Meet Kristen English

My name is Kristen English and I am very excited to join the Rodel Foundation team as the operations manager. I earned my B.A. in Art History from the University of Delaware and a Masters in Library Science from Clarion University of Pennsylvania. While studying library science, I became extremely interested in the impact a modern library and technology savvy librarians can have on the education experience from kindergarten through college. Prior to joining the Rodel Foundation, I spent six years as the grant officer for Delaware Humanities, where I helped nonprofits apply for grant funding to do public humanities based educational programming throughout the state.

I am a proud native Delawarean, strongly invested in the betterment of the state for all of its residents. While I am new to the education world, I have a number of family members that work in Delaware’s public school system. It is rare that I go to a family gathering without hearing about the adventures of being a dedicated educator. As an undergraduate at the University of Delaware, I worked as a counselor with school-aged students at Newark Day Nursery and Children’s Center. This experience opened my eyes to all of the responsibilities that come with being a formative part of a student’s life. This experience allowed me to recognize that while classes are made up of students, each student is an individual with their own unique personality which strongly connects to Rodel’s focus on personalized learning. Overall, working with students and their families greatly influenced my life and way of thinking about education. I am looking forward to learning more in my new role with the Rodel Foundation.

In my non-work time, I like to read and explore museums. My husband and I go to see as much live music as possible, and enjoy living in Delaware because it allows us to catch bands in Philadelphia, D.C. or Baltimore. I spend far too much of the winter months watching and attending college basketball games. I’m always looking for new television and podcast recommendations and spend too much time binge watching/listening.