Previously, he was a PhD researcher at the Department of History and Ethnology at the University of Jyväskylä.[4] He has been a councillor in Muurame Municipality since 2009 and is the 1st vice-chairman of the Muurame Municipal council.[5] He is also the Chairman of the Regional Council of Central Finland. Kokko lives in Muurame.[6]
Kokko's master's thesis The voice of the nation: The Inaugural Addresses of US Presidents as a Genre of Political Speech from George Washington to Barack Obama was accepted by the Department of History and Ethnology at the University of Jyväskylä in August 2012.[7] He worked on the 2020 US presidential election[8] and on the NATO membership process as a Yle expert.[9] Kokko was one of the persons responsible for drafting the citizens' initiative on Finland's accession to NATO.[10]
In December 2022, Kokko, as chairman of the regional council, interpreted that a person employed by a welfare district directly under the regional government could not serve on the regional government and that the four board members or colour guard should resign from the regional government.[11] However, the regional government decided in December 2022 that the persons could continue as members of the regional government indefinitely.[12]
Kokko is a member of the board of directors of the Central Finland First Aid and Shelter Home Association and the Federal Board of the Association of First Aid and Shelter Homes.[5]