Profile: Patty Reed, Providence District School Board Candidate

At A Glance

• Born: Buffalo, N.Y.
• Education: bachelor's in psychology and sociology at SUNY Albany; master's in public administration from Syracuse University
• Family: married; two children
• Occupation: cofounder of nonprofit Choose 2 Lead
• Public Office: School Board since 2009

Patty Reed may be running unopposed in her bid for re-election to the Providence District School Board seat, but that does not mean she has stood idle through the campaign season

Reed, who has been endorsed by the Fairfax County Republican Committee, has reached out to the two candidates she knows will be sitting with her on the board come January: Tamara Derenak Koufax (Lee) and Sandy Evans (Mason), who are also unopposed. 

"I'm hoping what to do with them is to create a sense of camaraderie and a common mission right from the beginning," said the 51-year-old Oakton resident. "Smart people can differ on their opinions."

Similarly, she'd like to see all the incumbents elected back to the board help set the tone for the new members.

"I want to be able to bridge the old with the new," Reed said. "Certainly we'll have to step up and be leaders."

She hopes creating a team atmosphere among the board will breed efficiency. As a unit, they can make a strategic plan for how to stay in front of policy needs with wiggle room in the agenda for the inevitable surprise issue that should be dealt with immediately.

From a young age, Reed enjoyed public service, eventually attending Syracuse University for a master's degree in public administration.

"My parents were big volunteers, so I think that was ethos we grew up with. It's just what you did," she said. "Life's not all about money. I came from a modest background, but it was about giving of yourself. That's something I've tried to instill in my kids, too."

She then began work in the real world, only to find the working world was not as open to working mothers as she thought it would be. Reed found the office atmosphere frustrating because of a lack in flexible hours and the stigma attached to a woman who would have to leave early for her children.

"For some reason people thought a woman wasn't as committed if she didn't put in as many hours in the office as everyone else even though the work would get done from home," Reed said. "So, me and my friend got tired of complaining from the sidelines and did something about it."

In 2004, they founded Choose 2 Lead, a nonprofit that promoted a change to the traditional work week.

In addition, she has volunteered as President of the Friends of Oakton Library and advocacy groups such as FAIRGRADE and in classrooms as an aide or tutor.

In the two years she has been on the school board, Reed has tried to be a quiet leader on a board with big personalities.

"I'm not a flamethrower. I'm more thoughtful. I try to only speak when I think it's something important to say. I don't like to talk just to hear myself talk. But I don't want peple to mistake quietness for shyness or lack of knowledge or interest," Reed said. "I like to kind of watch and size up the situation and make pointed comments and questions or help bring things together, which is something I don't think the board does very well."

Her re-election to the school board may be a sure thing, but she wants to make sure people know she intends to keep working hard on the path she's already begun to pave.

"I want to continue the momentum I've started in terms of improving upon an already great system," she said. "I want to constructively change and improve things. I think we can be more efficient, do more with less resources."