Phoebe & Jay: Coming Soon! A “Last Mile” Outreach and Opportunity

“Bill Isler [a longtime colleague and friend of Mister Rogers and former head of Fred Rogers Productions] said that, through television, we have the choice of encouraging others to demean this life or to cherish it in creative and imaginative ways. We see Genie [Deez] and Thy [Than] as two people who are using television to cherish life. And the impact of that transcends geography, right? Yes, Phoebe & Jay is being produced in places…1,000 miles away from where I’m sitting now. But at the end of the day, we know that kids in Pittsburgh are going to benefit from this program and from Genie and Thy’s thoughtfulness and their deliberateness and their creativity just as much as kids anywhere else. And, in an era when public media is under threat, to put it mildly, when programs like Phoebe & Jay are being targeted for simply doing good for the kids who need and deserve it, we’re proud to support it, even as a regional funder.”

— Ryan Rydzewski, The Grable Foundation

In the November 2025 Funder-to-Funder Conversation, Ryan Rydzewski of Grable Foundation in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, offered the above reflection as he made a compelling case for funders — including local and regional funders — who care about children’s early learning and development to invest in the development and launch of Phoebe & Jay, a forthcoming animated series on PBS KIDS. If you are interested in learning more about how you or your organization can contribute to Phoebe & Jay’s “last mile” fundraising efforts, let us know. 

The conversation was moderated by Terri Clark, currently the lead of Read On Arizona but also the former head of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation, which oversees the Fred Rogers Memorial Scholarship. Clark began by engaging two public television leaders — Pam Johnson, Ph.D., formerly of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) and Anne E. Lund of PBS KIDS — in a discussion about the research and intentional approaches reflected in PBS KIDS programming and the impact of the three decades of federal Ready To Learn grants in supporting educational programming for young children. 

The co-creators of Phoebe & Jay — Genie Deez and Thy Than, both of whom are former recipients of the Fred Rogers Memorial Scholarship — introduced the show, sharing engaging video clips and describing the care and attention they put into characters, their appearance, their environment, and their interactions. The show features 6-year-old fraternal twins being raised in a multi-generational, African American family living in an affordable apartment complex.

“One of the main visions [for the show] was to stay authentic. The bedrock of our show is authenticity. From the kinds of stories we tell to the way these characters look, the way they were designed, the way characters speak, the language they use, every brick and square foot of Topsy Towers — all that is meant to be authentic. By that we mean that it comes from lived experience — from my life, from Thy’s life, and the crew and everybody behind the scenes. There’s a lot of my family in this.”

— Genie Deez, Phoebe & Jay

In addition to that focus on authenticity and representation, the co-creators worked closely with Kelly Cartwright, Ph.D., of the University of North Carolina, Charlotte, to ensure the stories are building children’s early literacy and executive function skills. From reading clothing tags to find the right size to writing down their grandmother’s special greens recipe, Phoebe and Jay learn about the “everyday text” in the world around them and use it to solve problems. Than described it as the “Mr. Miyagi effect” referencing the 1980s movie The Karate Kid, noting how the early screening and testing of the show revealed that it helped children learn everyday text and functional literacy without the children even knowing it. 

“In this way, literacy is really depicted as purposeful. It’s child driven and it sets kids on the path to active, engaged reading development.” 

— Kelly Cartwright, Ph.D., University of North Carolina at Charlotte

Recognizing that a growing number of children engage with media via games rather than television, Than then provided an overview of the creators’ plans for multi-platform engagement, including an online game, printable coloring pages and activity sheets, and tools for caregivers and educators to use. 

Clark then welcomed Rydzewski into the conversation to share more about the Grable Foundation’s investments in education and how this new show advances the foundation’s mission. Based in Mister Roger’s hometown, Grable has a deep understanding of the ways in which public television can promote children’s learning and development and creative expression. As such Grable has been both an investor and advocate for the creation of Phoebe & Jay even though most of its investments are focused the southwest Pennsylvania region. As Rydzewski made the case for additional philanthropic investment in the show, Johnson underscored the value of the federal investment that has provided a foundation of research and evidence over the course of the past 30 years and helped the show’s creators get started. 

“I think it is important for fellow funders to understand that these PBS KIDS shows, frequently funded by Ready To Learn and CPB as well as philanthropic investors, have incredibly long lifespans. They grow in popularity. They become beloved by children and they influence children, and it’s really quite powerful…. What am I saying here? This is an incredible investment with strong return on investment for any funder — small, medium, or large. The commitment they make is going to have a lasting impact.”

— Pam Johnson, Ph.D., Formerly with Corporation for Public Broadcasting

If you were able to attend the session, we would love to hear your feedback! We appreciate your help in filling out the following form as we seek to learn and understand the perspectives, ideas, critiques and recommendations that better inform our key audiences.