Angela Cole

Angela Cole serves as an administrator in higher education on the healthcare side, where her typical day involves meetings, strategic planning, and partnerships. She began her healthcare journey in 1998 as a pharmacy technician in pharmaceuticals, with a focus on hospice and palliative care, and later pursued leadership roles to influence decision-making. Motivated to advance, she earned her master's degree from Grand Canyon University in 2022 with a 3.8 GPA and her doctorate from Oklahoma State University in 2026 with a 4.0 GPA. She is an active member of the Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society. Angela attributes her success to setting goals, maintaining consistency, understanding her why, and staying hyper-organized and structured to balance her full-time role with studies. As a servant leader, she defers to her team members who perform the day-to-day work, acting as a resource rather than a dictator, and values transparency and continuous growth. She advises young women entering the field to build relationships through networking and to pair core skills with certifications in areas such as safety, quality, or compliance, noting that healthcare remains a business. In her view, the biggest challenges in the industry include budgets and the rapid evolution of AI outpacing regulation, while the greatest opportunity lies in integrating technology with healthcare through better tools and appropriate oversight.