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Amanda Kocon
Amanda Kocon
00:45

Amanda Kocon

Edmentum

San Diego, CA USA

"It’s okay to get it wrong on the path to getting it right."

Career Roadmap

Amanda's work combines: Business, Education, and Working with Others

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Day In The Life

Chief Strategy & Operating Officer

I lead strategy and operations to help students and educators thrive through education technology.

01:45

Day In The Life Of A Chief Strategy And Operating Officer

My Day to Day

As the chief strategy and operating officer of an education technology company, my days are spent solving problems, guiding teams, and helping shape long-term strategy that supports educators and over 200,000 students nationwide. I move between big-picture planning and day-to-day decision-making, making sure people feel empowered to lead, collaborate, and grow.

Skills & Education

Here's the path I took:

  • High School

  • Bachelor's Degree

    International Relations

    Scripps College

Learn more about different paths to this career

Life & Career Milestones

My path in life took a while to figure out

  • 1.

    I earned my degree in international relations from Scripps College and was unsure what I wanted to do, so I leaned on on-campus recruiting to help me find a career.

  • 2.

    After graduating, I entered Wall Street and started my career in investment banking through the J.P. Morgan training program.

  • 3.

    After years in investment banking, I pivoted into education because I wanted my work to create meaningful impact for people.

  • 4.

    Working with school districts showed me how deeply leadership, culture, and human connection shape student success.

  • 5.

    I learned that my real strength wasn’t tied to one industry—it was solving problems, building teams, and thinking long term.

  • 6.

    Now, leading strategy and operations for an education technology company allows me to empower teams, support educators, and help students thrive.

Defining Moments

How I responded to discouragement

  • THE NOISE

    Messages from Society in general:

    You need to find a follow one passion.

  • How I responded:

    There's a sense of pressure that we need to find a passion and follow that passion. But what about everything else I'm interested in? I think the idea of one person having one passion is reductive. We can have many passions and we can make many career changes if we want to.

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