The Moms of Toy Safety
In the toy industry’s take on “The View,” six
senior executives — all moms themselves — engage in a
conversation that helps parents and other caregivers better understand
topics such as how toy makers design safety into toys, how to
select the correct toy for a child, and how to use toys safely once they
are at home.
*NOTE: If the video sticks during playback, hit the
”pause” button on the bottom left side of the video player
until the complete video loads, then hit ”play” again.
Biographies
Kathrin Belliveau, Hasbro,
Inc.
Kathrin P. Belliveau is vice president of product safety and
government affairs for Hasbro, Inc., a $4 billion leader in
children’s and family leisure time entertainment products and
services. Since joining the company in 1997, Kathrin an attorney,
has held a number of positions, including managing attorney for global
operations. In her current role, she is responsible for leading
Hasbro’s global government affairs practice and for representing
Hasbro before policy makers and regulators worldwide (she testified
before Congress in 2007 in support of more stringent toy safety
laws). She is also a member of the company’s Corporate
Social Responsibility Committee.
Kathrin sits on the Toy Industry Association (TIA) Government Affairs
Committee and TIA Sustainability Committee. She also is a member
of the Rhode Island Board of Governors for Higher Education.
Prior to joining Hasbro, Kathrin practiced corporate, environmental,
and public finance law. She is a Magna Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa
graduate of Wellesley College, and she received her law degree from
Boston College Law School. She also completed the Executive
Education Program at the Amos Tuck School of Dartmouth College.
Kathrin is married to Jim Belliveau and the proud mother of two young
girls, Sophia and Ana.
Elizabeth Borrelli, Toy
Industry Association
 Elizabeth Borrelli is executive director of the
Toy Industry Association’s (TIA) Toy Safety Certification
Program® (TSCP®) and vice president of Corporate Social
Responsibility.
Betsy’s appointment to these posts in May 2008 marks a return
to the toy industry; from 1992 to 1998, Betsy served as TIA’s
director of standards and regulatory affairs and secretary of the
International Council of Toy Industries. During that time she managed
revisions of ASTM and ANSI toy safety standards, organized TIA’s
first toy safety seminars in China, managed TIA’s Safety Standards
Committee, was Secretary of the ISO U.S. Technical Advisory Group on toy
safety, and served on the Board and as Vice Chair/President Elect of the
International Consumer Product Health and Safety Organization.
In the ten years between her positions with TIA, Betsy led a team
focused on issues, crisis and reputation management at Washington Mutual
and led Corporate Social Responsibility and Public Affairs at Eddie
Bauer. While at Eddie Bauer she developed and led the retailer’s
comprehensive global factory labor compliance program and served on the
Board of the Fair Labor Association.
Susan DeRagon, Specialized
Technology Resources, Inc. (STR)
 Susan DeRagon is the associate director of the
toys and premiums group for Specialized Technology Resources, Inc.
(STR); since 1985, she has specialized in safety, design and
international regulations for toys and children’s products.
In her current position, Sue oversees a global team of professionals
based in the U.S., China and Hong Kong. This dedicated team is
made up of human factors specialists, risk analysts, manufacturing and
quality engineers, technical specialists, and project coordinators, and
provides clients with the highest level of quality service in the areas
of product testing, quality assurance, safety evaluations and
inspections.
Ms. DeRagon has been a presenter at numerous professional seminars on
product safety, as well as client specific technical seminars and
webinars. She was involved in a research study related to risk and
toy premiums, and is a ‘blogger’ for Playthings on-line
magazine. Sue has also been interviewed by various media
organizations as an expert in toy safety, including NBC, CNN, the New
York Times, and Associated Press, and presented at a series of product
safety seminars in China sponsored by the China Council for the
Promotion of International Trade.
Sue is an active member of the Toy Industry Association (TIA),
American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM), and International
Consumer Product Health & Safety Organization (ICPHSO). She
has taught product safety as Adjunct Professor at the Fashion Institute
of Technology.
Sue received a B.S degree in business administration from Bay Path
College, Magna Cum Laude.
She is the proud mom of two grown daughters (ages 27 and 23) and a
proud grandmother of a one-year old grandson.
Myung Kang-Huneke, Sesame
Workshop
 Myung Kang-Huneke is executive vice president and general
counsel at Sesame Workshop and Secretary to the Board of Trustees.
In this position, she developed and continues to oversee the
organization’s product safety assurance program. From 1998
to 2005, Myung was on staff in the Legal Department and provided legal
services for Sesame Workshop’s various divisions, including the
licensing division, where she supported the expansion of Sesame Workshop
brands through product licensing and promotional, retail and
representation agreements for Sesame Street and Dragon Tales products
both domestically and internationally.
