Cindy Levitt, Senior Vice President Licensing at Hot Topic, BoxLunch & Her Universe, has been elected Chairperson of the Board of the International Licensing Industry Merchandisers’ Association (LIMA). She succeeds Ciarán Coyle of Electrolux Global Marketing, who has completed a two-year-term.  Jay Asher, Partner at Brandgenuity, was elected by the members of the Board of Directors as Vice Chairman, and JJ Ahearn, Managing Director of Licensing Street, LLC was voted Board Designate to the Executive Committee, both for one-year terms.

Additionally, the LIMA membership elected six new members to begin terms on the LIMA Board, effective July 1. They are: Liza Abrams, Sakar International; Naz Amarchi-Cuevas, SYBO Games; Sam Ferguson, Jazwares; Bill Patterson, OpSec Security, Inc.; Jason Sutton, Polaroid; and Takanori Ueno, Laura Ashely Japan Co., Ltd.

“Our newest additions to the LIMA Board are a stellar group of executives who truly reflect licensing as a global industry,” said LIMA President Charles Riotto. “These vibrant leaders will be integral in helping our Association and the industry as a whole to continue achieving worldwide growth.”

• Liza Abrams, Senior Vice President, Global Licensing & Marketing, Sakar International has extensive experience with youth entertainment and brand licensing. Since 2006, she has managed licensing domestically and abroad across Sakar International’s many entertainment and corporate brand licensors.
• Naz Amarchi-Cuevas, Head of Licensing, SYBO Games brings know-how and creativity to integrate the company and its top mobile gaming brand, Subway Surfers,further within the entertainment space.
• Sam Ferguson, Vice President, Global Licensing, Jazwares currently manages Animal Jam, Minecraft and Roblox portfolios and is involved in content creation with YouTube.  Sam has developed content for digital based brands and has been a speaker at many licensing and toy programs in the US and the UK.
• Bill Patterson, Vice President, OpSec Security, Inc. is directly involved with OpSec Security’s largest licensing clients, working to fight the ever-increasing problems of counterfeiting and unauthorized gray market manufacturing.
• Jason Sutton, Vice President of Licensing, Polaroid is responsible fordeveloping new business opportunities and expanding Polaroid’s brand globally; its licensing program encompasses imaging, consumer electronics, mobile apps, lifestyle products and branded retail stores.
• Takanori Ueno, General Manager, Licensing Department for Laura Ashley Japan Co., Ltd., has been a LIMA Japan board member for four years and is an active member of The Intellectual Property Association of Japan.Click here for full bios.

Continuing LIMA board members include: Andrew Carley, Head of Global Licensing, Entertainment One; Eric Karp, Head of Licensing, BuzzFeed; Kelly Knock; Marc Mostman, Partner, Striker Entertainment; Celso Rafael, Managing Partner, Lotus Global; Neal Rudge, Partner, Pacific Licensing Studio Pte. Ltd.; Steve Scebelo, Vice President, Licensing & Business Development, NFLPA; Leigh Ann Schwarzkopf, Co-Founder, Project Partners Network;and Jamie Stevens, Executive Vice President, Worldwide Consumer Products, Sony Pictures Entertainment.