User Profile

Executive Director, Joan Ganz Cooney Center

Michael H. Levine is the Founding Director of the Joan Ganz Cooney Center, an independent nonprofit organization based at Sesame Workshop. The center conducts research, and builds multi-sector partnerships to scale innovation and investment in promising educational media technologies for children. Prior to joining the Center, Michael served as Vice President for Asia Society , managing the global nonprofit's interactive media and educational initiatives to promote knowledge and understanding of other world regions and cultures. Michael previously oversaw the Carnegie Corporation of New York's groundbreaking work in early childhood development, educational media, and primary-grades reform, and was a senior advisor to the New York City Schools Chancellor, where he directed dropout prevention, afterschool, and early childhood initiatives. Michael is an advisor to New York City's Universal Pre-Kindergarten Scientific Advisory Council, and has been a frequent adviser to the White House and the U.S. Department of Education. He writes for public affairs journals, including a regular column for Huffington Post, and often keynotes conferences on child development, learning and digital media. He was named by Working Mother magazine as one of America's most influential leaders in family and children's policy and serves on several nonprofit boards, including Classroom, Inc., Forum for Youth Investment, We Are Family Foundation, PBS' Next Generation Learning Media, DigiLearn, and Journeys in Film. Michael received his Ph.D. in Social Policy from Brandeis University's Florence Heller School and his B.S. from Cornell University. He is a Fellow of the 11th class of the Pahara-Aspen Education Fellowship and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.