Angela Selden

CEO

American Public Education, Inc.

If you have a dream, you absolutely have zero chance of achieving it if you don’t try.

About Angela

I grew up in a small town in central Wisconsin.
Being from a small town, I didn’t have much exposure to the college admissions process, so I ended up enrolling at my father’s alma mater, the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota.
I saw that accounting had good job security and high earning potential, so I decided to study accounting in college.
After trying a couple of accounting internships, I realized that I didn’t actually enjoy it, so I decided to add computer science as a double major.
After graduating, I spent 18 years at a large technology consulting firm—my experience there really helped me develop an understanding of career development, promotion, and mentorship.
Then I spent about a dozen years as CEO of three different private-equity backed businesses—these experiences gave me the confidence to eventually realize my dream of becoming CEO of a public company.
While running a software company serving higher education institutions, I was offered the position of CEO of American Public Education, Inc—leaving was tough, but I had to pursue my long-time dream.
Less than 10% of the CEOs of publicly traded companies are women—and now I'm one of those women!