Sesame Workshop receives Elevate Prize Catalyst Award as it charts a new path for 'Sesame Street'

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Elmo, Abby Cadabby and the rest of the “Sesame Street” gang will get some high-profile help as they travel down a new road.

The Sesame Workshop – founded in 1969 and currently working on its 56th season, but its first not distributed by recent partner HBO – received the Elevate Prize Catalyst Award Wednesday, which will provide the nonprofit a $250,000 grant as well as support in promoting its work from the Elevate Prize Foundation. Previous winners of the award include Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai, actor Michael J. Fox, and NBA great Dwyane Wade.

“They haven’t just entertained generations – they’ve educated, advocated and inspired real change,” Elevate Prize Foundation CEO Carolina Garcia Jayaram, said as she presented the award to The Sesame Workshop at the foundation’s Make Good Famous Summit in Miami Beach, Florida. “And their work hasn’t just been confined to the screen. Through their nonprofit, they’ve expanded their mission globally. They’ve created real world programs that bring education, health and hope to millions of children in over 150 countries.”

Sal Perez, the show’s executive producer and a Sesame Workshop vice president, said the organization planned to use the award to let more people know that its nonprofit work extends beyond the TV show.

“We do a lot of work around the world with direct services, trying to provide content for families that talks about some of those harder to talk about subjects, whether it’s trauma, whether it’s homelessness and things of that nature. So this is an opportunity to highlight that kind of work.”

Perez told The Associated Press in an interview before the ceremony that there would be news about Sesame Workshop’s future released “in the coming days.” Last year, Warner Bros. Discovery decided not to renew its deal for new episodes that air on HBO and Max, though episodes will remain on the streaming service until 2027.

“’Sesame Street’ is not going to go away,” Perez said. “It will never go away. It’s obviously been a beloved show for so long.”

However, there are changes coming to the new season, which currently has no distribution deal. Perez said the segments on the new season will be longer and “really focused on character,” while also focusing on its audience's emotional well-being and development.

“The more kids want to hang out with our characters on ‘Sesame Street,’ the more they’re going to take in those lessons,” said Perez, adding that there would also be updates to the show's look and feel. The new season will also feature more exploration of the “Sesame Street” neighborhood and a look inside the legendary two-story brownstone at 123 Sesame Street.

Though Sesame Workshop receives only a small amount of government funding, Perez urged viewers to support public media, especially following President Donald Trump's recent executive order to cut funding to PBS and NPR.

“We believe in the power that public funding has for children’s media," he said. "I think people should support their local PBS affiliates and support children’s media because it is an entry point for children to really start to see the world outside of their homes.”

Jayaram said she felt the time was right to for the Elevate Prize Foundation to stand with The Sesame Workshop and its work.

“This is a foundation that’s about social impact," she said. "So the symbolism of us joining forces with a children’s program is to say that even though our leaders are grown adults, it’s the child in all of us that we need to revive and remember our essential values as humans.”

Famed roommates Bert and Ernie were on hand to receive the award alongside Perez with their trademark banter. “We are so proud to make the Catalyst,” joked Ernie. “One day we'd also like to make the Dog-alist.”

In a video acceptance, Abby and Elmo took their own swing at explaining the award.

“It’s like a spark that makes good change happen – kinda like magic,” explained Abby.

“Elmo really likes being a catalyst,” said Elmo.

Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of AP’s philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy.

Joe Deitch, chairman of the Elevate Prize Foundation, and Carolina Garcia Jayaram, CEO of the Elevate Prize Foundation, announce the Sesame Street Workshop as their Catalyst Award winner, Wednesday, May 14, 2025, in Miami Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Michael Laughlin)

Sesame Street's Bert and Ernie speak with Sal Perez, executive producer and VP of Sesame Street at Sesame Workshop, after Sesame Workshop won the Elevate Prize Foundation's Catalyst Award, Wednesday, May 14, 2025, in Miami Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Michael Laughlin)

