Is it real?
Yes. Never revoked by the IRS. Latest filing on record: FY2025. IRS ruling in Apr 1970.
IRS Pub. 78 · IRS Auto-Revocation List · IRS Business Master File
Where the money goes
79 cents of each dollar spent went to programs.
Form 990 Part IX, line 25, columns B–D. Every line is in By the numbers.
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Who runs it and what they're paid
32 people listed on the 990; $6.7M paid to officers and key staff.
Sherrie Rollins Westin’s $1.1M as President & CEO is at the 74th percentile of top reported officer pay among 53 $100M+ arts & culture nonprofits. Peer set: organizations in the same NTEE major field of work and revenue-size band, compared on each org’s own highest-paid officer/key-employee, from Form 990 Part VII / 990-PF Part VIII. Descriptive placement, not a verdict on whether the pay is appropriate.
Compensation history total reportable pay by year · 8 named individuals · Part VII
| Name | FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | FY2021 | FY2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sherrie Rollins Westin | $1,099,259 | $858,697 | $864,748 | — | — | — |
| Jeffrey Dunn | — | — | — | $775,430 | $1,090,227 | $903,418 |
| Stephen Youngwood | $751,982 | $1,025,307 | $1,022,143 | $958,540 | $662,671 | $615,765 |
| Sherrie Westin | — | — | — | $811,811 | $649,499 | $594,852 |
| Jean Brown Johnson | — | — | — | — | — | $527,254 |
| Kay N Wilson Stallings | $527,067 | $525,543 | $522,985 | $510,297 | $438,929 | $377,928 |
| Joseph P Salvo | — | $312,288 | $521,954 | — | — | — |
| George E Wells | — | — | — | $509,911 | $426,280 | $407,507 |
Total reportable compensation (Form 990 Part VII column D / Schedule J column E) by filing year, matched by name within this organization. The Schedule J base / bonus / deferred breakdown is not parsed into this dataset.
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Questions the 990 asks
The form asks each of these directly. These are the filed answers.
- Family or business ties among officersPt VI · Ln 2Yes
- Top official's pay set by an independent reviewPt VI · Ln 15aYes
Programs and updates
Helps children develop intelligence, physical strength, and compassion.
Questions for Sesame Workshop
Your first name shows with your question. Sesame Workshop answers here, for everyone.
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Creation and distribution of educational media sesame workshop creates educational content for preschool children and distributes that content in the U.S. And around the world, across various media platforms including television, digital streaming, online, radio, print, mobile, and home entertainment.
Humanitarian Response Play to Learn
Launched in 2019 and led by sesame workshop in close partnership with brac, the international rescue committee (irc), and nyu global ties for children, play to learn (PTL) set out to transform how the humanitarian sector approaches early childhood development in crisis and conflict settings.
International social impactsesame workshop's (SW) international social impact (isi) group advances early learning and child well-being globally in service of our core mission: helping kids grow smarter, stronger, and kinder.
Funders
Who pays for it.
From grant filings on record. Receipts are incomplete: individual donors are never listed.
Grants
By the numbers
The FY2025 990, line by line.
Download 990
| Line | Start FY25 | End FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Cash and savingsLn 1–2 | $16.6M | $11.3M |
| InvestmentsLn 11–13 | $408.8M | $442.9M |
| Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c | $13.4M | $12.5M |
| Total assetsLn 16 | $578.0M | $584.9M |
| LiabilitiesLn 26 | $108.6M | $70.6M |
| Net assetsLn 32 | $469.4M | $514.2M |
| Line | Total | Programs | Management | Fundraising |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grants to domestic organizationsLn 1 | $3.2M | $3.2M | ||
| Grants and assistance to foreign recipientsLn 3 | $5.6M | $5.6M | ||
| Pay of current officers, directors and key staffLn 5 | $3.8M | $3.4M | $206K | $255K |
| Pay of disqualified personsLn 6 | $375K | $265K | $109K | $1K |
| Other salaries and wagesLn 7 | $51.7M | $36.6M | $15.0M | $156K |
| Pension plan contributionsLn 8 | $4.0M | $2.5M | $1.2M | $339K |
| Other employee benefitsLn 9 | $7.6M | $5.8M | $1.7M | |
| Payroll taxesLn 10 | $4.2M | $2.7M | $1.2M | $318K |
| Legal feesLn 11b | $1.3M | $890K | $394K | $20K |
| Accounting feesLn 11c | $769K | $130K | $634K | $5K |
| Professional fundraising feesLn 11e | $170K | $170K | ||
| Investment management feesLn 11f | $2.0M | $2.0M | ||
| Other fees for servicesLn 11g | $3.9M | $1.1M | $2.5M | $299K |
| Advertising and promotionLn 12 | $1.9M | $1.3M | $87K | $516K |
| Office expensesLn 13 | $2.8M | $1.5M | $560K | $793K |
| Information technologyLn 14 | $5.4M | $4.3M | $1.2M | |
| RoyaltiesLn 15 | $117K | $117K | ||
| OccupancyLn 16 | $7.3M | $5.1M | $1.7M | $374K |
| TravelLn 17 | $1.7M | $1.4M | $198K | $42K |
| Conferences, conventions and meetingsLn 19 | $387K | $162K | $218K | $6K |
| InterestLn 20 | $19K | $19K | ||
| Depreciation, depletion and amortizationLn 22 | $7.0M | $4.2M | $2.4M | $322K |
| InsuranceLn 23 | $914K | $578K | $254K | $82K |
| Other expenses (24a–d)Ln 24 | $53.5M | $53.1M | $270K | $144K |
| Total functional expensesLn 25 | $169.7M | $134.0M | $31.9M | $3.8M |
Filing history
| Year | Money in | Money out | In minus out | Net assets | Download |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 Latest Viewing | $180.7M | $169.7M | $11.0M | $514.2M | 990 PDF |
| FY2024 | $170.3M | $166.9M | $3.5M | $469.4M | 990 PDF |
| FY2023 | $186.9M | $192.3M | −$5.3M | $439.0M | 990 PDF |
| FY2022 | $271.2M | $249.3M | $21.9M | $431.7M | 990 PDF |
| FY2021 | $195.5M | $184.1M | $11.5M | $444.4M | 990 PDF |
| FY2020 | $246.1M | $208.2M | $37.9M | $341.6M | 990 PDF |
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Schedules filed Part IV
See the full FY2025 990 (6 parts)
Part I · Summary $180,674,492 revenue, 12 lines filed
Part VI · Governance 16 of 17 board members independent, 1 to look at
Part VIII · Statement of revenue $180,674,492 across 11 lines filed
Part IX · Statement of functional expenses $169,692,246 across 24 lines filed
Part X · Balance sheet $584,866,720 assets, 19 lines filed
Part XI · Reconciliation of net assets $514,238,472 net assets at year end
Form 990 e-file (XML) FY2025 from the IRS · Classification, formation year and address from the IRS Business Master File
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