ASU sociology alum celebrates eighth straight year on Sun Devil 100 list

Every year, Arizona State University recognizes the fastest-growing businesses owned and led by ASU alumni all over the world in a list called Sun Devil 100.

For Angel Jannasch-Pennell, CEO and co-founder of KOI Education, it’s an honor she’s earned not just once, not twice, but eight times in a row.

Her path to that success kicked off in 1989. Back then, Jannasch-Pennell was a freshly enrolled undergraduate student taking the first steps of her university education. After gaining some headway in community college, she came to ASU as a transfer student, and like many in their early college years, she felt a little lost about her long-term goals.

“I was still figuring out what direction I wanted to take,” she says. “Over time, I was drawn toward education and the social sciences because of a deep interest in people and systems — how we learn, how we grow and how we support one another.”

Sociology, she found, offered a way to explore those questions. For her, it nurtured a burning fascination with people and society, especially how “society influences individuals and how individuals, in turn, influence society,” she says.

After graduating from the sociology program in 1991, she didn’t slow her roll. With a burgeoning interest in teaching and learning, she pivoted to a master’s degree in special education in 1993, then knocked out a PhD in curriculum and instruction in 1996.

It didn’t take long for her career to flourish as she began securing leadership positions and building a career defined by the interweaving passions that would come to shape her work — people, learning, technology and innovation.

After four years as a researcher at ASU, she became the executive director at ASU’s past Applied Learning Technologies Institute, and later the assistant vice president of what was then called the University Technology Office (now ASU Enterprise Technology). It was there that the Phoenix-based educational consulting agency, KOI Education, began as a grant-funded project through ASU’s SkySong Innovation Center.

Jannasch-Pennell and her collaborators quickly transformed that project into a thriving organization, one dedicated to improving education systems across the U.S. and internationally.

By 2018, the business was being recognized in Sun Devil 100 for its growth and entrepreneurial value — an honor that has been repeated every year since.

Jannasch-Pennell's role with KOI Education is something she finds deeply rewarding. The work oscillates between supporting teachers one-on-one and addressing systemwide needs. Each day is different, she says, and she has the opportunity to make a direct impact on education, whether by directly coaching staff and leading workshops or developing broader strategies for systematic change.

“I love seeing growth — in teachers, in schools and in students,” she says. “Knowing that the work we do makes classrooms stronger and gives students more opportunities is incredibly rewarding. I also enjoy the collaboration with colleagues who are equally passionate about making a difference.”

She also acknowledges the challenges, reflecting, “Change in education is often slow and complicated. It requires patience and persistence, and it means balancing the needs of many different stakeholders while keeping the focus on what’s best for students.”

And although it was over three decades ago, she still relies on skills from her sociology degree, today.

“Sociology gave me a lens to view the world with more clarity and depth,” she says. “The ability to communicate clearly, think critically and analyze human interaction has been essential throughout my career.”

Looking back, Jannasch-Pennell says her time at ASU was pivotal in building the confidence and perspective that would later shape her leadership.

“My overall experience at ASU helped me realize I could connect my passion for learning with real-world impact,” she says. “Those ‘aha’ moments came through professors and peers who challenged me to think bigger than myself, and it gave me the confidence to step into leadership roles I might not otherwise have pursued — like serving as an assistant vice president at ASU or starting my own company.”

KOI’s continued recognition through Sun Devil 100 speaks to its strong business success, and it also shows how deeply Jannasch-Pennell’s work is rooted in improving education systems that millions of students count on — through research and strategic change. Looking ahead, she hopes to expand that impact even further, possibly into education policy or public service.

But after eight consecutive Sun Devil 100 awards and a career devoted to empowering others, her path still reflects the same core idea she discovered as a sociology major decades ago: that by understanding people and structures, it becomes possible to make them work better for those they serve.

She sums it up in one line: “For me, it’s about ensuring that every student has the tools to thrive, every teacher has the support to succeed and every family feels seen and valued."