Janice Burgess is the former key person of Nick Jr.. She is the creator and executive producer of The Backyardigans

The Backyardigans

The Backyardigans is a Canadian/American 3-D CGI-animated children's TV series, created by Janice Burgess. It features five animal children, who imagine that their backyard becomes an adventure place. It is a coproduction of Treehouse TV, and the Canadian animation studio Nelvana. Debuting on...

, a CGI-animated series on Nick Jr. running from 2004 to 2008 about five high-spirited friends and their imaginative, musical journeys.

Burgess served as project manager for Ghostwriter

Ghostwriter (TV series)

Ghostwriter is an American television program created by Liz Nelson and produced by the Children's Television Workshop and BBC One. It began airing on PBS on October 4, 1992, and the final episode aired on February 13, 1995...

at Children's Television Workshop. In that position, she coordinated the efforts of the magazine, outreach and teacher materials with the content and goals of the television show.

She joined Nickelodeon

Nickelodeon (TV channel)

Nickelodeon, often simply called Nick and originally named Pinwheel, is an American children's channel owned by MTV Networks, a subsidiary of Viacom International. The channel is primarily aimed at children ages 7–17, with the exception of their weekday morning program block aimed at preschoolers...

 in 1995 as an executive-in-charge of production at Nick Jr and later became Vice President. In this capacity, she oversaw the production of Peabody and Emmy Award-winning Nick Jr. shows including Blue's Clues

Blue's Clues

Blue's Clues is an American children's television show airing on the Nickelodeon family of channels. The show premiered on September 8, 1996 and airs on Nick Jr. and other channels, although production of new episodes ceased by 2006. Versions of the show have been produced in other countries,...

, Little Bill

Little Bill

Little Bill is a television show for children on Nick Jr. The stories are based on Bill Cosby's Little Bill book series, set in Philadelphia and feature Bill Jr. learning a lesson or moral. It was developed through research and in consultation with a panel of educational consultants.The show also...

and Whoopi’s Littleburg. She also served as co-executive producer of the Little Bill.

Burgess grew up in the Squirrel Hill

Squirrel Hill

Squirrel Hill is a residential neighborhood in the east end of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The city officially divides it into two neighborhoods, Squirrel Hill North and Squirrel Hill South, but it is almost universally treated as a single neighborhood...

 neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...

, and graduated from The Ellis School

The Ellis School

The Ellis School is an independent, age 3 – grade 12 college preparatory school in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1916, the school is a private all-girls institution with a current enrollment of 470 students.-Notable alumnae:...

in 1974.