NWA Women in Business: Emily English

Residence: Fayetteville

Education: B.A., interdisciplinary studies: sustainability, culture and environment, 2002, Hendrix College; M.P.S., 2009, University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service; M.P.H., 2009, doctorate, public health leadership, 2018, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences

Professional background: English has spent her career working at the intersection of farming and public health, leading programs that strengthen local food systems and improve access to healthy food. Her work as a farmer inspired her to pursue advanced training and a career focused on transforming food systems. Before joining the Walton Personal Philanthropy Group as a senior program officer and director of the Northwest Arkansas Food Systems initiative, she served as a faculty member at UAMS where she led research and programs focused on using local food and farms to increase access to healthy foods in the community, schools and health care settings.

What inspired you to pursue the career you are in? I’ve always felt a deep connection to the natural world and fell in love with growing food when I started volunteering on small-scale fruit and vegetable farms in college. After years working for farms and trying to start my own, I experienced firsthand the tension of growing food — it’s deeply rewarding but incredibly difficult. The system isn’t designed to make good food easy to grow or easy to access. That frustration pushed me back to school to understand how to make the system work for its most important stakeholders — what infrastructure, policies, and relationships are needed to make local and regional food systems viable for farmers and healthy food accessible for all. My work is still driven by the simple belief that feeding your community and eating well should not be so hard.

What are some of the leadership skills that helped you move up in your organization? One of the most valuable skills has been the ability to connect across disciplines and sectors. Food systems work is inherently interdisciplinary — it lives at the crossroads of health, agriculture, economics, land use and more. Being able to move between those spaces, stay curious and translate between perspectives has been essential. I also try to lead with humility and deeply understand that this work is never about one person — it’s about what we build together.

You stay busy professionally. How do you take care of yourself and maintain good mental health? Remembering that we’re all human helps a lot — none of us are going to get it perfect all the time, or even most of the time. Showing up with grace for myself and others is very important to me. I also try to stay connected to the things that first drew me to this work — being outside, spending time with folks growing our food and feeding our community and working alongside people who care deeply. And when things feel especially heavy, I come back to purpose and connection; those are the things that refuel me. 

What is the best leadership advice you have ever received? Relationships matter. Process over product. Journey over destination. The ones that stick always come back to the value of how we work together, not just what we do together. Strong relationships create the foundation for trust, creativity and shared ownership — which are all essential for meaningful, lasting change. In leadership roles, it’s easy to focus on outcomes and efficiency, but I’ve learned that investing in how we work together is just as important as what we’re working toward. When people feel connected and aligned, they bring their best, their authentic gifts and talents, and the work becomes not only more effective but more resilient.

What do you do to relax when not working? Shut my computer, turn my face to the sun, take a deep breath and listen for a bird. When I really need to shut it all off, I hop in the truck with my family and travel dirt roads for hundreds of miles. 

I wish I knew how to … what? Play the fiddle and the banjo. But, alas, musically inclined I am not.

Who was a big mentor to you in the early part of your career? I’ve been fortunate to learn from brilliant and wise people from many parts of my life. Some of my earliest mentors were farmers who showed me what it looks like to do hard work through uncertainty and stay grounded in building for the future. Friends and family encouraged me to follow a path that wasn’t always predictable or easily defined, and I’m deeply grateful for that steady support. In academic spaces, I had mentors who reminded me that data and research should always serve community, not the other way around. And in professional settings, I’ve learned from bridge-builders — people who move between institutions, sectors, and communities with clarity and care. Each one offered something I needed to keep moving forward with purpose and perspective.