NPR's new chief content officer: 'I've been training for this job my whole life'

NPR has hired Nadine Zylstra to be its chief content officer. She is a veteran of Pinterest, YouTube and Sesame Workshop. Variety via Getty Images/Variety hide caption

NPR has hired a new chief content officer less than two weeks after overhauling its newsroom . Nadine Zylstra is tasked with expanding audiences for the public radio network's news, entertainment and music in an increasingly digital world.

Zylstra comes to NPR from Pinterest, where she was the global programming chief. She previously was the global head of YouTube Originals and a top programming executive for Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit parent and producer of Sesame Street. She currently sits on the board of directors of PBS SoCal.

A native of South Africa, Zylstra says her first job in the U.S. was as a producer for the cable music channel VH-1 on celebrity news and wanted something different. She has since been hailed for her work promoting understanding across racial and ethnic divides for Sesame Street and programs for women at YouTube.

"I really feel like I've been training for this job my whole life," Zylstra says in an interview. "I really do care about making the world a better place. When I am at my best, it's when that connection between what I do and what I care about really comes together."

NPR President and CEO Katherine Maher praised Zylstra, noting her work at Sesame and Pinterest's reputation as a rare corner of relative kindness in the often harsh world of social media.

"In Nadine, we found somebody who comes out of public media... who understands the importance of media with a mission and a purpose, and as a tool for civic engagement," says Maher in an interview. She says Zylstra will evaluate NPR's portfolio of broadcast shows and podcasts in terms of whether they are fully reaching and serving audiences, and what might be missing from NPR's offerings.

Additionally, Maher says, Zylstra understands the role of "joy and humor" in NPR's programming, and how to create fresh content for new audiences as habits shift rapidly.