Sesame Workshop president and CEO Jeffrey Dunn is set to retire in January, though he’ll stay on as executive chairman until July 2021 as part of his transition.
To fill the impending leadership gap, Dunn’s responsibilities have been split in two, with Steve Youngwood (pictured left) set to take over as CEO, and Sherrie Westin (pictured right) ascending to president.
Dunn will spend the next few months advising Youngwood and Westin and the board of trustees before retiring officially at the end of the current fiscal year. Since he took over as CEO in 2014, Sesame Workshop has won 38 Emmys, a Peabody Award, a Kennedy Center Honors award, and the inaugural US$100-million MacArthur Foundation grant.
Youngwood is currently COO at Sesame and president of its media and education division, positions he’s held since 2015. Under his tenure, the company has gone from producing a single show to producing a broad slate of content for PBS, HBO Max, Apple, CNN, YouTube and more.
Westin, meanwhile, serves as president of Sesame’s social impact and philanthropy division. In her six years in the role, she has delivered more than US$300 million in grants and donations to serve the most vulnerable children around the world.