Richard Gray, Senior VP. Born in London, Richard moved to New York in 1982 as an Investment Banker. In 1991 he made Fort Lauderdale his home when he created the acclaimed Royal Palms Resort. In 1995 he developed the Greater Fort Lauderdale’s highly successful LGBT+ marketing initiative. An inductee in the International Gay & Lesbian Travel Associations Hall of Fame, a Fort Lauderdale Home Town Hero and a recipient of the gay + Award for Achievement from MTV/Logo, Richard is passionate about all aspects of travel and was named one of the most influential people in the Meetings industry, a Trailblazer, by Successful Meetings in 2016. In 2017 the United Nations highlighted Richard’s Transgender destination leadership and in 2018 Richard received the Stonewall Visionary Award and in 2019 the HERO Award from the GFLGLCC.