Experience Matters

Penelope A. "Penny" Gross, Mason District Supervisor
Penny Gross was elected to the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors to represent Mason District on November 7, 1995, and was re-elected in 1999, 2003, and 2007.  She is running for re-election in 2011.

Supervisor Gross serves as the Vice Chairman of the Board, elected by her peers in 2009, and re-elected in 2010 and 2011.  She chairs the Board’s Personnel Policy and Reorganization Committee, and the Board’s Environment Committee.  She also is the vice chair of both the Human Services Committee and the Development Process Committee.

Active in regional organizations, Supervisor Gross represents Fairfax County on the Board of Directors of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG), which she chaired in 2009.  She was the original chair of the COG Chesapeake Bay Policy Committee, and also chaired the Public Safety Policy Committee.  She represents Region III (VA, MD, DC, WV) on the National Association of Regional Councils’ Board of Directors.  Additionally, Supervisor Gross represents Fairfax County on the Northern Virginia Regional Commission and the INOVA Health System’s Board of Trustees.  In 2003, Supervisor Gross was elected chair of the Potomac Watershed Roundtable, a position she still holds. 

On the state and national level, Supervisor Gross serves on the Board of Directors of the Virginia Association of Counties.  She currently is a vice chair of the National Association of Counties’ (NACO) Energy, Environment, and Land Use Committee. Supervisor Gross served on the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Blue Ribbon Finance Panel, and was appointed to the Local Government Advisory Committee (LGAC) to the Chesapeake Executive Council in 2004.  She served as LGAC chair from 2006 until 2008.
Supervisor Gross’ tenure on the Board of Supervisors followed a long career in public service at the federal level, and extensive service to the community at the local level.  Prior to her current position, Supervisor Gross served for 20 years as staff in various Congressional offices and has held an office with the United States Senate Federal Credit Union since 1985.  Committed to local participation, Supervisor Gross served on the Board of the Lincolnia Park Civic Association from 1985 to 1997, and on the Executive Board of the Mason District Council of Civic Associations from 1988 to 1995.  She was president of the Weyanoke Elementary School PTA, and served as newsletter editor for the Fairfax County Council of PTAs. She is an Honorary Life Member of the Virginia State PTA.

Supervisor Gross is a founding member of the Friends of Mason District Park and continues to be an active member and officer.  In 1989, she received the first Fairfax County Elly Doyle Park Service Award.  Supervisor Gross was co-manager of Girl Scout Service Unit 52-4, and continues to be an active adult Scout.  She also is a founding member and officer of the National Capital Chapter of the University of Oregon Alumni Association.

In 1999, Supervisor Gross was selected as Citizen of the Year by the Annandale Chamber of Commerce. She was selected as the Outstanding Elected Official by the Human Services Coalition in 2001 and, in 2002, she was the first elected official to receive an award from the Fairfax County Human Rights Commission. In December 2003, Supervisor Gross was awarded the Elizabeth and David Scull Metropolitan Public Service Award, the highest award given by the Council of Governments.  She also was named the 2004 Elected Official of the Year by the Council of Governments Animal Services Committee. She was named 2005 Woman of the Year by the Zonta Club of Fairfax County, and received the Most Distinguished Public Service Award from the Arab-American Institute Foundation  in 2006.  The Springfield/Annandale Chapter of AAUW honored Supervisor Gross for her support of High School Diversity in 2008, and she received the Robert L. Bruggeman/Mary C/ Michaud Lifetime Achievement Award from Central Fairfax Services in 2009.

Supervisor Gross has two daughters and a stepson, and resides with her husband, Hal, in the Lincolnia section of Mason District.