The US pubcaster has promoted longtime PBS KIDS digital head Sara DeWitt to SVP and GM of children’s media and education. The role was previously held for 21 years by Lesli Rotenberg, who left in May to pursue new opportunities advocating on behalf of children and families.

DeWitt will lead a cross-disciplinary team responsible for content production, digital development, multi-platform asset distribution, educational product creation, marketing and communications. She started in her new role on September 22, and reports to PBS president and CEO Paula Kerger.

DeWitt has been at PBS for more than 20 years, most recently serving as VP of PBS KIDS Digital. During her tenure, she has overseen the pubcaster’s website, kids streaming service and a rich portfolio of educational games and apps for children and caregivers. DeWitt has also spearheaded the pubcaster’s expansion into augmented reality experiences, podcasts and second-screen technologies, as well as developing a learning analytics platform to better gauge how children learn through gameplay.

DeWitt was named as one of the top 42 women leaders in education by the USC Rossier School of Education in 2014, and also received the 2020 Hedy Lamarr Award for innovation in entertainment technology.

Prior to joining PBS, she worked as a preschool teacher and a field researcher studying children’s media habits in rural areas.

Among PBS KIDS’ more recent digital projects are an accelerator program to fund new podcasts for kids, and an interactive digital experience called Team Hamster! that explores a “game-first” production model.