Sesame Workshop

“Board of trustees member, joan ganz cooney, and board of trustees member, michael manasse, have a business relationship.”

“Sesame workshop amended its bylaws in november of 2023 to reflect a change in the terms of the chair and vice chair of the board of directors. In addition, the bylaws were amended to modify the purpose of certain committees of the board.”

“Sesame workshop's form 990 is prepared by the organization's internal accounting department in conjunction with a nationally recognized accounting firm. Upon completion, the form 990 is distributed to senior management and to the audit committee of the board of directors. The 990 is presented to the audit committee and subjected to a detailed review before it is approved for filing. A copy of the final form 990 is distributed to the entire board of trustees for review and comment prior to submission with the internal revenue service.”

“All board members, officers, and employees who are vice presidents and above are required to review the conflict of interest policy annually, and disclose any real or potential conflict of interest in response to a conflict of interest questionnaire. The completed questionnaires are reviewed by the general counsel and secretary to the board and are presented to the audit committee. In the event of a real or potential conflict, the audit committee of the board and the general counsel/secretary shall enforce the conflict of interest policy's requirement of recusal from participating in any deliberations and decisions relevant to the disclosures.”

“Each year, the personnel & compensation committee of the board - comprised of a majority of independent trustees - reviews the organization's compensation philosophy and works with an independent, third party compensation consulting firm to collect comparable market data to set appropriate salary ranges for each of the positions held by the officers and key employees. In so doing, the committee takes into consideration the competitive labor marketplace for such positions and the comparability data in the not-for-profit and, in some instances the for-profit sectors, as applicable. With respect to the ceo position, the committee takes into consideration the comparability data in both the not-for-profit and for-profit sector. The annual job performance for each officer and key employee are reviewed and any changes in the base compensation and/or any incentive awards as determined through sesame workshop's targeted incentive program are reviewed and approved. The ceo's actual job performance is reviewed by the personnel and compensation committee and evaluated by the full board of trustees. The review includes a survey that gathers input from all trustees. Any recommended incentive compensation award or salary change is determined in consultation with the independent compensation consultant. The recommendation is presented to the full board of trustees for approval. The deliberations and decisions of the personnel & compensation committee, as well as the full board of trustees with respect to the ceo's performance and compensation, are contemporaneously documented and the personnel & compensation committee reports on its actions to the full board of trustees. Sesame workshop commissioned its last compensation survey as recently as september 2024.”

“Sesame workshop's form 990 is available on its website (http://www.sesameworkshop.org) as is sesame workshop's audited financial statements. The form 990 is available at guidestar.com. Sesame workshop's governing documents and conflict of interest policy are available upon written request.”

“Gross receipts reported on form 990, page 1, box g includes, in addition to revenues, the gross sale proceeds of sesame workshop's investment portfolio as reported in part viii, line 7a of the form 990.”

“Sesame workshop achieves its mission by developing and distributing innovative and entertaining educational content for children. The company organizes its activities into two operating units to most efficiently deliver on its mission. The media and education group distributes the company's educational content through mass media platforms, including television, streaming video, mobile, interactive, print and live entertainment, in the u.s. And around the world, with a focus on developed and developing markets. This group is responsible for creating and distributing sesame street, the company's flagship preschool series, which premiered in the united states in 1969 and is currently broadcasting its 54th season. This group's primary sources of revenues are the sale and licensing of educational content and the licensing of the sesame street characters and brand, both domestically and internationally. The second group, global social impact & philanthropy, focuses its efforts on un-served, underserved, and vulnerable communities in the u.s. And less developed markets. It creates and distributes content for specific target audiences, including creating and distributing local versions of sesame street that are developed in partnership with local experts, designed to address the educational needs of children in their own countries. It also creates needs-driven public services initiatives and outreach programs that provide age-appropriate materials and behavior change strategies around themes of access to early education, critical health lessons, and tools for vulnerable children. Projects address health and sanitation, parent engagement, traumatic childhood experiences, financial empowerment, military deployment, humanitarian response and school readiness. This group's primary source of revenue is direct funding support for its educational programs and initiatives from foundations, corporations, government agencies, and individuals. Overall, sesame street has been seen in over 150 countries, including 30 sesame street international co-productions. Taking advantage of all forms of media and using those that are best suited to delivering a particular curriculum, the company effectively and efficiently reaches millions of children, parents, caregivers and educators.”

“School readiness in august 2023, with support from pnc grow up great, sesame workshop launched new school readiness resources on sesameworkshop.org that leverage the power of relationships, social connections, and classroom community. The bilingual resources include two muppet videos, a digital storybook, two shareables, one article for educators, and a digital artmaker canvas. These resources garnered over 700,000 impressions across social media and the website from august through june 30. In october 2023, we refreshed and relaunched resources from our joint initiative, for me, for you, for later: first steps in spending, sharing, and saving with new content to ensure that we are responding to the needs of children and families at a time of financial instability. Resources include three animated muppet videos, an updated topic page on sesame.org, two new articles, a printed family guide (75,500 copies printed and distributed by pnc), a digital professional development interactive guide that ties in with a printable educator guide, and a printable volunteer guide for pnc employees. These resources garnered over 1m impressions across social media and the website from october through june 30. In april 2024, with continued support from pnc, we launched new school readiness resources that can be used to encourage children to move their bodies, explore math and science, and build language and social skills in indoor and/or outdoor settings. New bilingual resources include a printed activity card set (350,000 copies printed and distributed by pnc), a digital game, and printable volunteer guide. These resources garnered over 50,000 impressions across website and social media from april to june. In march 2024, with support from the dollar general literacy foundation (dglf), we launched new resources on the topic of "shared reading". The grant kicked off with formative research with providers and caregivers that provided key findings such as: many parents have had less time to engage with their children in everyday conversations, playful moments, or in shared reading experiences essential for building children's language development; and evidence indicates this is creating a major gap in young children's literacy development and readiness for school, especially within families facing economic hardship, families with lower literacy levels and/or single parent households. New bilingual resources launched on sesameworkshop.org were created to address these findings and include three muppet videos, three articles, three shareable pages, a digital storybook, and a professional development webinar for national partners and dglf employees. Resources garnered over 1.5m impressions from launch through june. Advisory roundtables: from july 1, 2023-to june 30, 2024, us social impact convened 54 experts across various fields over five advisory roundtable discussions for the following grants: packard foundation, google.org, foundation for opioid response efforts (fore), abbott, and new york presbyterian (nyp). The purpose of each gathering was to: fore: expand on our parental addiction initiative by exploring how to leverage resources, raise awareness, and implement effective practices through professional development. The insights gained led to the creation of a new professional development course for providers working with young children and families affected by addiction. Packard foundation: inform our social impact work on the state of childcare and the effects of the pandemic and other societal challenges. Findings from this roundtable guided the development of new childcare resources and informs our current emotional well-being work under our grant with morgan stanley. Google.org.: define digital wellbeing, identify developmentally appropriate strategies for young children, and explore ways historically marginalized families can practice digital well-being. The results of this discussion informed our first digital wellbeing content framework,”

“The number of 1099's issued in any given year is dependent on the number and size of projects undertaken. Form 990, part v, line 2a: the number of employees reported in calendar year 2023 totaling 777 reflects all individuals employed for any part of the year. It also includes payments to production talent for reuse and re-airing of previously produced content. Given the variable nature of project and production activities, the total employees reported may vary significantly year to year.”