David Lowenstein: Reflections on 15 Years of the Joan Ganz Cooney Center

It’s hard to believe 15 years have gone by since the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop launched. Due to the visionary force of nature that is Michael Levine, the Center swiftly earned its reputation for being an organization that serves as a nexus between research, policy, and practice in children’s learning and media. It also quickly became known as a launchpad for emerging scholars, entrepreneurs, and multi-sector leaders committed to advancing kids’ learning through media.

I joined Sesame Workshop in 2007 as a National Urban Fellow assigned to help Michael and his team shape the Center’s policy and public engagement strategy. I was on a full scholarship and stipend through National Urban Fellows (NUF), selected as one of 40 social impact leaders from across the country to earn an accelerated 14-month Master of Public Administration degree at Baruch College’s School of Public Affairs while also completing a full-time nine-month fellowship with a public sector or non-governmental organization (NGO).  I interviewed with several government agencies and NGOs that partnered with NUF to take on Fellows, including Sesame Workshop (thanks to former Sesame COO/CEO Mel Ming). After interviewing with Michael, Ann Thai, and the head of HR at Sesame Workshop, the Center was my top choice, and I happily accepted their offer to join the team.

My career path before joining the Center was already meaningful. I had worked for venerable organizations and legendary leaders like National Urban League and the late U.S. Congressman Major Owens, contributing to national and local efforts around bridging the digital divide. However, going to work every day at “the longest street in the world” brought a whole new level of excitement and meaning for me that tapped into my own Sesame Street-influenced childhood and my interest in achieving impact at scale. I was immediately struck by Sesame Workshop’s commitment to equity globally, and how it was (and still is) a magnet for the most brilliant and dedicated early childhood and media leaders in the world. It was exhilarating to participate in the planning and implementation of the Center’s first symposium with Michael and his small but stellar team, to feel the energy in the room, and to engage with a Who’s Who of cross-sector leaders as they each affirmed the critical importance of the Center and its mission to continue the legacy of Joan Ganz Cooney.

I’ll never forget my first conversation with Joan. She and I shared an elevator ride down to the lobby one afternoon. After letting Joan know how honored I was to work at the Center, I mentioned watching an interview she gave about having Malcolm X on a TV talk show she had produced, and I asked her what he was like. Joan got a kick out of my knowing about that and told me how impressive Malcolm was.

My nine-month fellowship at the Center turned into nearly two years, in part because of a grant I helped secure from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation that enabled us to transform my master’s thesis into a policy brief and conveneing at the Woodrow Wilson Center.  My thesis, which explored Dave Rejeski’s ideas around establishing a Corporation for Public Gaming  and the subsequent policy brief I co-authored with Ann Thai, Dixie Ching, Michael, and Dave, allowed me to interview more than a dozen thought leaders in the field. It included interviews with then-Sesame Workshop CEO Gary Knell, Alan Gershenfeld who I would later work for, and Sara DeWitt who would become my long-time boss at PBS KIDS, where I’ve been since 2011.

I am forever grateful for the lessons learned and relationships formed during my fellowship at the Center.  It is awe-inspiring to reflect on what the Center has meant to the field—and to me—over the last 15 years. I look forward to cheering on Michael Preston and his team over the next 15, and to finding new ways to collaborate.

 

As Senior Director of Ready To Learn, David Lowenstein manages PBS’ partnership with Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the U.S. Department of Education. He oversees grants strategy at PBS KIDS and daily operations of the Ready To Learn initiative, leading a cross-disciplinary team responsible for the research, development, and distribution of educational media for young children and their families. He is a regular speaker on education technology, the digital divide, and the role of public media in improving early learning outcomes.