Steve Pasierb to Depart
The Toy Association™ in 2024

December 5, 2023 | The Toy Association™ announced President and CEO Steve Pasierb is stepping down from his role at the organization in the spring of 2024. His current contract will expire in April, following nearly a decade of leadership with the trade organization.

“It has been a distinct honor and privilege to serve in the role of President & CEO of The Toy Association and I count myself fortunate to be among those over the past 107 years to hold this position,” Pasierb said. “It has been a wonderful journey of strategic actions, change management, legislative wins, and accomplishments working alongside our dedicated board, more than 1,000 members, and a passionate and talented professional team. I look forward to collaborating with the executive committee and our staff to make certain of a smooth and effective transition over the coming months.”

“Steve’s impact was significant during tumultuous times as he led staff in delivering on priority actions, strategic planning, rebranding, and expanding the Association’s regulatory and legislative impact on an international scale, among many other transformative accomplishments,” said Aaron Muderick, chairperson of the Association’s Board of Directors. “The Association remains focused on the evolving needs of our diverse members, the changing role of trade shows and market events, and is poised to continue its service to members under new leadership.”

Muderick and the Board have formed a Transition Committee to identify and hire a new chief executive for The Toy Association. Leadership Advisory firm Spencer Stuart has been retained to assist in the search. Andy Keimach, former president of VTech North America and chairman of JPMA, will step into a role of interim president of the Association over the coming months as Pasierb transitions. In this role, Keimach will be taking on bi-coastal responsibilities for the Association in Los Angeles and New York while simultaneously stepping off the Association’s Board of Directors, where he served on the Executive Committee as treasurer. Muderick will fill Keimach’s role on the Board Executive Committee as well as nominate an additional role on the Executive Committee to ensure that the Association will have full member participation under the bylaws at this important transitional time.

During Pasierb’s tenure, the organization won three-time honors as one of “America’s Best Nonprofits to Work For,” and effectively delivered on all member value services during three years of pandemic upheaval that forced the cancellation of major trade shows. The Association made a successful return to marketplace events in 2022 in Dallas and with the 2023 return of iconic international trade show Toy Fair®.

Prior to joining The Toy Association in 2015, Pasierb spent 22 years at The Partnership for a Drug-Free America, created by a coalition of advertising trade associations and national media companies, ultimately serving for 14 years as its president and chief executive. He holds a master’s degree with honors in communications from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, was honored by the University in 2008 with its Distinguished Alumni Award, and was inducted into the American Advertising Federation’s Adverting Hall of Achievement in 2003 that honors those who have transformed the landscape of advertising, entertainment, and media.

Founded in 1916, The Toy Association™, Inc. is the trade association representing all businesses involved in creating and delivering toys and youth entertainment products for kids of all ages. The Toy Association leads the health and growth of the U.S. toy industry, which has an annual U.S. economic impact of $102.4 billion, and is the nation’s most effective resource and influential advocate for hundreds of companies including manufacturers, retailers, licensors, and others who are involved in the youth entertainment industry. Toy Association manufacturing members account for 93% of U.S. toy and game sales driving the annual $40 billion U.S. domestic toy market. The Toy Association serves as the industry’s voice on the developmental benefits of play and promotes play’s positive impact on childhood development to consumers and media. The organization has a long history of leadership in toy safety, having helped develop the first comprehensive toy safety standard more than 40 years ago, and remains committed to working with medical experts, government, consumers, and industry on ongoing programs to ensure safe and fun play. As a global leader, The Toy Association produces the world-renowned Toy Fair®; advocates on behalf of members around the world; sustains the Canadian Toy Association; acts as secretariat for the International Council of Toy Industries and International Toy Industry CEO Roundtable; and chairs the committee that reviews and revises America’s widely emulated ASTM F963 toy safety standard.