Scott Cameron is a two-time Emmy Award-winning creative leader who has spent his career executive producing international adaptations of Sesame Street, bringing this iconic brand to audiences in 190 countries and 31 languages. He joins us for this special episode to talk about what 57 years of research-driven storytelling has taught him about how story actually changes people. 🌟

In this episode, you'll hear:

How the Sesame model — a Venn diagram of creative production, education, and research — creates content that changes behavior, not just awareness
What happened when Sesame Workshop partnered with the IRC to bring Elmo and Cookie Monster into mobile health clinics in conflict-affected Jordan, and why the research surprised everyone
Why knowing your North Star is the only thing that keeps a mission-driven organization from playing whack-a-mole with every new trend

Walk away from this conversation with a framework for intentional storytelling, and a new appreciation for the most trusted institution already sitting in your community. 🩵

Episode Highlights:

Scott's Origin Story: Growing Up With Sesame Street (2:53)
The Origin of Sesame Street: A 1966 Dinner Party (5:57)
The Sesame Research Model: Where Story Meets Science (9:35)
Funding Disruption and What Sesame Did Next (12:27)
Bringing Sesame to Conflict Zones: The IRC Partnership (13:37)
The ABCs of Emotion: What Research in Jordan Taught Them (16:02)
AI, North Stars, and What to Actually Pay Attention To (19:00)
The Most Trusted Institution in Your Community (21:36)
Netflix, PBS, YouTube and Going Global (24:07)
Creating Digital Ecosystems and What Comes Next (27:00)

Episode Show Notes: www.weareforgood.com/episode/714

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714. Stories to Fill the Hope Gap: The 3 Part Formula Behind Sesame Street’s Storytelling - Scott Cameron

We Are For Good Podcast - The Podcast for Nonprofits

714. Stories to Fill the Hope Gap: The 3 Part Formula Behind Sesame Street’s Storytelling - Scott Cameron