Dr. Raiford has lived in North Carolina most of her life after her family moved here from Dunoon, Scotland. She began her career as a high school Biology teacher and taught at several high schools before making the transition to an administrator. Dr. Raiford was a North Carolina Principal Fellow and began her administrative career as an Assistant Principal where she spent five years at Reedy Creek Middle School. She led Briarcliff Elementary as the Principal for seven years before moving to Mills Park Middle School in 2019.