Build-A-Bear is adding two new board members whose backgrounds should serve the company well as it moves forward with its transformation plan.
Build-A-Bear announcedthat Tim Kilpin and Sarah Personette have been appointed to the company’s board of directors.
Kilpin, 55, will serve as a member of the Audit Committee and as a member of the Compensation and Development Committee. Personette, 36, will serve as a member of the Compensation and Development Committee and as a member of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee.
With the appointment of Kilpin and Personette, the Build-A-Bear Workshop board of directors now includes nine members, seven of whom are deemed independent by the board under New York Stock Exchange rules and other applicable regulations. As previously announced, James Gould will not stand for re-election. Accordingly, the size of the board will be reduced to eight immediately prior to the company’s Annual Meeting of Stockholders in May.
Kilpin most recently served as president/chief commercial officer for Mattel, Inc., where he directed all aspects of the company’s global Sales and Marketing operations. Prior to his most recent Commercial role, Kilpin served as executive VP of the Boys & Girls Global Brands for Mattel, leading Marketing, Product Design & Development, Consumer Products, Content Development and Packaging. During that time, he successfully launched Mattel’s first new intellectual property in more than 30 years: Monster High, which achieved several billion dollars in global retail sales in less than five years.
Before rejoining Mattel in 2003, Kilpin served as executive VP at The Walt Disney Company, overseeing the creation and development of global cross-category franchise plans for Disney’s stable of content and characters, including Mickey Mouse, Winnie the Pooh, and Disney Princesses, which became a multi-billion dollar franchise under Tim’s guidance. He has served as Board Member of the Toy Industry Association, Licensing Industry Merchandisers’ Association, the Make-A-Wish International Foundation, and the Children Affected by AIDS Foundation.
Personette, VP of Facebook’s Global Business Marketing team, is responsible for providing clients with innovative and effective marketing solutions for their businesses. Prior to rejoining Facebook in 2014, she led Universal McCann’s agency operations in the United States where, as president of the agency, she oversaw strategy, analytics, custom content, cross-channel buying and planning, and business development.