By Gary Symons
TLL Editor in Chief
Women in Toys, Licensing & Entertainment, known as WiT, announced Monday that Deirdre Cross will become chair of its board of directors, alongside the election of three new board members and the return of two others.
Cross will assume the role July 1, after previously serving on the WiT board and as co-chair of the Wonder Women Awards for the past year and a half. She has nearly two decades of experience in the toy and game industry and currently serves as co-founder and CEO of The Office of Tiffany Birdsong, a Seattle-based creative studio and tabletop incubator. Cross previously held executive roles at Moose Toys and Funko.
“The power of WiT has always been its ability to spark genuine connection and to elevate the women shaping the toys, licensing, and entertainment industries,” Cross said. “I am honored to step into the role of chairwoman. The landscape of business is changing rapidly, and alongside this phenomenal board, I’m excited to accelerate the next chapter of community, mentorship, and shared opportunity for women across all facets of the industry.”
Three new members will join the board July 1. They include Rachele Harmuth, chief product officer at CrunchLabs; Marie Marks, head of global experiences at Paramount; and Carrie Mueller, senior director of sales at VTech Electronics North America.
Harmuth has more than 30 years of experience in the toy industry and is leading retail, publishing and streaming expansion initiatives at CrunchLabs. She also founded MESH Helps, a nonprofit focused on children’s mental, emotional and social health through play, and received the 2025 WiT Wonder Woman Award in the Catalyst for Change category.
Marks leads Paramount’s global experiences business, overseeing growth across the company’s international location-based entertainment portfolio.
Mueller has more than 20 years in the toy industry, with previous experience at Sony and LeapFrog. She serves as co-chair of the WiT Minnesota chapter.
In addition to the three new members, Lisa Gilbert, president of sales and marketing for the Americas at Hasbro, and Stephanie Bailey, an executive at Moonbug Entertainment, will return to the board for additional terms.
Gilbert oversees go-to-market strategies and operations across the United States, Canada and Latin America at Hasbro. Bailey’s career includes leadership roles at FAO Schwarz, Toys “R” Us and Paramount; she now works on brands including CoComelon and Blippi at Moonbug Entertainment and serves as chair of the WiT New York chapter.
WiT, founded in 1991, is a global nonprofit that describes itself as a cross-sector community supporting industry access, advancement and connections among women and men in the toy, licensing and entertainment industries. The organization’s annual Wonder Women Awards event is scheduled for later this year.