Ms. Kang-Huneke began her legal career as an associate for the law
firm of Proskauer Rose in New York City. She graduated from the
Columbia University School of Law as a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar.
Myung is the proud mom of two children.
Joan Lawrence, Toy Industry
Association
 Joan Lawrence is the Toy Industry Association
(TIA) vice president of standards and regulatory affairs. In this
role, she manages the association’s product safety and quality
programs, including standards development and industry and consumer
education. She is an advocate for uniform national standards in
the U.S. and was actively involved in helping to advance federal
consumer product safety reform legislation; she is now directly engaged
in TIA’s government advocacy efforts at the state level.
Joan’s experience and leadership within the toy industry spans
a broad range of issues – from product safety and quality to
corporate social responsibility, environmental, and customs and trade
issues. She led TIA’s and the industry’s efforts
in response to the 2007 toy recalls, working with the American National
Standards Institute (ANSI) to develop recommendations that would
strengthen the toy safety assurance system for products sold in the U.S.
market. These efforts led to the development of the new TIA Toy
Safety Certification Program (TSCP) that is being launched in 2009.
Joan currently serves as chairman of the ASTM Subcommittee on Toy
Safety, which is responsible for the continuing development of toy
safety standard ASTM F963. Congress recognized the work of this
Subcommittee in 2008 by adopting the ASTM Toy Safety Standard as a
mandatory U.S. national standard. In addition, she serves as executive
administrator of the International Council of Toy Industries, Inc.
(ICTI), a group of 22 toy associations from around the world. She
is also a board member and former president of the International
Consumer Product Health and Safety Organization (ICPHSO), a
public-private forum for the advancement of consumer product safety, and
a member of the Consumer Interest Forum of ANSI.
Joan is a guest lecturer on toy safety to students in the
undergraduate Toy Design Program at Fashion Institute of Technology
(FIT) in New York, has authored several articles on toy safety and
standards, and serves as TIA’s toy safety spokesperson.
Joan is the proud mother of three young children . . . a nine-year
old girl and five-year old brother-sister twins.
Kitty Pilarz,
Mattel/Fisher-Price
 Kitty Pilarz is senior director of
Mattel/Fisher-Price worldwide product safety in East Aurora, N.Y., which
designs, manufactures and markets toys and family products sold in more
than 150 nations around the world. Since assuming her current position
in 2001, Kitty has been responsible for the safety of the Mattel and
Fisher-Price product lines, assuring that all products conform to
corporate safety requirements. She also develops safety standards and
policy for her firm.
Kitty chairs ASTM Committee F15 on Consumer Products as well as the
F15 group on play yards and children’s folding chairs. She also
serves as vice chairman of the board of ASTM International and as vice
chair of the Juvenile Product Manufacturers Association Certification
Committee. She is a member of the American Society of Mechanical
Engineers and the American Society for Quality Control. Through ASQC,
she has earned the designations of certified reliability engineer (1993)
and certified quality engineer (1986). In addition, she works on a
number of committees responsible for juvenile product safety standards
for the American National Standards Institute and Underwriters
Laboratories.
Ms. Pilarz has served as symposium chair for the International
Consumer Product Health and Safety Organization, and as president and
board member of that group, which works to promote product safety
through education and communication.
She is a graduate of the State University of New York at Buffalo with
a B.S. in mechanical engineering and holds an M.B.A. from Canisius
College in Buffalo, N.Y.
Kitty is the proud mom of two daughters (ages 20 and 17) and a
15-year old son.
Alan Korn, Safe Kids USA
 The Moms of Toy Safety panel moderator, Alan Korn, is the
executive director and general counsel for Safe Kids USA, a member of
Safe Kids Worldwide’s global network of organizations whose
mission is to prevent accidental childhood injury, a leading killer of
children 14 and under.
Mr. Korn is an attorney and a member of the Missouri and District of
Columbia Bars. Before joining Safe Kids USA (formerly the National SAFE
KIDS Campaign) in 1994, he practiced law for five years in St. Louis,
Missouri, specializing in health law, consumer protection and
litigation.
Alan makes presentations around the country on government’s
role in child injury prevention and liability issues associated with
community-based safety programs. He has testified many times before
Congress, federal agencies and state legislatures on issues of injury
prevention and has appeared as a child safety expert on the Today Show,
Good Morning America, the CBS Early Show and NPR as well as in dozens of
magazines and newspapers.
He received his bachelor’s degree from Indiana University and
his J.D. from the Washington University School of Law. He is married and
is the proud dad of a 9-year old son.
|
