Firm: EDSA Inc., Fort Lauderdale

ASLA Election Year: 2017

Category: Leadership/Management

Kona Gray, of EDSA, received his nomination for "Leadership/Management' from the Florida Chapter. Kona's leadership has positioned current issues, such as diversity and the next 50 years of landscape architecture, at the foreground of the profession. As president of the Landscape Architecture Foundation he spearheaded the 50+ Forward campaign and secured more than $800,000 in pledges and gifts. The campaign far surpassed its goal and culminated in $4.1 million toward research and scholarship. His work spans projects in 30 countries, from award-winning campus planning to pro bono park design and the only research institute dedicated to coral reef studies. He demonstrates that well-designed outdoor spaces are not a luxury item; that there is a social and emotional return on investment that cannot be measured on a fiscal balance sheet.