Sesame Street was first introduced to the world in the 1960s. Over four decades, Sesame Street became known as the “longest street in the world.”
“Now we understand that it’s really right out of the womb that kids are becoming whole human beings in many ways and are learning from the get-go,” said Dunn.
With all of the changes in technology, politics, culture, and demographics around the world, kids are being exposed faster and learning more information quicker than ever before. Therefore, Sesame strives to keep up with the times by making positive changes for their programming.
The attention span of children has narrowed since Sesame originally began. Now, they air 30-minute shows as opposed to 60-minutes, in order to keep the attention of their viewers.
When Dunn and his new management team joined Sesame Workshop four years ago, they decided to become a mission-driven organization that has a television show, as opposed to a television show with a mission. Today, their mission is to help kids to grow up to become smarter, kinder, and stronger human beings.
“If you only work with yourself, if we only are Sesame, we can have an impact, but if we can instigate others to share our mission and our values, and can help kids grow smarter, kinder, and stronger, then we can have a much greater impact,” said Dunn.
To learn more about Sesame Workshop and to view the entire Distinguished Leaders Lecture Series featuring Jeffrey Dunn, click here.
To view the entire schedule for all of the lecture series, click here.
