Sesame Workshop International Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 831810098
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2018–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
- Location
- New York, NY, USA
- Phone
- 2128756706
- Rating
- 61
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Education N.E.C.
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $1,164,170
- Expenses
- $2,365,048
- Assets
- $538,680
- Liabilities
- $4,437,275
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
10 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- SHERRIE ROLLINS WESTIN (CEO)
- SHARI ROSENFELD (PRESIDENT (THRU 09/2024))
- LESLEY BOURNES (PRESIDENT (AS OF 04/2025))
- DANNI HILL (VICE PRESIDENT (AS OF 09/2024))
- STEPHEN YOUNGWOOD (FORMER CEO)
Highest reported compensation
- SHERRIE ROLLINS WESTIN (CEO): $1,136,265 total reported compensation
- STEPHEN YOUNGWOOD (FORMER CEO): $761,041 total reported compensation
- VALERIE MITCHELL-JOHNSTON (SECRETARY): $550,026 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Sesame workshop international's mission is to carry out the charitable and educational purposes of sesame workshop, internationally, helping kids throughout the world grow smarter, stronger and kinder.
What it reported doing in 2024
See schedule o
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Affiliate-supported. 87% of the money available for current operations came from contributions from related organizations.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.
The verdict
SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and program spending has grown recently. A relatively small share of voting board members are independent and few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 89
- Transparency & Controls: 46
- Accountability: 32
- Sustainability: 5
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
- Program expense ratio: 86.2%; rating input score 86
- Fundraising efficiency: $11.3 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
- Compensation committee: Missing
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
- Written employment contract: Missing
- Compensation survey or study: Missing
- Board or committee approval: Missing
- Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
- Grant itemization coverage: Scored; rating input score 0
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 0%; rating input score 0; 5th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Fail
- Other executive compensation review process: Fail
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -103.2%; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.23; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 8.24; rating input score 0; 0th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 23.2%; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 18.2% per year; rating input score 100; 80th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 8.7% per year; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 15.7% per year; rating input score 100; 74th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 86.2% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 0 of 3 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $2M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $1.1M · 10 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Consistency: 24 of 24 current checks pass
- Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, and executive pay
- Filing history: 7 filing years from 2018 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
- Related organizations: 12 filed related-organization links
- Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
- People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- High — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 0/100.
- High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
- High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
- High — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 0/100.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 42/100.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 1/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 9 not reported.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 11/100.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 0/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 11/100.