Alexandra “Ali” Dickson Gray

Ali’s first film as director and producer, Close to Home, was an award-winning documentary that premiered at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival. It aired on the Discovery Health Channel and was featured for ten years on the Oprah Winfrey Show. As a survivor of childhood sexual abuse, Ali brought extraordinary sensitivity and empathy to her work with the participants in Close to Home. She is currently in post-production on a new documentary, Take Good Care, exploring the long-term impacts of childhood sexual abuse, revisiting the original participants from the film.

Ali co-directed and produced The Third Monday in October, a feature documentary following 12-year-old kids campaigning to lead their middle school student councils during the 2004 national presidential election. The film won several major film festival honors, aired on the Sundance Channel, and was part of President Obama’s inaugural youth events in Washington, DC in 2009 and 2013. Ali also directed three short films for Marian Wright Edelman’s Children’s Defense Fund, featuring Beat the Odds Scholarship recipients.

Before becoming a filmmaker, Ali co-founded the Mark McGwire Foundation for Children, where she spent five years — four of them as Executive Director. In that role, she executive produced and co-wrote the foundation’s acclaimed public service announcements, Think Again and Help. In the early 2000s, Ali served on the national board of Prevent Child Abuse America and rejoined the board in 2026. She recently shared her lived experience at the World Child Foundation/Economist Out of the Shadows Index event in Washington, DC.

Ali holds a BA from UCLA, where she was a varsity volleyball player. She resides in Los Angeles with her husband James and their three teenagers.