Michela English
President & CEO
Fight for Children

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Michela English has been president and CEO of Fight For Children since 2006.

Fight For Children is a not-for-profit organization that makes grants to successful charities that provide education and health care services to low-income children in Washington, D.C. Fight For Children also promotes excellence in education through several of its own projects, including its Quality Schools Initiative, which recognizes high-quality programs that result in improved student achievement; its Parent Leadership Institute, which gives parents important tools they can use to be effective advocates for their children’s education; and its annual My School Chooser, a user-friendly school choice guide that helps families determine the best educational opportunities for their children. Fight For Children produces two of the most successful fundraising events in D.C.: School Night and Fight Night.

Prior to joining Fight For Children, Ms. English worked for eight years at Discovery Communications. As president of Discovery Consumer Products and president and COO of Discovery.com, her responsibilities included Discovery’s nationwide retail chain, global merchandise licensing business, internet, new media, and education businesses. In the 1990s, Ms. English served as senior vice president of the National Geographic Society, with responsibility for the book division, Traveler magazine, WORLD magazine for children, educational media, and international publishing. She also served as a member of the Society’s Board of Trustees and as vice chairman of the board of the NGS Education Foundation. Earlier in her career, she served as an officer at Marriott Corporation and a senior engagement manager at McKinsey and Co.

Throughout her professional life, Ms. English has held leadership roles in a variety of education, youth-related, and other nonprofit and corporate initiatives. She managed the K-12 education businesses at both Discovery and National Geographic, working directly with teachers to create classroom materials and teacher training programs that would enhance student achievement. She is currently president of the Women’s Forum of Washington, D.C., and serves on the boards of the Educational Testing Service (ETS); D.C. Preparatory Academy (an award-winning public charter school in Northeast Washington); the DC Education Compact (DCEC); the National Women's Health Resource Center (NWHRC); and the Gladstone Companies in McLean, Virginia. She is a member of the Advisory Council of William & Mary’s Virginia Institute of Marine Science and a member of the advisory board of the Yale School of Management. She has served as chairman of the board of Sweet Briar College, director of the NEA Foundation for the Improvement of Education, director of Riggs National Corporation, and director of the Potomac KnowledgeWay. Ms. English holds a master of public and private management degree from the Yale School of Management and a bachelor of arts degree from Sweet Briar College.

She lives in Washington, D.C., with her husband Rob Quartel and has two children Eleanore and Will.