{"id":8435,"date":"2021-03-19T10:44:42","date_gmt":"2021-03-19T14:44:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/marymount.edu\/?p=8435"},"modified":"2021-08-03T22:46:21","modified_gmt":"2021-08-04T02:46:21","slug":"sesame-street-nonprofit-names-marymount-alumna-as-chief-diversity-equity-and-inclusion-officer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/marymount.edu\/blog\/sesame-street-nonprofit-names-marymount-alumna-as-chief-diversity-equity-and-inclusion-officer\/","title":{"rendered":"Sesame Street nonprofit names MU alumna as Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Wanda Witherspoon, a graduate of Marymount University, has been selected to lead racial justice work as the new Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer (CDEIO) at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sesameworkshop.org\/\">Sesame Workshop<\/a>. Sesame Workshop is the nonprofit organization behind the beloved television program, <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Sesame Street.&nbsp;<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Witherspoon graduated from Marymount with a B.A. in <a href=\"https:\/\/marymount.edu\/academics\/college-of-sciences-and-humanities\/school-of-social-and-behavioral-sciences\/undergraduate-programs\/communication-b-a\/\">Mass Communications and Public Affairs<\/a>. She joined Sesame Workshop in 1997 and served as the organization\u2019s Vice President of Public Affairs and Special Events, managing public appearances like United Nations General Assembly events and productions with the Macy\u2019s Thanksgiving Day Parade.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">On March 15, Sesame Workshop announced the creation of the CDEIO role as an executive position, and tapped Witherspoon to lead the way in its commitment to equity at every level of the organization.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">&#8220;Having directly witnessed Sesame Workshop&#8217;s impact on diverse communities around the world for more than 20 years, I am thrilled to now lead our efforts to ensure that same impact extends within the organization,&#8221; Witherspoon said. &#8220;As we redouble our efforts to authentically represent and support children everywhere, I look forward to creating sustainable change and opportunities for Sesame Workshop staff that reflect our deep commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">As CDEIO, Witherspoon will review the organization&#8217;s global business practices, ensuring that all processes \u2013 vendor selection, employee recruitment, staff development and more \u2013 reflect the Workshop&#8217;s foundational values. Her responsibilities also include continuing multi-level employee discussion groups and aiding teams throughout the organization as they assess their work through the lens of diversity, equity and inclusion. Witherspoon will retain her public affairs responsibilities.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">&#8220;From its inception, Sesame Workshop has been a leader in diversity and representation in children&#8217;s media. Fifty years later, as we address racism and racial justice more directly than ever before, we hope to set an equally strong example with our business practices and culture,&#8221; said Steve Youngwood, Chief Executive Officer at Sesame Workshop. &#8220;Wanda&#8217;s deep knowledge and love of the brand, along with her passion for creating growth opportunities for everyone in her orbit, make her perfect for the CDEIO role as we step into the Workshop&#8217;s future.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The organization has launched multiple resources in its ongoing commitment to racial justice, including the Sesame Street special <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Power of We<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> (with a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sesameworkshop.org\/what-we-do\/racial-justice\/watch-and-play-together\">viewing guide<\/a> for parents) and a Town Hall called <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2020\/06\/06\/app-news-section\/cnn-sesame-street-race-town-hall-app-june-6-2020-app\/index.html\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Coming Together: Standing Up to Racism<\/span><\/i><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">&nbsp;in collaboration with CNN.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Before launching her career at Sesame Workshop, Witherspoon previously worked for 20th Century Fox Television, BET and Arlington Community Television.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; Wanda Witherspoon, a graduate of Marymount University, has been selected to lead racial justice work as the new Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer (CDEIO) at Sesame Workshop. Sesame Workshop is the nonprofit organization behind the beloved television program, Sesame Street.&nbsp; Witherspoon graduated from Marymount with a B.A. in Mass Communications and Public Affairs. [&#8230;]<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"btn btn-secondary understrap-read-more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/marymount.edu\/blog\/sesame-street-nonprofit-names-marymount-alumna-as-chief-diversity-equity-and-inclusion-officer\/\">Read More&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":87,"featured_media":8440,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[19,247,248,504,249,15,503,502,501],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v22.3 (Yoast SEO v22.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Sesame Street nonprofit names MU alumna as Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer - Marymount University<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Wanda Witherspoon, a graduate of Marymount University, will lead social justice work at Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit organization behind Sesame Street.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/marymount.edu\/blog\/sesame-street-nonprofit-names-marymount-alumna-as-chief-diversity-equity-and-inclusion-officer\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sesame Street nonprofit names MU alumna as Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Wanda Witherspoon, a graduate of Marymount University, will lead social justice work at Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit organization behind Sesame Street.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/marymount.edu\/blog\/sesame-street-nonprofit-names-marymount-alumna-as-chief-diversity-equity-and-inclusion-officer\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Marymount University\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-03-19T14:44:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-08-04T02:46:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/marymount.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Witherspoon-700.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"700\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"420\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/marymount.edu\/blog\/sesame-street-nonprofit-names-marymount-alumna-as-chief-diversity-equity-and-inclusion-officer\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/marymount.edu\/blog\/sesame-street-nonprofit-names-marymount-alumna-as-chief-diversity-equity-and-inclusion-officer\/\",\"name\":\"Sesame Street nonprofit names MU alumna as Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer - 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