A is for apple. B is for balloon. And C is for the Elevate Prize Catalyst Award! In May 2025, we had the honor of awarding the Elevate Prize Catalyst Award to one of the most impactful cultural icons of our time: the beloved characters of Sesame Street. In celebration, Elmo, Abby Cadabby, Bert, and Ernie surprised the crowd live on stage (and video) to accept the award—a moment that served as a joyful reminder of Sesame Street’s social impact storytelling and its 55-year legacy of creating compassionate, educational, and inclusive programming for children.
The Elevate Prize Catalyst Award will provide $250,000 in unrestricted funding to their nonprofit arm, Sesame Workshop, as well as practical resources to help Sesame Street make an even greater impact.
As Executive Producer Sal Perez shared live onstage at our Make Good Famous Summit in a conversation with Teen Vogue’s Editor-in-Chief, Versha Sharma, “This award will help sustain Sesame Workshop’s support for children and families facing some of the toughest challenges, whether that’s struggling with mental health, experiencing homelessness, or having a parent who is struggling with addiction, and will support our ability to deliver on our nonprofit mission of helping children everywhere grow smarter, stronger, and kinder.”
Sesame Street and Sesame Workshop’s Legacy and Future
Sesame Street’s blend of storytelling and emotional learning has shaped generations of children—not just in school readiness, but in resilience, empathy, and community. As our CEO Carolina said in her remarks, “We cannot afford to lose public programs that model compassion and inclusion at scale… if we protect and invest in this kind of storytelling, the upside is exponential: a society better equipped to raise informed, emotionally healthy, and socially conscious leaders.”
Perez expanded, “[Sesame Street] is really funny and emotional at the same time. That’s how we connect.”
Oscar and Grover Meet Elevate Prize Winners
In addition to the onstage celebration, Sesame Street characters Oscar the Grouch and Grover teamed up with Elevate Prize winners Sam Bencheghib (Sungai Watch), Melissa Malzkuhn (Motion Light Lab), and Sean Sherman (NATIFS), to film exclusive and heartwarming content about their incredible work. Bert & Ernie also stopped by to chat with Joe Deitch and Carolina García Jayaram, our Founder and CEO respectively, to get to know our mission to Make Good Famous!
Making Good Famous
With this year’s Elevate Prize Catalyst Award, Sesame Street joins a prestigious group of past recipients including Malala Yousafzai, Dwyane Wade, Michael J. Fox, Matt Damon, George and Amal Clooney, and more. All of these winners have been honored for using their influence to inspire global social action—however these recipients have done it with muppets, songs, and the unwavering kindness that is emblematic of the magic of Sesame Street and their storytelling that Makes Good Famous in every sense of the word.
It’s our honor to recognize and celebrate Sesame Street’s unparalleled impact on generations of children and to be able to support their work at this critical time as they use the power of storytelling to change the world and inspire children to grow smarter, stronger, and kinder.
