Nadine Zylstra has spent her career building content operations at some of media’s most recognizable platforms. Now she’s bringing that experience to public radio. NPR named Zylstra its new Chief Content Officer, filling the role after Edith Chapin’s departure.
As CCO, Zylstra will lead a team of more than 600 journalists and storytellers across news, arts and cultural programming, podcasts, and NPR Music. Her mandate includes aligning NPR’s content portfolio with future audience needs, expanding its reach in entertainment and culture, and accelerating experimentation across distribution platforms.
Zylstra spent more than a decade at Sesame Workshop, ultimately serving as Vice President and Supervising Producer for Sesame Street. She later joined YouTube as Global Head of Originals and Head of Kids and Learning Originals, launching more than 100 original series that accumulated billions of views.
Most recently, she served as Global Head of Programming and Originals for Pinterest, overseeing editorial strategy for a platform with more than 631 million monthly active users and building its originals division from the ground up.
NPR President and CEO Katherine Maher said, “Nadine brings an extraordinarily rare blend of creative foresight, business acumen, and deep personal commitment to mission-driven storytelling. She is the right leader at the right time to ensure NPR’s journalism and cultural programming find new ways of serving and enlivening American discourse.”
“I feel like I have been in training for this role my whole career,” Zylstra added. “At Sesame Street, I learned how content can change the way people understand the world around them. At YouTube, I learned to put the user at the center of the storytelling. Finally, at Pinterest, I learned that there is a business to build around positivity. I am humbled by the work NPR journalists and storytellers do and eager to learn all the ways in which I can help move our mission forward.”
