Charlotte Cole is founder and executive director of Blue Butterfly Collaborative, a nonprofit organization that uses the appeal, power, and impact of children's media to advance international development aims. Dr. Cole has over two and a half decades of experience working in international development and has applied her expertise in curriculum design, educational content creation, and research in the support of large-scale educational media projects in more than thirty countries across the globe. Prior to founding Blue Butterfly Collaborative, she was senior vice president of global education at Sesame Workshop in New York City. In this capacity she oversaw the company's international education and research strategies and was instrumental in the advancement of education innovations such as: the creation of Kami, the HIV-positive Muppet character who appears on the South African version of Sesame Street; the development of strong educational content designed to support girls' education in countries such as Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and India; and initiatives to promote respect and understanding across group divides in the Middle East, Nigeria, Northern Ireland, Kosovo, and elsewhere. Dr. Cole has taught undergraduate and graduate courses at Boston College, Lesley College, Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College, and Harvard University. She is a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Children and Media and served as the publication's first review and commentary editor. Her research has been published in journals such as the International Journal of Behavioral Development and Communication Research Trends. Dr. Cole holds a Ph.D. in Human Development and Psychology from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.