Sesame Workshop picks Pari Jhaveri as COO!

Sesame Workshop Initiatives India PLC (SWIP) has named Pari Jhaveri to the newly created position of Chief Operating Officer.  SWIP is a venture of the non-profit educational organization Sesame Workshop India that produces Galli Galli Sim Sim, the Indian version of world-renowned educational children’s series Sesame Street. Jhaveri will be responsible for the day-to-day management as well as pursuing growth opportunities and integrating and aligning all business strategies of the Workshop in India, reporting to Sashwati Banerjee, Managing Director, SWIP.

“Sesame Workshop’s India operations are growing at a phenomenal pace and quality Early Childhood Learning is a pressing need. In keeping with our mission, we are engaging with channels that connect us with children, wherever they are,” said Banerjee. “Pari’s role is critical to helping us accomplish this.  She has an amazing ability to shape new paths where the models for education, business and social philanthropy evolve.”

Jhaveri has over a decade of experience in multi-disciplinary roles in the not-for-profit, social enterprise and sustainability-oriented business domains. She has worked on issues as diverse as education, public health, women and gender, social marketing, water management, climate change, poverty alleviation, livelihoods, community development, and microfinance. She has advised leaders, companies, not-for-profits and United Nations agencies on talent management, conflict resolution, and innovative problem solving mechanisms and good governance. As a guiding force, she has also mentored many entrepreneurs in their quest to create meaningful enterprises and guided pre-eminent corporates to integrate their business goals with social values.

Until most recently Jhaveri was the head of Third Sector Partners, the country’s only executive search firm dedicated to the social sector, which she established as a Founder. She also co-founded barefootjobs.org, India’s first interactive job portal for this sector. At Third Sector Partners she helped establish Katalyst, a corporate responsibility program that empowers girls from underprivileged backgrounds by creating an enabling environment to fulfill their goals of higher education, economic empowerment and self-reliance.

In the past she has also successfully led private equity, financial services and IT searches at Hunt Partners, a global top-ten executive search firm. Jhaveri has also served as the founding team member of the brand social responsibility and cause related marketing practice at Ogilvy & Mather Advertising where she delivered award-winning behavioral change and social impact campaigns for a range of not-for-profit and business clients.

Jhaveri frequently speaks at public forums and universities worldwide. She has been a recipient of numerous awards including the 2012 Best Women Entrepreneur Award from the Chief Minister of Maharashtra and the 2011 Edelweiss Innovation Award for the Katalyst Girl Child Program among others. Jhaveri holds a Masters in International Relations, Law and Diplomacy from The Fletcher School at Tufts University, a Masters in Social Work and Bachelors in Psychology from the University of Mumbai.

Sesame Workshop Initiatives India PLC is a venture of Sesame Workshop India Trust, the organization behind Galli Galli Sim Sim, that uses the power of the media to help children reach their highest potential. It develops and distributes high quality and engaging content through television, radio, community radio, print, digital and outreach, to reach children aged 0-8.  The content aims to facilitate young Indian children's basic academic and life skills, while celebrating India's rich cultural diversity, in order to promote their overall cognitive, socio-emotional and physical development. Galli Galli Sim Sim, the television series, has been watched by 10 million children each year since its debut in 2006 and is currently broadcast on two of India’s leading children’s channels, Pogo and Cartoon Network and Doordarshan. Its educational messages are extended through a radio program aired on All India Radio and community radio stations, extensive community outreach, and applications on new and emerging media such as cell phones and internet.  Recently the organization has entered the school education space through the launch of Sesame Schoolhouse whose curriculum and methodology integrates hands-on project-based learning, with creative approaches to foster critical thinking and problem solving, laying a strong foundation to promote lifelong learning. For more information on all, log on to sesameworkshopindia and sesameschoolhouse.

Sesame Workshop is the non-profit educational organization that revolutionized children’s television programming with the landmark Sesame Street.  The Workshop produces local Sesame Street programs, seen in over 150 countries, and other acclaimed shows including The Electric Company, to help bridge the literacy gap.  Beyond television, the Workshop produces content for multiple media platforms on a wide range of issues including literacy, health and military deployment.  Initiatives meet specific needs to help young children and families develop critical skills, acquire healthy habits and build emotional strength to prepare them for lifelong learning. Learn more at www.sesameworkshop.org.