Aylon Samouha serves as the CEO of Transcend. With a commitment to ensuring all students receive the education they deserve, Aylon has dedicated his career to driving transformative change in American schooling. In 2015, he and Jeff Wetzler co-founded Transcend, an organization established on the belief that realizing the infinite potential of all students requires us to reimagine “schooling” as we know it.

Through direct partnerships with schools and districts, democratizing design supports, and influencing the broader ecosystem, Transcend supports communities across the country to create and spread extraordinary, equitable learning environments. Since 2015, Transcend has partnered with over 380 schools and districts across the country and has built a network of 12,000 systems leaders, school leaders, and other education innovators.

Before co-founding Transcend, Aylon served as the Chief Schools Officer at Rocketship Education, where he led the highest performing network of low-income schools in California. Additionally, Aylon spent several years as a Senior Vice President at Teach For America, directing pre-service institutes and service development for teachers.

Aylon’s expertise and insights have been widely recognized, and he has been invited to speak at various convenings, including the ASU+GSV conference, The New Schools Venture Fund Summit, Digital Promise’s Annual Convening, and numerous others dedicated to advancing education innovation globally. Aylon also serves on the board of Leading Educators.

Aylon holds a BA in English from Columbia University. He delights in his roles as husband and father and is an accomplished jazz guitarist, captivating audiences throughout the Chicago area with his performances.