Rachna Sizemore Heizer

Rachna Sizemore Heizer (she/hers/her) is the Braddock District member on the Fairfax County School Board.

She is a college professor, lawyer, child of immigrants, disability justice advocate, and parent to two FCPS graduates. After serving her first School Board term as an at-large representative, Rachna is proud to have been elected in 2023 to a four-year term representing the Braddock District where she has lived since 2001.

Rachna began her journey toward the School Board by advocating for her own children to receive excellent educations, but realized she could affect system-wide change at the same time. She has spent more than a decade as a community leader serving on several local boards, presenting on neurodiversity, and supporting underserved children as a disability advocate.

Like many in Fairfax County, English was not Rachna’s first language and, as a child of immigrants, she understands both the immigrant experience and what it means to be a citizen of our great democracy. She is the first Indian American person and first Asian American woman elected to a Fairfax County-wide office.

Rachna is an appointed member of the Virginia State Social Services Board, was the Braddock District appointee to the board of Fairfax-Falls Church Community Services Board, served on the board for the ARC of Northern Virginia, was an appointed member of the Fairfax County Public School Board’s Advisory Committee for Students with Disabilities, and is a former board member of the Fairfax County Special Education PTA. In 2019, she was awarded Fairfax County’s Martha Glennan Disability Inclusion and Equality Award.

On the School Board, Rachna chairs the Governance Committee and serves on the Public Engagement Committee. She has served as Chair of the full board in 2022-23 and Vice Chair in 2021-22. She is a knowledgeable and passionate advocate for special education and children who are neurodiverse. Among her other priorities are music and the arts, civics education, equitable access to strong academics and robust electives so all students can find their path to success, STEAM programming, and providing competitive pay and balanced workloads for teachers and other staff.

She earned both her bachelor of arts in political economy and her law degree from the University of California at Berkeley. As a lawyer whose practice included employment law, contract law, and complex mergers and acquisitions, and as an experienced board member, she brings a breadth of skills, experience, and knowledge necessary to oversee a large complex organization such as FCPS. She is currently the Assistant Director overseeing the online Human Resource Development program at Texas Tech University, where she also teaches classes in employment law, diversity and cultural competency in the workplace, and leadership. Previously, Sizemore Heizer was a full time criminal justice professor at George Mason University.

In her spare time, Rachna loves to exercise, cook, and travel. Her most important roles are as groupie for her son, Jake, a musician with autism; cheerleader for her daughter, Laura, who is living her best life as a software engineer in Seattle; and proud stepmom to Chris, who is lives and works in Fairfax.

EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE

Braddock District Member, Fairfax County School Board, 2023-27; former at-large representative, 2019-23.
Law degree and bachelor of arts in political economy from the University of California at Berkeley.
Assistant Director and Lecturer, administrating a Human Resource Development program and teaching Employment Law and Human Resource Leadership classes (online), Texas Tech University.
Former professor of Constitutional and criminal law, George Mason University.
Former associate, Morrison and Foerster and Paul, Hastings, Janofsky and Walker, specializing in employment law, contract law, and corporate law.

SERVICE ON COMMUNITY BOARDS

Appointed member of the Virginia State Social Services Board.
Former Braddock District appointee to the board of the Fairfax-Falls Church Community Services Board (CSB).
Former appointed member of the Fairfax County Public School Board’s Advisory Committee for Students with Disabilities 2012-19.
Former board Member of the Fairfax County Alliance for Human Services.
Former board member of the Fairfax County Special Education PTA.
One of only three community members of the Fairfax County Public School’s Inclusion Workgroup.
Former Board member of the ARC of Northern Virginia, and continues to work with the ARC on advocacy efforts.

CONFERENCE AND MEDIA PRESENTATIONS

Rachna has presented at numerous events, including the National Education Association Foundation’s Symposium on the Promise of Public Education, Netroots Nation Conference, the Online Learning Consortium Accelerate Conference, the College Autism Network Conference, the Network Nova Women’s Summit, the NAACP Juvenile Justice symposium, The RISE district conference, and the Fairfax County Special Education and Equity Conferences.
Rachna has also spoken on several television, radio shows, and podcasts about strengths based education and inclusion, including WTOP radio, The Dean Obeidallah Show on Sirius XM, Inside Scoop, Kitchen Table Conversations, and The Progressive Happy Hour Podcast.