Regina English is a Democratic state representative for Colorado House District 17, which covers southeast Colorado Springs in El Paso County. She is the first Black woman to represent El Paso County in the Colorado General Assembly, elected in November 2022 after defeating Republican Rachel Stovall. Born and raised in Battle Creek, Michigan, she is a wife, mother of five adult children, and grandmother of ten or eleven grandchildren, residing in Colorado Springs. English is a community organizer who has founded three organizations: Yes M.A.A.M. , a pageant and scholarship program for African-American women and youth; Be U , a nonprofit mentoring youth in leadership; and Be U Life Coaching . Notable positions include serving as Treasurer and Vice President of the Harrison School District 2 School Board, vice-president of the Colorado Black Caucus of School Board Directors until 2023, and President of the Colorado Alliance of Black School Educators. She serves on the Business Affairs & Labor and Health & Human Services committees, focusing on education, housing, mental health, criminal justice, public safety, reproductive rights, and environmental sustainability. In 2024, she was the only Democratic member to vote against a resolution to repeal Colorado's 2006 same-sex marriage ban, which passed and appeared on the November ballot.

Education and Political Experience

English holds an associate degree in chemical dependency/drug and alcohol counseling from Intellitec Medical Institute, a bachelor's degree in management, master's degree in public administration, and a doctorate in organizational leadership from the University of Phoenix. Her political experience prior to the legislature includes school board service with no previous elected office; she began her first term in the Colorado House in 2023.