Devon Gray

Devon Gray is a policy leader, strategist, and writer focused on poverty, economic precarity, and the design of systems that shape opportunity and trust. He is the President of End Poverty in California (EPIC), a major statewide advocacy organization founded by former Stockton Mayor Michael Tubbs, where he leads policy strategy, coalition-building, and narrative efforts to advance durable solutions to poverty in the nation’s largest state.

At EPIC, Gray works in close partnership with legislators, advocates, and community leaders to push reforms that expand economic security—particularly cash assistance and income-support policies—while challenging long-standing myths about poverty, personal responsibility, and risk. His work is grounded in proximity to policy power and focused on translating lived experience into policy outcomes, helping shift both legislative priorities and the public narratives that shape them.

Previously, Gray served in Governor Gavin Newsom’s administration as a Special Advisor to the Governor’s Chief of Staff. He has also held policy roles at the national level, including as a policy advisor on Beto O’Rourke’s presidential campaign, leading gun safety and criminal justice reform strategy, and as a director at Evergreen Strategy Group, advising organizations on policy development and communications.

Gray holds degrees from Stanford Law School and the Stanford Graduate School of Education. His writing has appeared in CalMatters, Newsweek, The Nation, The Hill, and other outlets. Across his speaking and writing, he brings a practitioner’s lens to questions of poverty, governance, and trust—serving as a bridge between lived experience and policy power, and helping audiences understand what meaningful, structural change actually requires.

He speaks with universities, foundations, policy institutions, and civic organizations through keynotes, moderated conversations, panels, and guest lectures.