based support to earn enough votes to change the district's fee structure.

Innovative Leadership In Public Administration

Master Of Public Policy (M.P.P)

Bachelor Of Arts (B.A.) Sociology, Bachelor Of Arts (B.A.) Social Policy & Practice, Minor Urban Studies

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Education record

Education record