Sara DeWitt leads innovative strategies to build connected educational experiences for kids of all income levels across media platforms. In her 18 years in public media, DeWitt has led the extension of PBS KIDS content into new frontiers, from websites and mobile apps to streaming video, augmented reality games, 3D-rendered experiences, and wearable technologies. She oversees the Kidscreen- and Webby-award winning pbskids.org website, PBS KIDS streaming video services, and the PBS KIDS portfolio of educational apps for children. 

In partnership with CPB and the Department of Education’s Ready To Learn grant, DeWitt led development of an educational transmedia content model for public media. Formal research studies have found that regularly engaging parents and their preschool children with PBS KIDS content and games developed within this model boosts math learning and helps prepare children from high-need communities for kindergarten (http://pbskids.org/lab/research/summative-evaluationsimpact-studies/). DeWitt’s work in this area continues with production of new games and hands-on learning environments for preschoolers to explore the scientific inquiry process.

DeWitt is a regular speaker on the subjects of games and learning, and has presented at high-profile conferences such as SXSW, Games For Change, NAEYC, ISTE, and Digital Hollywood at CES. Through speaking engagements and panels, she has lent her voice to important conversations about career and family, and inspiring young girls to aim for careers in the sciences. In 2014, she was named one of the top 42 Women Leading in Education by the USC Rossier School of Education.

DeWitt holds an MA and a BA in English from Stanford University, as well as a certificate from the University’s Children Society and Public Policy Curriculum. She is a military spouse who lives in Alexandria, VA with her husband and two young sons.

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