Shannon May and Jay Kimmelman

Shannon May and Jay Kimmelman
Benjamin Wachenje
Shannon May and Jay Kimmelman

Shannon May

Title: Co-founder and chief strategy officer, Bridge International Academies

Born: January, 20, 1977, Mesa, Arizona

Education: BA in social studies, Harvard College; Ph.D. in anthropology, University of California, Berkeley

Early Marker: PhD research on modernization of rural China, particularly failings of primary schooling for poor families in Liaoning, sparked Academy-in-a-Box concept with now husband ex-Edusoft CEO Jay Kimmelman.

Big Idea: Private provision of nursery and primary education for families living on $2 a day or less through standardized "Academy-in-Box" model.

Wave of the Future: Education, emerging markets

Jay Kimmelman

Title: Co-founder and CEO, Bridge International Academies

Born: July 21, 1977

Education: BA, computer science and ElectricalEngineering , Harvard College

Early marker: Co-founded and ran Edusoft, educationalsoftware company that became market leader in providing K-12 assessments to U.S. school districts,sold to Houghton Mifflin in late 2003.

Big idea: Private provision of nursery and primary education for families living on $2 a day or less through building a for-profit large-scale chain of standardized low-cost, high-quality schools; started in Kenya, with plans to expand globally to reach 10 million children.

Wave of the future: Education, emerging markets

Latest Special Reports

  • CNBC Changemakers

    CNBC Changemakers: Women Transforming Business is an annual list spotlighting women whose accomplishments have left an indelible mark on the business world.

  • Geoff Cutmore, Steve Sedgwick and Karen Tso lead you into the open of the European markets.

  • The Just 100 is an annual ranking of America’s largest publicly traded companies on issues that define 'just' business behavior and reflect the priorities of the American public, produced in partnership with research nonprofit Just Capital.

CNBC25: Rebels, Icons and Leaders