Sesame Workshop, the global impact nonprofit behind Sesame Street, has announced two new promotions within its team. Hallie Ruvin will oversee the Brand Narrative, Public Affairs, PR, and Events departments as the SVP of Communications and Public Affairs, while Aaron Bisman will oversee the Audience Development, Brand Marketing, Brand Creative, and Marketing Operations departments as SVP of Marketing. Both Ruvin and Bisman will work closely with Sherrie Westin, CEO of Sesame Workshop, to elevate the Sesame brand.
Prior to this new role, Ruvin had served as VP of Global Brand Narrative & Public Affairs for Sesame Workshop. She also worked in communications at the White House and the State Department during the Obama administration, most recently as the White House Associate Communications Director and Director of Specialty Media. As SVP of Communications and Public Affairs, Ruvin will lead communications on a global scale for the nonprofit, advancing its mission through storytelling and communication efforts.
Bisman had started with his own media and music non-profit in 2002, running it fir river a decade until he took on the role of Director of Brand, Sales, and Marketing at Jazz at Lincoln Center, where he launched mission-driven enterprises including a studio for branded content, a jazz conference, an NPR radio program, and a Grammy-nominated record company. Joining the Workshop in 2020, he served as the VP for Audience Development and with this promotion, will focus on prioritizing consumer engagement and fostering the relationships between the Workshop and its partners, donors, and fans.
Westin shares her thoughts on the promotions: “Aaron and Hallie are respected leaders with a demonstrated track record of harnessing the power of the Sesame Street brand to advance our mission for children and families around the world. Hallie has been at the communications helm of some of the Workshop’s most impactful programs, including our work supporting children affected by conflict and crisis, and she’s been instrumental in building our brand narrative and storytelling functions. Aaron has led the transformation of our marketing efforts into an audience-first framework, building our data infrastructure capabilities and leading the Workshop to its highest adult engagement to date, including re-launching and doubling traffic to sesame.org and growing our organic social media reach to 1.3 billion people annually. Their contributions have been exceptional, and I’m grateful for their thoughtful leadership and deep expertise as we work to help children everywhere grow smarter, stronger, and kinder.”
