Sherrie Rollins Westin

She was born Sherrie Lynn Sandy to Charlotte Ann (née Weeks) and William Gresham Sandy of Roanoke, Virginia.[3] She has two siblings, William G. Sandy Jr. and Mark Steven Sandy.[4] In 1980, she graduated with a degree in Communications from the University of Virginia,[5][6] and in 1986 was the director of communications for the Oliver Carr Company, a real-estate development concern in Washington.[3]

After graduating, she worked at a public relations marketing firm in Georgetown; and then went to her firm's primary client, the Georgetown Business and Professional Association.[5] She then worked for the Ronald Reagan 1984 presidential campaign, and then as head of communications for the Oliver Carr Company a Washington real estate development firm. date=August 2022}}.[5] In 1992, she was appointed as the first assistant secretary for public affairs at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) then headed by New York Republican U.S. Representative Jack Kemp.[5] The chairman of ABC News, Roone Arledge, recruited her to become the head of communications of the division.[5] She left ABC News to serve as Assistant to the President for Public Liaison and Intergovernmental Affairs under President George H. W. Bush.[5] After his term was over, she was Vice President of Communications for U.S. News and World Report Magazine before returning to ABC as executive vice president of network communications.[5]

Westin is chair of the Joan Ganz Cooney Center, an independent research and innovation lab named for Sesame Street’s founder.[7] She serves on the boards of the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition,[8] Communities in Schools,[9] and Vital Voices Global Partnership.[10] She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations,[11] the US-Afghan Women's Council,[12] the Early Childhood Peace Consortium Advisory Board,[13] and serves on the Early Childhood Development Action Network Education Leadership Council.[14]

In 2014 Westin was awarded an honorary doctorate from Concordia College in New York.[15]

In 2017 Westin was named one of Fast Company's "100 Most Creative People in Business".[16] She was also awarded the Smithsonian's "American Ingenuity Award".[17]

Westin has been married twice. In 1987, she married Ed Rollins.[3] Westin lives in Bronxville, New York, with her second husband, David Westin; she has two children.[5]