Ryan McElveen
Ryan McElveen was elected in 2023 to serve his third term as an at-large member of the Fairfax County School Board from 2024-2027, representing all 1.2 million county residents. He served in the same role previously from January 2012 to December 2019. When he was first elected, he was the youngest elected official in Virginia and the youngest person to ever serve on the School Board.
Ryan has worked with students, educators, and parents to keep the school system a national leader. He has led efforts to improve student life by:
- improving student mental health programs;
- creating fresher, healthier school food;
- expanding LGBTQ nondiscrimination protections – the first such protections in the state of Virginia;
- reforming student discipline policies;
- pushing for improved curriculum internationalization and expanded world language education;
- implementing later high school start times and full-day Mondays;
- pioneering sustainability initiatives like solar on the schools and reducing plastic waste;
- enhancing college and career access;
- championing gun violence prevention – authoring a resolution adopted by boards around the nation;
- prioritizing human trafficking prevention;
- improving school safety and security;
- increasing access to free menstrual products – a program that later was adopted as state law;
- reforming the dress code;
- increasing community accountability and transparency by hiring a system ombudsman and an auditor general;
- supporting name changes for schools named after confederate figures; and
- allowing excused absences for students participating in civic engagement activities – the first effort of its kind in the nation.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Ryan founded the Global Leaders of Fairfax County program, which prepares county high school seniors to be global citizens and change agents in their community and the world. He is also a member of the Churchill Road Elementary School PTA and co-troop leader of Girl Scout Troop 50292.
He serves as managing director of the U.S.-China Education Trust (USCET) and as a nonresident fellow at the Centre on Contemporary China and the World (CCCW) at the University of Hong Kong (HKU). Ryan previously served as associate director of the John L. Thornton China Center at the Brookings Institution, where he supported a team of resident and nonresident scholars, research staff, and interns; launched and coordinated the U.S.-China Leaders Forum at Sunnylands and U.S.-China track II dialogues on topics ranging from artificial intelligence and national security to food security to economic and trade relations; implemented large-scale research projects; hosted major public events, retreats, and study tours in the U.S. and Asia; initiated the Brookings China Council and managed donor relations; oversaw longstanding partnerships with other global think tanks and academic institutions like Tsinghua University and Yale University; and coordinated with the Brookings-Tsinghua Center in Beijing. His work with colleagues on the U.S.-China Dialogue on Artificial Intelligence and National Security laid the groundwork for the November 2024 agreement between Presidents Xi Jinping and Joe Biden to maintain human control over the decision to use nuclear weapons, and he oversaw the creation of a U.S.-China glossary of AI terms to serve as a basis for future negotiations and agreements.
Ryan’s experience spans the public- and private-sectors, NGOs, and academia. He has also worked for the International Operations and Policy office of the Boeing Company, Columbia University's Weatherhead East Asian Institute, The Clinton Foundation and The Clinton Global Initiative, The China Institute, the University of Virginia Center in Shanghai, and Senator Carl Levin (D-MI) on the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations.
Raised in the Vienna-Tysons Corner area, Ryan is a graduate of George C. Marshall High School, where he served as class president and graduated with an International Baccalaureate diploma. Ryan holds a B.A. in Anthropology and East Asian Studies from the University of Virginia and a Master’s degree of International Affairs in human rights from Columbia University.
Ryan is an avid runner and can be found running on County park trails early in the morning. Ryan speaks several languages and is fluent in Mandarin Chinese. He lives with his wife, Xuan, and daughters, Sierra (8) and Isla (3), in McLean.
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About Regions Within Fairfax County Public Schools
In order to deliver educational excellence, Fairfax County Public Schools is divided into six regions . These regions are further divided into Pyramids .
About Fairfax County
Fairfax County is divided into nine magisterial districts, which are used for conducting elections. Magisterial districts are unrelated to school boundaries. As one of three At-Large Members, Ryan was elected to represent the entire county.
Citizen Advisory Committees
The School Board appoints members to numerous citizen advisory committees to increase community input on specific issues. School Board members each appoint a citizen to represent their district. Advisory committees meet throughout the year and submit an annual report to the Board. Learn more about School Board committees, including citizen advisory committees .
Contact Office of School Board Member Ryan McElveen
Ryan McElveen
- Phone: 571-423-1091
- E-mail: [email protected]
Barb Flis, Director, District Board Operations
- Phone: 571-423-1079
- Email: [email protected]
