The New York Law Journal did not have Stacey M. Gray in mind when it called on firms, in-house legal departments and other law organizations to share their diversity stories; Gray is a solo practitioner.

However, because of her work and passion for equality, on top of a career as an employment lawyer, she is being recognized.

So too in life, Gray found others had not planned for her. As a 7-year-old in a Boston private school, she refused to continue a collage because there were no photos of blacks in school-supplied magazines. Her mother arrived with copies of Ebony and Jet to provide the essential photos.