Sherrie Westin is President of Social Impact and Philanthropy for Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit educational organization behind\u00a0Sesame Street<\/i>.\u00a0 She leads the Workshop\u2019s efforts to serve vulnerable children through mass media and targeted initiatives in the United States and around the world.\u00a0 Westin serves as Sesame Workshop\u2019s chief mission ambassador, raising awareness, developing strategic partnerships, and cultivating philanthropic support to further the Workshop\u2019s mission to help children everywhere grow smarter, stronger, and kinder.<\/p>\n
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\u2019s 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\u00a0Sesame Street in Communities<\/i>, Sesame\u2019s comprehensive initiative designed to give children the tools they need to overcome traumatic experiences.<\/p>\n
Westin was named a \u201cLeading Global Thinker\u201d by Foreign Policy Magazine and one of Fast Company\u2019s \u201c100 Most Creative People in Business\u201d and was recognized with the Smithsonian\u2019s \u201cAmerican Ingenuity Award\u201d.\u00a0 A staunch advocate for addressing children\u2019s needs, she regularly appears on major media outlets with Sesame Street\u2019s iconic Muppets promoting Sesame\u2019s social impact initiatives around the world.<\/p>\n
Westin has held leadership positions in media, nonprofit, and public service.\u00a0 She was Assistant to the President for Public Liaison and Intergovernmental Affairs for President George H.W. Bush, Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and held senior positions at the ABC Television Network and U.S. News & World Report.<\/p>\n
Westin serves on the board of directors of the U.S. Fund for UNICEF, the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition, Communities in Schools and Vital Voices.\u00a0 She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the U.S. Afghan Women\u2019s Council, and the Early Childhood Peace Consortium Advisory Board.<\/p>\n
Westin is a graduate of the University of Virginia and holds an Honorary Doctorate from Concordia College in New York.\u00a0 She lives in Bronxville, New York with her husband David and her children, Lily and David.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":14679,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"members-type":[873,857],"class_list":["post-14678","biography","type-biography","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","members-type-authors","members-type-speakers"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n