TIA Elects New Leadership at Annual General Meeting

TIA LogoThe Toy Industry Association (TIA) has elected eight new members to the TIA Board of Directors for two-year terms of office expiring in 2018. David Hargreaves of Hasbro Inc. has been elected chairman, taking over the position from retiring Board Chairman John Gessert of American Plastic Toys.

Nominated to serve their first terms on the TIA Board were Kathleen Campisano, vice president of toys and games at Barnes & Noble Inc.; Jennifer Caveza, senior vice president, toys and business development at Nickelodeon Consumer Products; Charlie Emby, co-president of Just Play LLC; Barbara Finigan, senior vice president, chief legal officer and corporate secretary at Hasbro Inc.; Skip Kodak, senior vice president, Americas of LEGO Systems Inc.; Masayuki Nagatake, COO-US & Europe business division at TOMY International; Geoffrey Walker, executive vice president, North America division, of Mattel Inc.; and Nancy Zwiers, chief marketing officer at Spin Master Corp.

Re-elected for another term, set to expire in 2018, were Drew Brazer, vice president of sales, North America of LEGO Systems Inc.; Jeffrey Kennis, president of Enchanted Moments; and William To, president at VTech Electronics North America LLC. Joining Hargreaves on the Executive Committee are Bob Wann (Playmonster! LLC), who assumed the role of vice chairman/chairman elect, and Shirley Price (Funrise Inc.), who assumed the role of secretary-treasurer. Manuel Torres (NBC Universal Brand Development) and Geoffrey Walker (Mattel Inc.) were also introduced as members of the Executive Committee.

The following retiring Board members were recognized for their service: Andrea Barthello from ThinkFun Inc.; William Beebe from Playmates Toys Inc.; and Sam Harwell from Big Time Toys LLC.

The Annual General Meeting included remarks by TIA President & CEO Steve Pasierb, who shared accomplishment highlights from last year and TIA’s vision for growth. Outgoing Secretary-Treasurer Bob Wann provided an overview of TIA’s financial position.

Open to members and non-members, the 2016 TIA Annual General Meeting was held in conjunction with PlayCon, TIA’s International Conference of Play Professionals, held in Miami, Fla. from May 2 through 4.

About the author

Maddie Michalik

Maddie Michalik

Maddie Michalik was the Editor-in-Chief of The Toy Book from 2020-2022. She was also a Senior Editor at The Toy Insider and The Pop Insider.

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