Maine DOE team member Jon Monroe is being highlighted this week as part of the Get to Know the Maine DOE Team. Learn a little more about Jon in this brief question and answer.
What are your roles with DOE?
I’ve been working for several years now as the management analyst for the Maine Department of Education’s Office of School and Student Support (OSSS). What I like about the work is that its scope reflects the broad scope of the work of the OSSS coordinators, and so I usually have some fresh challenges to look forward to. It would also be hard to find a better group of people to work with. OSSS is a collegial, affable, and focused group.
How or why did you decide on this career?
I came to the Maine DOE following a career as a management consultant, working mostly on organizational change and strategy from a marketing angle. But my lifelong interests have been education, history, and democracy/elections. Working with Maine DOE allows me to contribute in a small way as an analyst/problem-solver and to feel like I’m partially repaying a debt to the people I admired as I was making my own way through the educational system.
What do you like to do outside of work for fun?
Outside of work I try to stay active with hiking, swimming, and basketball (currently on pandemic hiatus with the latter). I usually have some kind of building project going (often related to my wife’s mushroom business) as well as some kind of historical/research interest to pursue. Lately, my son and I have been learning to assemble computers and fix old electronics components. On weekends we’re all usually in Blue Hill visiting with my parents.