Sal Perez, executive producer and VP of Sesame Street at Sesame Workshop, right, and Versha Sharma, editor-in-chief at Teen Vogue, talk to Burt and Ernie after Sesame Workshop won the Elevate Prize Foundation's Catalyst Award, Wednesday, May 14, 2025, in Miami Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Michael Laughlin)

Sesame Street's Bert and Ernie speak with Sal Perez, executive producer and VP of Sesame Street at Sesame Workshop, after Sesame Workshop won the Elevate Prize Foundation's Catalyst Award, Wednesday, May 14, 2025, in Miami Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Michael Laughlin)

Sal Perez, executive producer and VP of Sesame Street at Sesame Workshop, right, talks to Versha Sharma, editor-in-chief at Teen Vogue, after Sesame Workshop won the Elevate Prize Foundation's Catalyst Award, Wednesday, May 14, 2025, in Miami Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Michael Laughlin)

Sal Perez, executive producer and VP of Sesame Street at Sesame Workshop, right, and Versha Sharma, editor-in-chief at Teen Vogue, talk to Burt and Ernie after Sesame Workshop won the Elevate Prize Foundation's Catalyst Award, Wednesday, May 14, 2025, in Miami Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Michael Laughlin)

Sesame Street's Bert and Ernie speak with Sal Perez, executive producer and VP of Sesame Street at Sesame Workshop, won the Elevate Prize Foundation's Catalyst Award, Wednesday, May 14, 2025, in Miami Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Michael Laughlin)

Sal Perez, executive producer and VP of Sesame Street at Sesame Workshop, right, and Versha Sharma, editor-in-chief at Teen Vogue, talk to Burt and Ernie after Sesame Workshop won the Elevate Prize Foundation's Catalyst Award, Wednesday, May 14, 2025, in Miami Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Michael Laughlin)

Sal Perez, executive producer and VP of Sesame Street at Sesame Workshop, right, and Versha Sharma, editor-in-chief at Teen Vogue, talk to Burt and Ernie after Sesame Workshop won the Elevate Prize Foundation's Catalyst Award, Wednesday, May 14, 2025, in Miami Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Michael Laughlin)

Children pose for photos with Sesame Street's Bert and Ernie and others during the Elevate Prize Foundation's Catalyst Award, Wednesday, May 14, 2025, in Miami Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Michael Laughlin)

Sal Perez, executive producer and VP of Sesame Street at Sesame Workshop, talks to Bert and Ernie after winning the Elevate Prize Foundation's Catalyst Award, Wednesday, May 14, 2025, in Miami Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Michael Laughlin)

A Ukrainian drone strike killed one person and wounded three others in the Russian city of Voronezh, local officials said Sunday.

A young woman died overnight in a hospital intensive care unit after debris from a drone fell on a house during the attack on Saturday, regional Gov. Alexander Gusev said on Telegram.

Three other people were wounded and more than 10 apartment buildings, private houses and a high school were damaged, he said, adding that air defenses shot down 17 drones over Voronezh. The city is home to just over 1 million people and lies some 250 kilometers (155 miles) from the Ukrainian border.

The attack came the day after Russia bombarded Ukraine with hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles overnight into Friday, killing at least four people in the capital Kyiv, according to Ukrainian officials.

For only the second time in the nearly four-year war, Russia used a powerful new hypersonic missile that struck western Ukraine in a clear warning to Kyiv and NATO.

The intense barrage and the launch of the nuclear-capable Oreshnik missile followed reports of major progress in talks between Ukraine and its allies on how to defend the country from further aggression by Moscow if a U.S.-led peace deal is struck.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Saturday in his nightly address that Ukrainian negotiators “continue to communicate with the American side.”

Chief negotiator Rustem Umerov was in contact with U.S. partners Saturday, he said.

Separately, Ukraine’s General Staff said Russia targeted Ukraine with 154 drones overnight into Sunday and 125 were shot down.

Follow the AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

This photo provided by the Ukrainian Security Service on Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, shows a fragment believed to be a part of a Russian Oreshnik intermediate range hypersonic ballistic missile that hit the Lviv region. (Ukrainian Security Service via AP)

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, second left, listens to British Defense Secretary John Healey during their meeting in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Danylo Antoniuk)