About Me
I have spent my entire 30 year career serving the people of the District.
I began my career in the District working at a halfway house off Dupont Circle supporting formerly incarcerated women who needed dignity and a path forward. That experience grounded me in the belief that public service is human, urgent, and personal.
I went on to help start and run one of the District’s first charter schools, serving families from every ward and seeing firsthand how great teachers and strong leadership can change a child’s future. Later, the people of Wards 5 and 6 elected me to the DC State Board of Education, where I served as Board President and helped expand quality PreK and strengthen graduation standards.
Later, I ran education policy for the DC Council, managing and overseeing DCPS budgets and helping shape key reforms. I drafted and helped pass legislation to ensure every student could take the SAT and apply to college or technical programs, expanded career and technical education funding, and strengthened enforcement against residency fraud to protect opportunities meant for DC students.
I served as Chief of Staff to the District’s first elected Attorney General, supporting an independent agency fighting wage theft and advocating for early interventions to keep young people on the right path.
I have spent years strengthening the civic institutions that hold our communities together. As a member of the Board of Trustees of Planned Parenthood of Metro Washington, I have helped defend essential health care for District residents. As a volunteer Chair of the Board of a DC charter school, I helped guide thousands of students toward opportunity. And in my neighborhood, I helped grow a thriving, all-volunteer Little League program.
As DC’s rights have come under threat, I have marched on Capitol Hill and lobbied lawmakers to protect Home Rule – because our self-government is worth fighting for every day.
Across all my work, I have partnered with extraordinary people, including teachers and social workers, small-business owners and parents, seniors who built this city, and neighbors who show up for one another.
I would be honored to continue this work as your next at-large DC Coucilwoman.
Lisa Raymond now lives near Lincoln Park with her husband, Josh, her rescue dog, Jojo, and has two children in college. She is an active member of the Hill Havurah community and works as a major gifts officer for a Ward 7 nonprofit serving homeless youth.