Goliath and Jakks Pacific among CHITAG’s newest advisory board members

The Chicago Toy and Game Group has welcomes a tranche of new members to its esteemed Advisory Board, with names from across some of the world’s biggest players in the toy and game community.

The organising body behind toy and game industry events during Chitag Week has named Adi Golad, founder and chairman of Goliath, Rachel Griffin, VP public relations of Jakks Pacific, Robert Fuhrer, president of Nextoy, and John Barbour, managing partner at Volta Capital to the board.

“Adi, Rachel, Bob and John bring public relations, marketing, retail and even more visionary expertise to our extraordinary Board,” said Mary Couzin, president of Chicago Toy & Game Group. “We are fortunate to have their talents as we continue to grow our CHITAG Week events, champion innovators and promote community, connection and the power of play.”

Golad founded Goliath in 1980. Goliath is one of the few remaining family-owned and run businesses in toys and games, while Griffin currently spearheads Jakks Pacific’s communication and social media strategy efforts.

Meanwhile, Fuhrer founded Nextoy in 1981 and has helped bring to market some of the most popular toys and games in the world such as Gator Golf,  i-Top, Crocodile Dentist and Gifeez to just name a few, while Barbour started in the toy industry in 1983 and has held senior leadership positions at LeapFrog, Toys R Us, Hasbro, OddzOn Products, Matchbox Toys and Palitoy. 

Other Chicago Toy and Game Group Advisory Board members include:

Karri Bean – Senior Manager, Lego at Disney Consumer Products

Peggy Brown – Inventor, Playwright, Designer, Author, Filmmaker, Funmaker

Mary Couzin – President, Founder, Chicago Toy & Game Group

Ben Dermer – VP, New Ideas and Inventions, Spin Master

Richard Gill – CEO and co-Founder, McGill Associates

Dave Harris – Senior Director, Inventor Relations and Strategic Partnerships at Mattel, Inc.

Alan Hassenfeld – Chairman, Exec. Committee, Hasbro; Chairman, Hassenfeld Family Initiatives

Dave Harris – Director, Inventor Relations and Strategic Partnerships, Mattel

Dan Klitsner – Founder, KID Group

Rich Mazel – Senior Director Global, Product Acquisition, Hasbro

Matt Nuccio – President, Design Edge

Phil Sage – Senior Director – Design & Development, iPlay, Hasbro

Gary Swisher – Toy and Game Innovative Executive, formerly Mattel and Jakks, on sabatical

Tanya Thompson – Director Global Product Acquisition and Inventor Relations for Gaming, Hasbro

Tim Walsh – Co-Founder, Getta1Games; Filmmaker, Author, Designer, Creative Consultant, The Playmakers

David Yakos – Creativity Director, Co-Owner, Salient Technologies