Sherrie Rollins Westin

Sherrie Rollins Westin is the President of Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit educational organization behind Sesame Street, where she leads the organisation's efforts to serve vulnerable children through targeted mass media effort.^[1][2]

Early life and education[]

She was born Sherrie Lynn Sandy to Charlotte Ann (née Weeks) and William Gresham Sandy of Roanoke, Virginia.^[3] She has two siblings, William G. Sandy Jr. and Mark Steven Sandy.^[4] In 1980, she graduated with a degree in Communications from the University of Virginia,^[5] and in 1986 was the director of communications for the Oliver Carr Company, a real-estate development concern in Washington.^[3]

Career[]

After school, she worked at a public relations marketing firm in Georgetown; and then went to her firm's primary client, the Georgetown Business and Professional Association.^[5] She then worked for Ronald Reagan 1984 presidential campaign and then as head of communications for a Washington firm.^[5] In 1992, she was appointed as the first assistant secretary for public affairs at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Affairs (HUD) then headed by New York Republican U.S. Representative Jack Kemp.^[5] Her high-profile position was noticed by the chairman of ABC News, Roone Arledge, who recruited her to become the head of communications of the division.^[5] She left ABC News to serve as Assistant to the President for Public Liaison and Intergovernmental Affairs under President George H.W. Bush.^[5] After his term was over, she returned to ABC as executive vice president of network communications.^[5]

Previously, Westin served as Sesame Workshop’s President of Social Impact and Philanthropy. In that role, she spearheaded a partnership to create the largest early childhood intervention in the history of humanitarian response, bringing critical early education 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 $100 million 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 was named a “Leading Global Thinker” by Foreign Policy Magazine and one of Fast Company’s “100 Most Creative People in Business.” She was also recognized with the Smithsonian’s “American Ingenuity Award.” A staunch advocate for addressing children’s needs, she regularly appears on major media outlets to highlight the value of investing in early childhood development, especially for the most vulnerable children.

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, Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and she held senior positions at the ABC Television Network and U.S. News & World Report.

Westin is Chair of the Joan Ganz Cooney Center, an independent research and innovation lab named for Sesame Street’s Founder. Westin serves on the boards of the U.S. Fund for UNICEF, the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition, Communities in Schools, and Vital Voices Global Partnership. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the U.S. Afghan Women’s Council, the Early Childhood Peace Consortium Advisory Board, and serves on the Early Childhood Development Action Network Education Leadership Council.

Westin is a graduate of the University of Virginia and holds an Honorary Doctorate from Concordia College in New York.

Family[]

Westin has been married twice. In 1987, she married Ed Rollins.^[3] Westin lives in Bronxville, New York, with her second husband, David Westin; she has two children, Lily (adopted from China in 1995 while she was married to Rollins) and David (born in 2001).^[5]

References[]