Jeanell English is an experienced operations leader and entertainment executive with expertise in diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion (DEAI), health and wellbeing, climate action, learning and development, workforce strategy, and production management. Her multidisciplinary background is expansive — each chapter marked by a commitment to systems change and social impact.

Jeanell’s career began in Human Resources, where she worked as a business partner and DEAI specialist implementing initiatives such as unconscious bias and cross-cultural trainings, global diversity awareness campaigns, wellbeing programs, and M&A cultural integration sessions.

At Discovery, Inc. (now Warner Bros. Discovery), Jeanell transitioned into sports production, leading the resource operations function for the company’s European sports division. There, she played a pivotal role in delivering Discovery’s first Olympic Games broadcast to Europe, overseeing onboarding, medical, health & safety, sustainability, contracting, and recruitment for a 750+ person multinational crew. She later expanded her purview to manage a global freelance workforce supporting major live and non-live events including tennis grand slams and cycling tours.

Following her time at Discovery, Jeanell joined the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences where she served as Executive Vice President of Impact and Inclusion. In this role, she led the Academy’s efforts to champion representation, inclusion, accessibility, and sustainability across the film industry. She introduced and oversaw the Academy’s first comprehensive climate and sustainability strategy, aligning internal operations and public platforms—including the Oscars—with broader goals of environmental responsibility and cultural impact. Her award-winning impact producing work and leadership of the Academy Gold talent development programs reflected her deep belief in the power of storytelling to drive change.

Jeanell is also the co-founder of Elizabeth and Minnie Publishing, an independent publishing house dedicated to identifying and amplifying stories from Asian, Black, Indigenous, Latino, and MENA communities, with an emphasis on women’s voices. Through this work, she aims to diversify the entertainment landscape by influencing both supply and demand for inclusive narratives.

A self-described “cultural chameleon,” Jeanell has lived, worked, and traveled extensively throughout Europe and Asia, grounding her global perspective in cultural immersion. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Industrial and Labor Relations with a minor in Visual Studies from Cornell University and an MBA from the University of Maryland’s Smith School of Business. In 2022, Variety named her a “New Leader in Hollywood.”