Dr. Michelle Rief is a former college professor and education non-profit executive. She is a parent of three Alexandria public school students and has held leadership positions in the Mount Vernon Community School PTA, and the Alexandria PTA Council.

Michelle was born into a military family and attended public schools in Iowa, California, and Florida. She was the first in her family to graduate from college and earned her undergraduate degree from Florida State University.  She later earned a PhD in African American Studies from Temple University. As a graduate student, she directed a non-profit prison education program.  There, she taught life skills to incarcerated individuals, many of whom had dropped out of school. Michelle went on to teach history and sociology as a professor at Borough of Manhattan Community College in New York, and later at Northern Virginia Community College.

Michelle has lived in Alexandria for 15 years with her husband and three children.  Her kids attend Alexandria City High School and Mount Vernon Community School. She was first elected to the Alexandria School Board in 2018 and currently serves as the School Board liaison to Alexandria City High School, Naomi L. Brooks Elementary School, the Career and Technical Education (CTE) advisory committee, and the City of Alexandria’s IT Commission.