Fight For Children Staff

Michela English
President & Chief Executive Officer

As President & CEO of Fight For Children, Michela English is leading a non-profit organization that works to improve the quality of education for low-income children in Washington, DC. Fight for Children promotes excellence in urban education by identifying and replicating best practices in K-12 schools and by expanding access to quality early childhood programs for three and four year olds.

Prior to joining Fight For Children, Ms. English worked for eight years at Discovery Communications. As President of Discovery Consumer Products and President & COO of Discovery.com, she was responsible for 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 non-profit 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 past President of the Women’s Forum of Washington, DC, and serves on the boards of the Corcoran Gallery of Art and the Corcoran College of Art and Design; Educational Testing Service (ETS); D.C. Preparatory Academy; the D.C. Public Education Fund; HealthyWomen; and the Gladstone Companies in McLean, VA. She is also a member of the Advisory Council of William & Mary’s Virginia Institute of Marine Science and a trustee with Society for Science & The Public. 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, Director of the Potomac KnowledgeWay; and a member of the Advisory Board of the Yale School of Management.

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.