Philip Arca, who lives in San Leandro, is a seasoned turnaround leader and strategic consulting professional. He has a holistic vision of communities and systems, including published articles and a nonprofit management book in process.
Most recently, Philip has been Interim Executive Director for a youth science outreach effort in the East Bay and a law center in Marin. He is formerly the Executive Director of a $7 million, 85 employee, 800 volunteer, faith-based social services organization working throughout Alameda County. In other positions, he has led turnaround of large cultural facility, startup of a new U.S. fair trade coffee initiative and the strategic alignment and growth of a statewide communications organization focused on children's issues.
Gary Flaxman is a Financial Services Information Technology consultant
currently with the Small Business / Local Entrepreneur Advisory Services
of East Bay SCORE. His broad exposure to business processes, requirements
gathering, operations analysis and mapping out information flows has led to
the development of key market strategies geared for the healthcare industry.
With solid analytical skills and expertise in collaborative planning, Gary's
willingness to serve as Treasurer lends greater depth and viability to the
International Toy Museum Board.
Ellen Holbrook is a Brand Marketing and Strategy Consultant with over 30 years of experience in the Toy, Game, and Entertainment Industries. While at Mattel Toys, Holbrook was a Marketing Executive overseeing the See 'n Say and Disney Infant and Preschool toy brands. At Hasbro, Holbrook was in charge of marketing Mr. Potato Head, Tinkertoys, Lincoln Logs, and other Playskool toys. Upon moving to the San Francisco Bay Area, Holbrook transitioned into marketing Games (online, PC, mobile, console). She is a former VP of Marketing for The Learning Company (Mattel Interactive) with brands such as Reader Rabbit and Carmen Sandiego, and has served as a Marketing Executive for Berkeley Systems (Vivendi-Universal Interactive), RealNetworks Games Division, and the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. In 1987, Holbrook was selected by the Arts Commission of the City of Boston and ArtsBoston to research and publish a study called "The Economic Impact of the Arts on the City of Boston." Holbrook has been collecting vintage Mr. Potato Head toys since her days at Hasbro, with toys going back to the Original Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head (1952, 1953). Holbrook has a B.A. in American Culture from Northwestern University and an MBA from Harvard Business School. She resides in Berkeley, CA.
Stephen Lowe resides in Oakland, where his career in preserving historic properties began almost forty years ago with Old Oakland, two square blocks of crumbling, downtown properties four blocks from City Hall. Per the experience gained in that project, the need to find solutions for Oakland's culturally-devolved Jack London district became evident, and the concept for an Oakland-based rebirth of the International Toy Museum as a mirror image of sorts to San Francisco's Exploratorium and San Jose's Tech Museum was born, nurtured and brought to its current state. Steve is currently Vice President of both Jack London District Association and the West Oakland Commerce Association, and serves on several other civic boards and committees.
Jimmy Pete brings 30 years’ experience working with children and families of the Bay Area.. President of The Power of Choice Consultants, he offers expert consultation in Child and Youth Development; Diversity and Inclusion; Communuity Building; Staff/ Volunteer Development; Program Devlopment, and more. He is an accomplished Facilitator, Trainer and Services Program Developer dedicated to the suppport of healthier, happier children and families. He is recipient of the California Golden Bell award for educational programs in Marin County. Jimmy has broad career experience, with capacities in Special Events Production; Education; Non-Profit Leadership and Development; healing and recovery beyond crisis, etc. He enjoys an international reputation as keynote speaker, requested in England, Canada, Mexico, Texas, Hawaii, New Hampshire, Northern and Southern California. Jimmy is a graduate of the University of San Francisco and Oxford of England. He lives in Oakland.
Terry Scott is Chief Strategist for the Scott Consulting Group in Benicia, CA. As Chief Strategist he combines targeted branding solutions with strategic market planning tools. For 17 years he was Head of Global Creative Services for Hasbro, Inc., responsible for leading and mentoring a global organization of designers, writers , and structural engineers to support all of Hasbro’s packaging, merchandising, and collateral requirements. He was also a principal member of Hasbro’s sustainability team working in conjunction with both internal and external teams to identify and implement environmentally sound global best practices as well as associated processes and protocols.
Prior to joining Hasbro, Scott operated his own Advertising and Marketing Design agency which was listed by AD Age as one of the TOP 100 Creative Boutiques in the US. Finally, over his 30+ year career, Terry has received numerous national and international creative awards including CLIOS, Tellys, ADDY’s and the toy industry Toy Poppie awards. He holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Kent State University and attended executive studies at Tuck School of Business—Dartmouth.
Marc Zak is an inventor and consumer products design and development consultant with over 25 years of experience in the Toy, Game, and Entertainment Industries. At Wild Planet Toys, he was the Advanced Concept Manager overseeing new technology platform submissions and development. At Hasbro, as the Product Development Director, he oversaw the creative translation of the Interactive Candy Lines. He built that toy brand by leveraging major promotional and high profile in-house licensing partnerships. In 1990, while working in Hollywood, he developed a hands-on skill set that got its start with theatre contrivances in special effects prop design and construction. Prior to applying those skills in his career in toys, his first major creative public works were seen in popular movies and on television. Zak has been awarded several US patents and is a published author on toy collecting. His book chronicles the interactive candy and toy combination, known as the Spin Pop, a collectible phenomenon during its time in production. His comprehensive Spin Pop collection dates back to 1992 with the genesis of the original inventor’s sample. Zak has a B.S. in Industrial Design from Kent State University. He resides in Oakland.
Dr. Toy, Stevanne Auerbach, PhD, advises the Board. For many years she has been one of the nation's leading authorities on children's play, and educational toys and related products. Dr. Auerbach relies on 45-plus years of hands-on experience to select the best educationally oriented, skill building products from both large and small companies for her original, annual award programs. Millions of parents, teachers, and toy buyers around the world use Dr. Toy’s guidance in making their toy, learning and play selections.