Jeff Schon is co-founder and C.E.O. of Akili Networks, that launched Akili Kids! a free-to-air children’s TV channel in Kenya, in March of 2020. The channel has become the #1 children’s channel reaching over 8 million children and 5 million parents & caregivers every week with entertaining educational content. Broadcasting in English, Kiswahili and Kenyan sign-language the channel has been honored for three consecutive years by the Communication Authority of Kenya’s Kuza Award for excellence in broadcasting.

Jeff has worked for many years in television, software, and educational publishing. He developed the Emmy award-winning animated series Peep and the Big Wide World and, as head of production at Hearst Entertainment, produced animated TV series and documentaries. He was VP Educational Technology at Scholastic, the world’s largest children’s publisher, developing reading software for schools, and was CEO of Living Books, the leading publisher of children’s interactive CD-ROMs. Jeff’s productions have earned numerous awards, including fourteen Emmy Awards.

Jeff holds a B.A. in economics from Swarthmore College. He served as Chairman of the Board of St. Stephen’s School in Rome, Italy for many years and is a member of the International Academy of Arts and Sciences (Emmys) and the Producer’s Guild of America.