What an Executive Director at Los Angeles Public Education Coalition wishes they had known before entering the Education industry
Joni, an Executive Director, learned that the role involved "many different things" and a wider scope than initially anticipated, including unexpected responsibilities in finance and budgeting. Prior programmatic experience proved valuable, but the position demanded new operational skills, highlighting the evolution of their career trajectory.
Executive/Leadership, Project Management, Finance and Budgeting, Organizational Operations, Relationship Building
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
Joni Angel
Executive Director
Los Angeles Coalition for Excellent Public Schools
University of Michigan 2003
Harvard Kennedy School, Master in Public Policy, 2010. Pace University, Master in the Science of Teaching, 2005.
Ethnic & Related Studies
Education, Government & Public Sector
Strategic Management and Executive
Honors Student
Video Highlights
1. The role involves a wider range of tasks and responsibilities than initially anticipated, including operational aspects such as finance and budgeting.
2. Strong project management and relationship-building skills are valuable assets in this position, even for operational tasks.
3. Continuous learning and adaptability are crucial, as the role requires acquiring new skills beyond programmatic expertise.
Transcript
What have you learned about this role that you wish someone had told you before you started?
I talked earlier about how this role is about direction setting, executing on priorities, and organizational operations. I learned all of that by actually doing the work and the role. I didn't realize before I started how many different things I would be thinking about and doing in very different areas on a regular basis.
Even though it doesn't take up a ton of my time daily or weekly, thinking about the operational work is not something I had realized would be such a big part of this job. Needing to really know finance and budgeting, and get into the details of that, is also not something I realized I was going to need to do.
In my previous work, I had really been in programmatic roles. My project management and relationship-building skills were very useful to me. Now, on the operations side, those are different kinds of skills. I'm still trying to learn new things so I can do those parts of my job well.
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