Sesame Workshop and PNC Foundation are collaborating on a $6.2 million, four-year initiative equipping children to take the lead in imagining and building a brighter future without racism.
At first glance, it might seem odd to see a bank mentioned in the same sentence as Sesame Workshop—the nonprofit behind Sesame Street that has been helping kids grow smarter, stronger and kinder for more than five decades—but the PNC Foundation and Sesame Workshop have built a thriving and impactful partnership over 17 years of supporting children together.
Sesame Workshop has served in an advisory role to PNC Grow Up Great® since the initiative’s inception in 2004—partnering with PNC to create resources that help prepare young children for success in school and life.
The pair’s joint initiatives have helped young children to develop financial basics, expand their vocabulary, and explore math in the everyday world, and encouraged parents and caregivers to increase brain-building interactions with the children in their lives.
Now, the newest phase of this collaboration will focus on racial justice and providing children with the foundation for kindness, fairness and respect, all in the critical early years of child development.
“Amid the racial justice movement, both Sesame Workshop and PNC felt a responsibility to do more to effect change in ways that we can,” said Sally McCrady, chair and president of the PNC Foundation. “The dynamic collaboration between PNC Grow Up Great and Sesame Workshop has made significant impact over the years. We look forward to building on that success to deliver a strategic, informed approach to help children develop the skills to imagine, and ultimately build, a more equitable future.”
Studies have shown that children begin to notice differences in race as early as six months old, and they form judgements and assumptions based on race by age three. This collaboration will produce some of the first resources to address racial justice through the lens of school readiness.
“What we’re learning through our research and partners is that early childhood educators and community providers want to put in the work to address racism, but they don’t feel equipped to do so,” said Dr. Jeanette Betancourt, senior vice president of U.S. Social Impact at Sesame Workshop. “We’re aiming to bridge that gap—not only to train and equip teachers and providers, but to foster engagement with families and provide tools to better prepare children for school and life. During preschool, children explore their sense of self and they are curious about the world around them. Together with the PNC Foundation, we want to leverage children’s vision, curiosity, and imagination in creating a future world without racism.”
The resources will integrate Sesame Street’s research-driven, playful learning approach to the school readiness skills that are highlighted in quality early childhood programs, as well as promoting cross-collaboration among early care sectors and increase family engagement. Primarily, the materials will:
- Foster the social-emotional skills normally developed in classroom learning, such as empathy, kindness, fairness, cooperation and conflict resolution.
- Develop racial literacy by encouraging open, honest conversations both in school and at home that build self-identity, including developing race awareness, driving understanding and respect of differences, motivating perspective taking, recognizing unfairness and promoting age-appropriate ways to create a fairer preschool community.
- Celebrate the idea that children can lead a new way of thinking and help everyone to imagine a world without racial injustice through their sense of curiosity, fairness and kindness.
The bilingual materials are being developed over a four-year period and will include digital and print story and activity books, videos, games, teacher and provider education, and tools to engage families.
To learn more about PNC Grow Up Great and its partnership with Sesame Workshop, visit www.PNC.com\GrowUpGreat.
