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
