Atif Qarni

Emigrating from Karachi, Pakistan, with his family at the age of ten, Qarni grew up in Parkville, Maryland, before moving to Manassas, Virginia, in 2005.^[2] He obtained a bachelor’s degree in sociology from George Washington University, a master’s in history and a teaching license in secondary education from George Mason University, a master's in educational administration from Strayer University, and is a doctoral candidate at Vanderbilt University.^[3][4][5]

He served in the United States Marine Corps, was deployed to Iraq as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom, and rose to the rank of Sergeant.^[2][3] He served as a paralegal at the international law firm McDermott Will & Emery before beginning a career in teaching.^{[citation needed]} He then served as a civics, economics, U.S. history, and math teacher at Beville Middle School in Dale City.^[2][3] Qarni ran for a seat in the Virginia House of Delegates in 2013, losing to incumbent Bob Marshall,^[6] and for the Virginia Senate in 2015, losing the Democratic nomination to Jeremy McPike.^[7] He was appointed as the Virginia Secretary of Education by governor Ralph Northam in 2017.^[3][8] In 2021, he resigned from the cabinet position to become the managing director of external affairs at Temple University’s Hope Center.^[9][10] In 2024, he ran in the Democratic primary for Virginia's 10th congressional district, placing third.^[11][12]