James Quarles is a healthcare and technology executive with over 25 years of global leadership experience.
James has returned to Fort Health as CEO, a company he originally launched in 2021 as part of Redesign Health. James helped shape Fort from its inception — leading ideation and the business definition, forging our partnership with the Child Mind Institute, hiring the founding team members and serving on the company’s board of directors until the end of 2023. He is proud of how those defining choices have enabled Fort to serve so many children and their caregivers: ensuring evidenced-based care, staying in-network with health insurance plans, partnering closely with pediatrician practices, scheduling first appointments within days.
Prior to Fort Health, James was a Venture Chair at Redesign Health, where he launched six new healthcare businesses. These included Kins, a hybrid in-home and virtual physical therapy practice; Keen, a value-based Medicare brokerage; Primum, a virtual curbside consultation platform for oncologists; StitchPEO, a workforce solution for independent medical practices; and Lively, a teleaudiology platform that was acquired by GN Hearing in 2021.
James also led some of the most recognized technology platforms in the world. He was CEO of Strava, the social network for athletes, where he doubled the company’s subscriptions business and established it as one of the fastest-growing sports brands globally. He served as Vice President of Business at Instagram during its hypergrowth years and spent a decade in London as Regional Director for Facebook Europe, opening country offices and building strategic partnerships with major global brands.
James and his wife are the parents of three children in middle and high school. He has a deep appreciation for the challenges families face in supporting their children’s emotional health. As both a parent and a leader, he is particularly passionate about the role of sleep, activity, and limiting screens in support of kids’ well-being.
James holds an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Virginia.
