Stephanie was born in Richmond, Virginia, but moved to Caroline County as a child, where she completed her public school education. She earned a Bachelor’s degree in Mass Communications and a Master’s in English Composition Studies from Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU). With over 30 years of teaching experience, she has taught at all educational levels: 2 years in elementary schools, 3 years in middle schools, 6 years in high schools, and several years as a university professor. Currently, she is proud to be the Director for VCU’s Project Gabriel, which seeks to report, reconcile, and heal the wounds from  VCU’s historic ties to slavery. Stephanie is the proud parent of two Richmond Public Schools graduates.  

Stephanie has been on the school board since 2020. The last four years have been an incredibly challenging time for RPS, but data from the 2023-2024 school year show that RPS’ post-pandemic gains have outpaced the state’s – and is poised to make even further progress in the years ahead. While she has been on the board, Fox Elementary grew 8-points in their reading pass rate, Swansboro Elementary gained 12 points, and Lois Harrison-Jones Elementary school has seen a 14-point gain in their reading pass rate.

Stephanie was honored to be selected by her colleagues as School Board chair in January 2023, a role she served in for eighteen months. During her time as chair, the board’s requests to the City of Richmond led to a $21 million operating budget increase in 2023 and an additional $18 million in 2024.

While on the Board, Stephanie worked collaboratively to implement collective bargaining with the Richmond Education Association and other unions representing RPS employees. Following the recommendation of a joint RPS/community task force on the status of English Learners in RPS, a task force she co-chaired, they created a new department to centralize services and supports for English Learners, now called the Department of Multilingual Learner Success.

Endorsements for the 2024 Election:

  • Richmonders for Effective Governance of Schools (REGS)

  • Stephanie Lynch for 5th District City Council

  • Richmond Crusade for Voters