Who is Emily Mayo from Jeopardy?

Emily Mayo is a Brooklyn, New York-based Broadway advertising professional and theatre artist who appeared as a contestant on Jeopardy! in 2026. Mayo works as an Account Associate/Project Manager at The Pekoe Group, an advertising agency specializing in Broadway and theatrical campaigns.

Her background goes far beyond advertising. Mayo is also an experienced producer, director, writer, dramaturg and arts administrator, with credits spanning Broadway productions, Shakespeare adaptations and independent theatre. She graduated from Brown University in 2024 with a B.A. in History, earning a reported 3.95 GPA and membership in Phi Beta Kappa.

Emily Mayo Works in Broadway Advertising

Mayo’s day job puts her behind the scenes of the Broadway industry. At The Pekoe Group, she has worked on advertising accounts including SIX and Operation Mincemeat.

Her name appears among the advertising and social-media personnel credited for SIX, giving Mayo a professional connection to one of Broadway’s best-known contemporary musicals.

She has also written about her industry. In 2026, Broadway News published Mayo’s articles explaining subjects including theatrical advertising content shoots, terminology used when creating show websites and the account-management process inside a Broadway advertising agency.

Where is Emily Mayo From?

Mayo currently lives in Brooklyn, New York, but grew up in the Washington, D.C. area. She describes herself as having been born and raised just outside Washington, D.C.

Her career has since taken her from Washington to Brown University in Providence, a period studying in London and ultimately New York City, where she now works in the Broadway industry.

Emily Mayo Went to Brown University

Mayo attended Brown University between 2021 and 2024, earning a bachelor’s degree in History. Her studies focused particularly on gender, war and the ancient world, while she simultaneously pursued an extensive interest in theatre and arts management.

Her résumé lists an impressive 3.95 cumulative GPA and Phi Beta Kappa membership.

Outside the classroom, Mayo served as President/Co-Chair of Musical Forum Productions and Editor-in-Chief of the Brown History Journal. She was also secretary of Brown-Providence Original Photography, a Meiklejohn Peer Advisor and a participant in Brown Arts Institute’s ArtsCorps.

A Childhood Challenge Sparked Her Love of Shakespeare

Mayo’s fascination with Shakespeare began long before college.

She has recalled that when she was about nine years old, an elementary-school teacher offered students chocolate if they read all of Julius Caesar. Mayo took up the challenge — and apparently enjoyed the play enough to read another five or six Shakespeare works during the same summer.

That childhood interest became much more than a hobby. Shakespeare would eventually become a major part of Mayo’s work as a director, writer and performer.

Emily Mayo Later Directed Julius Caesar

Years after first reading the play as a child, Mayo directed her own interpretation of Julius Caesar at Brown.

Her production transformed ancient Rome into a women’s college or girls’ boarding school environment, with a non-male-identifying cast. It was one example of Mayo’s interest in taking classical works and examining them through contemporary ideas about gender and power.

She also co-directed a 1920s garden production of Much Ado About Nothing and directed Anne Carson’s Antigone/Antigonick in the round.

Other projects included a site-specific garden production of As You Like It and an unofficial musical adaptation of Madeline Miller’s The Song of Achilles, on which Mayo worked as book writer and dramaturg.

She Has Worked on Major Broadway Productions

Mayo began accumulating professional theatre-management experience before moving into advertising.

During summer 2024, she worked as a General Management Intern at RCI Theatricals, supporting Broadway productions including Hadestown, & Juliet, Our Town and Gypsy.

Her responsibilities included crew travel, hospitality and rehearsal research, special events and maintaining records for more than 50 current and closed Broadway productions. She also communicated with multiple management teams.

Mayo has additionally worked as an opening-night assistant for 101 Productions, including on Sunset Boulevard, and provided opening-night or front-of-house assistance for RCI Theatricals and Irish Arts Center.

Emily Mayo Has Experience Across the Theatre Industry

One of the more notable aspects of Mayo’s career is the number of different theatrical jobs she has performed.

She has experience as a director, producer, writer, dramaturg, stage manager, assistant director, production manager, music director, designer and performer.

Mayo says that across Whitman Drama, Brown and Wilbury Theatre Group she has produced eight full-length productions, along with showcases and a short film. The teams involved ranged from fewer than 10 people to more than 200.

At Whitman Drama in Bethesda, where she worked as a Producer/Dramaturg between 2019 and 2020, she helped coordinate productions with budgets reaching approximately $30,000 and companies exceeding 100 people.

She Also Studied Theatre in London

Mayo spent part of her university years studying abroad at King’s College London.

While there, she appeared in Shakespeare’s Cymbeline, playing Philario. Her acting experience also includes Twelfth Night, while she stage-managed and assistant-directed A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder at Brown.

That range of experience means Mayo has approached theatre from almost every direction — performing onstage, directing actors, writing material, managing productions and eventually advertising shows to the public.

What Are Emily Mayo’s Personal Interests?

Away from work, Mayo says she enjoys baking, watching Survivor, finding good coffee around New York City and spending time on Goodreads.

Her interest in Survivor provides a small television connection for a contestant who eventually found herself appearing on another long-running American institution, Jeopardy!.

Mayo’s exact age and date of birth have not been reliably established in public sources. Reliable information about whether she is married or dating also does not appear to be publicly available.

Emily Mayo’s Road to Jeopardy!

Mayo’s background makes for an intriguing Jeopardy! contestant. She has studied history and the ancient world, spent years immersed in Shakespeare and literature, worked in Broadway and written professionally about the theatre industry.

She also brings an unusual mixture of academic and practical experience. One day might involve discussing ancient history or interpreting Shakespeare; another might involve coordinating a Broadway advertising campaign.

For someone accustomed to helping Broadway productions take center stage, Jeopardy! offered Emily Mayo the opportunity to step out from behind the scenes and into the spotlight herself.

Contestant Image Credit: Jeopardy! Official Website