Newhouse School of Public Communications
Whitman School of Management
Creator Economy Center · Syracuse University

Hi. I'm Jonathan.
I want to be the first Director
of the Creator Economy Center.

Jonathan Jackson
this is me

"My best teachers taught me to show my work." A resume is a summary. I'd rather show you.

Career & Affiliations
Career
BlavityBlavity
AfroTechAfroTech
LinkedInLinkedIn
Westbrook
Standard CharteredStandard Chartered
Education & Fellowships
Harvard NiemanHarvard Nieman
Ford FoundationFord Foundation
WashUWashU
TEDx
Speaking
TEDx Talk · Syracuse University
Series Thesis

The creator economy isn't a content story — it's a capital structure story. It's about who owns distribution, who captures monetization, and who controls narrative. Most of the industry hasn't figured that out yet. A university-based center is uniquely positioned to.

Why Me

I've spent my career inside an industry that didn't have a name yet — building brands, advising platforms, structuring new things from scratch. What follows isn't a resume. It's a record.

Executive
Nieman-Berkman Klein Fellow — Harvard University
Global Fellow — Ford Foundation
Editor-in-Chief — Red Table Talk (Westbrook Studios)
Narrative strategy — Standard Chartered
Operator
Co-founded & scaled 5 brands simultaneously — Blavity, 21Ninety, Travel Noire, Shadow & Act, AfroTech
Grew AfroTech from 2,000 to 40,000 attendees
Ran LinkedIn's Influencer Program — 500 world leaders, 500M members
Relationship Builder
The room I can get into — and who I can get into it — is the credential. Over 12 years inside this industry, the relationships I've built span founders, funders, platforms, and policy. That's not networking. That's convening power.
The Series

Straightforward snapshots into how I think, what I do, and why it's directly relevant to the CEC. Each episode is a window — not a pitch.

In Practice

The kind of person you're recruiting needs to have instincts — and the capacity to show that. Due Dilly is a show I host with my best friend Carl. We go deep with people who are building things in distinct places. It's not a media industry podcast. It's a show about what it actually takes to make something real.

From the show
Full episode
References
Jessica Santana
🍊
Jessica Santana
CEO, America On Tech
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Jessica can speak to how I show up in rooms that matter — as a builder, a connector, and someone who takes institution-making seriously. We've moved in overlapping circles long enough for her to speak to both my character and how I lead.

Syracuse University Alum
Paul Butler
Paul Butler
CEO, New America
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Paul can speak to my thinking at the institutional level — how I approach research, policy adjacency, and building things designed to last. He understands the difference between someone who talks about systems and someone who builds them.

Kendra Clarke
Kendra Clarke
VP, User Experience Research & Consumer Insights, Peacock
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Kendra can speak to how I understand audiences — not just as demographics, but as people with real needs and behaviors. She's seen how I think about consumer insight, creator relationships, and what it actually takes to build products and platforms people trust.

Maya Pope-Chappell
Maya Pope-Chappell
Director, Content & Audience Engagement, LinkedIn
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Maya can speak directly to how I operated inside LinkedIn — how I thought about content, creator relationships, and audience engagement at scale. She watched me work and can speak to both the quality of my thinking and how I show up as a collaborator.

Adria Goodson
Adria Goodson
Director, Ford Global Fellowship
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Adria can speak to how I engage with institutional frameworks — as a Ford Fellow, she saw how I think, how I listen, and how I operate when the work is serious and the stakes are real.

Aaron Samuels
Aaron Samuels
Founder & Managing Partner, Collide Capital
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Aaron co-founded Blavity Inc. with me. He watched me build from the inside — the decisions, the pressure, the tradeoffs. There is no closer vantage point than that. He can speak to how I lead when it's hard, not just when it's easy.

BTS

Site & production stack

Claude Code — AI-assisted development HTML / CSS / JS — no frameworks Netlify — deployment Porkbun — domain iPhone — filming YouTube — video hosting Canva — thumbnails

Filming setup

iPhone — primary camera DJI Mic Mini — wireless audio SMALLRIG Vibe P108 Pro RGB — fill light DexBoard U-Stand Whiteboard Easel — 36×24" magnetic dry erase EXPO dry erase markers — assorted colors Telescopic pointer — for directing focus on diagrams

Research cited

IPR.VC — The New Content Economy (March 2026) Spotter — Rise of Creator TV (March 2026)

Let's build this together.

I've been inside every era of the evolution of this industry before it had a name — in industry, as a founder, a creator, and inside institutions. If you've seen enough, reach out.