NEW YORK — Licensing International today announced that five executives—Gaye Dean, VP of Retail Development for North America at Miraculous Corp.; Clara Fort, VP of Global Brand Licensing at Eastman Kodak; Vincent Leoni, Partner at Miller Kaplan; Chang Liu, Head of Inbound Licensing at POP MART; and Meredith Norrie, VP and Head of Global Licensing and Consumer Products Partnerships at Mattel—were elected by the Licensing International membership to serve three-year terms on its Board of Directors, effective July 1, 2025.

Veronica Hart, Chief Growth Officer at RWS Global, continues to serve as chairperson and Milin Shah, Chief Revenue Officer & General Counsel at Isaac Morris and CultureFly, continues to serve as vice chairperson.

“As we continue our work to support the global brand licensing industry, we warmly welcome our five esteemed new members to Licensing International’s Board of Directors,” said Maura Regan, President of Licensing International. “With the addition of their fresh perspectives and skillsets, the new members of our board will drive our ongoing efforts to support the licensing community across every category and territory. I also want to thank our outgoing board members—including Casey Collins, Michael Connolly, Javier Garza, Alexandra Heyd, Tanya Isler, Marc Schneider, and Kalle Törmä—for their time, expertise, and dedication.”

Meet the new board members:

Gaye Dean – VP Retail Development, North America, Miraculous Corp.
Gaye is the Vice President of Retail Development, North America at Miraculous Corp., where she leads retail growth for the globally loved Miraculous brand across all major channels. Prior to joining Miraculous Corp., she served as Vice President of Retail Development at pocket.watch, spearheading U.S. retail strategy for top brands, including Ryan’s World, Love, Diana, and Toys and Colors. Earlier, Gaye built her career at Target Corporation as Marketing Director, leading integrated marketing for entertainment and brand licensing initiatives. With a passion for driving retail innovation, building strong partnerships, and delivering standout consumer experiences, Gaye is known for accelerating brand visibility and growth across traditional, digital, and emerging platforms.

Clara Fort – VP Global Brand Licensing, Eastman Kodak Company
Clara Fort is an expert in global licensing, having worked in the industry for over 15 years. She joined Timberland, where she developed her sales and merchandising expertise before increasing Timberland’s portfolio and expanding its footprint on a global scale through licensing for 10 years. Clara then joined Ben Sherman, where she elaborated and implemented the worldwide licensing business development strategy. She joined Kodak six years ago to define and implement the new brand licensing worldwide strategy. While staying true to the brand DNA, Clara has developed new markets and categories all over the world. In 2023, Kodak won the Licensing International Excellence Award for Best Licensed Brands – Corporate Category.

Vincent Leoni – Partner, Miller Kaplan
Vincent Leoni is the partner in charge in Miller Kaplan’s licensing and contract compliance practice in Burbank, CA. He has over 35 years of experience performing royalty compliance examinations and consulting services on behalf of licensors, licensees, software developers, owners of intellectual property, recording artists, music publishers, profit participants, production companies, patent holders, and trademark owners. Vincent has lectured on behalf of the Entertainment Division of the California Society of Certified Public Accountants as well as coauthoring and presenting a webinar entitled “Royalty Reporting Risks and Red Flags” to the memberships of Licensing International and the Licensing Executive Society (LES). He has also participated on panels discussing royalties, lectured to trade organizations, and written and edited chapters in books including The Law of Merchandise and Character Licensing, Basics of Licensing, and The Fundamentals of Licensing.

Chang Liu – Head of Inbound Licensing, POP MART
Chang has been with POP MART International Group since 2021, where she currently leads global inbound licensing, external studio and brand partnerships, and related creative and product development. Prior to her current role, she was instrumental in commercializing several of POP MART’s flagship intellectual properties. Her contributions spanned the development of IP brand propositions, consumer marketing and channel strategy, product line planning and execution, core content development, and artist representation. In addition to her deep expertise in IP franchise strategy and licensing, Chang brings extensive experience from the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) industry. She has held key roles at multinational corporations such as Nestlé as well as at leading China-based companies. Her responsibilities included integrated business planning, regional new category development, and supply chain operations. This diverse background has equipped her with a comprehensive, end-to-end understanding of business strategy and execution.

Meredith Norrie – VP, Head of Global Licensing and Consumer Products Partnerships, Mattel
Meredith Norrie is a seasoned licensing executive who has been in the entertainment licensing and retail industry for 20 years, where she has been responsible for building and scaling billion-dollar entertainment franchise licensing and retail programs. She currently oversees Global Licensing and Consumer Products Partnerships for Mattel, where she has spent the last three years leading licensing and retail development for Mattel’s portfolio of franchises, including Barbie, Hot Wheels, Uno, and Fisher Price. Most recently, she led the team responsible for building the licensing and merchandising partnerships for the Barbie movie in 2023. Prior to joining Mattel, Meredith held various licensing leadership positions at The Walt Disney Company, where she led the Global Toys and Hardlines licensing strategy and partnership development for the Marvel franchises. Meredith began her career in buying and merchandising across various categories at Toys “R” Us and Target Corporation.

About Licensing International
Licensing International is the leading trade organization for the $369+ billion global licensing industry. Licensing International’s mission is to foster the growth and expansion of licensing around the world, raise the level of professionalism for licensing practitioners, and create greater awareness of the benefits of licensing to the business community at large. Founded in 1985, Licensing International members in over 40 countries enjoy access to an array of benefits, including extensive educational programming and worldwide networking events. Visit LicensingInternational.org for more information and to utilize licensing’s definitive online resource.