Fight For Children Board of Directors

The Honorable Adrian M. Fenty
Former Mayor of the District of Columbia

Adrian Fenty is a national leader in the area of urban education reform. During his first months in office as Mayor of the District of Columbia, he inserted accountability into the public school system by bringing it under his administration’s control and shocked the city—and the nation—by immediately implementing a wide range of needed reforms.
That bold move and his hiring of Michelle Rhee as DC Public Schools Chancellor have credited Fenty with putting the school system on the path to long-awaited and lasting improvements.

In addition to reforming public education, Fenty is also recognized for overhauling and modernizing other DC government agencies, ensuring more efficient and effective service delivery. He added police officers to patrol the streets and expanded community policing. As a result, homicides dropped to their lowest level since the 1960’s and both violent crimes and property crimes experienced a double-digit decline. Fenty also added thousands of affordable housing units; created the Housing First program that provides permanent supportive housing for homeless individuals and families; and improved the delivery of emergency medical services. He championed development efforts across the city. In addition, dozens of schools, libraries, parks and recreation centers were built or renovated during his time in office.

Prior to his election as Mayor in 2006, Fenty was re-elected in 2004 to a second term as a member of the Council of the District of Columbia representing Ward 4, after first defeating a 16-year incumbent in 2000. Prior to his service as a Councilmember, Fenty was the lead attorney and counsel for the DC Council Committee on Education, Libraries and Recreation. Born in the DC, Fenty grew up in the city’s Mount Pleasant neighborhood. He attended DC Public Schools, including Woodrow Wilson High School, before graduating from Mackin High School, which merged with Archbishop Carroll High School in 1989. Fenty is a graduate of Oberlin College and earned his Juris Doctorate from Howard University Law School.

Fenty is currently an outside adviser and counsel for Heffler, Radetich & Saitta, a Philadelphia-based accounting and consulting firm. A long-distance runner in high school, Fenty regularly takes part in triathlons and other races in DC and throughout the region. He lives in DC with his wife Michelle and three children.