A Model of Early Childhood Education: Video with Sherrie Westin (Sesame Workshop)

Ray Suarez in conversation with Sherrie Westin of Sesame Workshop. Sherrie Westin is President of Global Impact and Philanthropy for Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit educational organization behind Sesame Street. She leads the Workshop’s efforts to serve vulnerable children through mass media and targeted initiatives in the United States and around the world. Westin spearheaded a partnership to create the largest early childhood intervention in the history of humanitarian response, bringing critical education and nurturing care to refugee children in the Syrian response region. Working with the International Rescue Committee, she led Sesame Workshop’s efforts to compete for and win a historic $100 million grant from the MacArthur Foundation to fund this work. With an additional 100M grant from The Lego Foundation, this initiative has expanded to Bangladesh. She also oversees Sesame Street in Communities, Sesame’s comprehensive initiative designed to give children the tools they need to overcome traumatic experiences. Westin has held leadership positions in media, nonprofit, and public service. She was Assistant to the President for Public Liaison and Intergovernmental Affairs for President George H.W. Bush, and held senior positions at the ABC Television Network. Westin serves on the board of directors of UNICEF USA, the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition, and Communities in Schools. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the U.S. Afghan Women’s Council, and the Early Childhood Peace Consortium (ECPC) Advisory Board. Westin was named a “Leading Global Thinker” by Foreign Policy Magazine and one of Fast Company’s “100 Most Creative People in Business” and was recognized with the Smithsonian’s “American Ingenuity Award”. Westin is a graduate of the University of Virginia and holds an Honorary Doctorate from Concordia College in New York. She lives in Bronxville, New York with her husband David and her children, Lily and David.