Strain for
Steady Leadership.
Student Focused.
Strong Advocacy.
Steady Leadership. Student Focused. Strong Advocacy.
Why is Ryan Running?
Ryan is highly invested in GMSD.
Ryan and his wife both graduated from Germantown schools. Ryan’s three children all attend Germantown schools. Ryan has good friends who send their children to each school in the district. As an alum and a parent of current students, the continued success of Germantown schools is very important to Ryan.
Serving on the school board is an extension of Ryan’s parental involvement in Germantown schools.
Upon moving back to Germantown and his oldest son beginning kindergarten, Ryan became involved with the Dogwood Dads – a group of fathers and father-figures who want to give back to their children’s elementary school. From there, Ryan became involved in Dogwood’s PTO, where he served as the PTO’s liaison to the school board.
As he attended school board meetings and reported back to the PTO on them, Ryan became interested in serving GMSD as a school board member, which he has done since December 2020.
Ryan’s desire to serve Germantown schools is an outgrowth of the kindness Germantown’s residents have shown him and his family.
In 2019, Ryan’s home and neighborhood flooded. Germantown residents volunteered to tear out and make repairs to his home, gave his family places to stay while additional repairs were made, lent him cars, and donated funds, school supplies, and other necessities so his family could focus on the immediate difficulties at hand. Ryan is forever grateful to his community and motivated to serve it in any way he can.
Who is Ryan Strain?
Ryan grew up in Germantown and returned in 2017 with his wife, Sarah, to raise their family. Ryan and Sarah’s primary reason for moving back to Germantown was so they could send their sons to Germantown schools.
Ryan attended Dogwood Elementary, Houston Middle, and Houston High (class of 2001). He graduated from the University of Memphis in 2005 with a degree in history, and he then graduated from Vanderbilt University Law School in 2008. Ryan is a lawyer with a focus on civil litigation, though he has counseled clients on various other matters, as well.
Ryan is passionate about serving others and education. He has received honors from his law firm for his pro bono legal service, has completed the Tennessee Bar Association’s Public Service Academy, and has been involved with or volunteered for the Dogwood PTO Board, the Dogwood Dads, the City of Germantown’s Historic Commission, Leadership Germantown, the Juvenile Court of Memphis and Shelby County Foster Care Review Board, the United Way, and the Memphis Grizzlies Charitable Foundation TEAM Mentoring Program.
In the past, Ryan also served on the Board of Directors for Operation Broken Silence, a nonprofit helping to fund a primary and secondary school in Yida Refugee Camp near the border of Sudan and South Sudan. Ryan is also an active member of First Evangelical Church, where he serves on the Memphis Ministries Team.
Ryan served as the Germantown Board of Education’s Tennessee Legislative Network representative from December 2020 (shortly after his election to the Board) until December 2022. Since then, Ryan has served as Chairman of the Board and as the Board’s liaison to the City of Germantown’s Education Commission.
Ryan’s School Board Priorities
How to get involved.
Please contact us using the fields below to get more information about how you can:
Get a Yard Sign
Host a Meet & Greet
Volunteer at the Polls
One of the quickest ways to get involved is to donate to Ryan’s campaign fund (click on Donate below).