Kathleen deLaski
President
Education Design Lab
Milestones
My road in life took a while to figure out.
First, I worked as an actress / dancer in the musical "Can Can."
Then I went to a little startup called AOL to help them figure out how to do "news" online.
Hooked on performance, but wanting a more analytical career, I turned to TV News.
I took a job at Sallie Mae and started their foundation to work on college access.
After 15 years in TV News, I was appointed Bill Clinton's first female spokesman at the Defense Dept.
That's how I ended up in education reform, developing new orgs like EdFuel and Education Design Lab.
Education
Career
President
Help universities and entrepreneurs design new education models.
Career Roadmap
My work combines:
My work combines:
Education
Design
Accomplishing Goals
Day to Day
Design sessions with people from different perspectives having "ah-ha" moments as we see how new education models can improve student success. Meetings to develop new non-profit client opportunities in our co-working space with lots of other DC startups.
Advice for Getting Started
Here's the first step for college students
Look for ways to hone your critical thinking, design thinking and strategic thinking skills. Look for courses that build analytical skills, but also teach you to synthesize masses of information to solve problems or make recommendations. These are all workforce-readiness and life skills that will make you adaptable and valuable. Teaching certification will be important, but I would recommend majoring in education.
Recommended Education
My career is not related to what I studied. I'd recommend this path instead:
Hurdles
The Noise I Shed
From Parents:
"Why would you go to grad school, you have a job in television!"
