Company: Sesame Workshop
Title: President and CEO
Industry: Media and Entertainment
Standout achievement in 2025: Navigated the loss of public broadcasting funds by negotiating a major public-private Netflix and PBS Kids co-distribution deal that expanded Sesame Workshop's educational reach and ensured Sesame Street's continuity.
As leader of the nonprofit behind Sesame Street, Westin leads efforts to use educational media and iconic brands like the Sesame Street Muppets to support children's literacy and social-emotional wellbeing.
In the past year, Westin and the 56-year-old organization faced a different set of business-specific challenge: the loss of public broadcasting and USAID funds under the Trump administration, and a media industry streaming shift that jeopardized Sesame Street's existence.
When Warner Brothers Discovery did not renew a deal for Sesame Street for its HBO platform, the nonprofit's financial position was vulnerable. Westin forged a public-private partnership with Netflix and PBS, and struck a deal with YouTube for a Sesame library numbering hundreds of episodes.
Sesame Street is now reaching more children than ever before — 300 million households in over 190 countries and in 30 languages, in addition to the 97% of households in the U.S. through PBS.
