Hasbro Women Innovators of Play will kickstart its 2024 campaign with its second Annual Challenge, networking events, and its first Girl Innovators of Play campaign in partnership with Girl Up, a girl-centered leadership development initiative.

Girl Innovators of Play events will begin in August, with Girl Up Bootcamp. Later this year, there will be a Girl Up Project Awards Collaboration and a Girl Up x Hasbro Project Awards Innovation Lab. Key events for Hasbro Women Innovators of Play this year include the second Annual Virtual Event and second Annual Challenge, which both begin Oct. 10.

Hasbro launched its first annual Women Innovators of Play event last fall, with the goal of encouraging more female participation in the toy and gaming industry by hosting networking and creative programs for women. Shortly after, Hasbro introduced educational and mentorship campaigns for young women ages 13 to 24, called Girl Innovators of Play, in conjunction with Girl Up.

Kicking off this year’s events on March 26, Hasbro hosted the top three winners of the 2023 Hasbro Women Innovators of Play Challenge at company headquarters for a full day with the leadership and Inventor Relations teams, and a mentorship session with a Hasbro woman leader. The winners are Sandra Harewood, a family word game inventor from London; Mandy and 6-year-old Maggie Goddard, mother and daughter preschool game co-inventors from Indiana; and Ellie Dix, a family card game inventor from Hertfordshire, UK.

“We are on a mission to attract more women and girls to the toy and game industry, and I could not be more inspired by the response to our Women Innovators of Play event and Challenge,” says Kim Boyd, President, Global Brands and Franchise Management at Hasbro. “As a true testament to the power of women inventors everywhere, Hasbro is thrilled to be investing in an incredible game by one of the Challenge’s winning inventors, Ellie Dix, and we will be partnering with Ellie to further develop her game concept. We are making the 2024 program even bigger and better and can’t wait to share more details soon.”

Additional details on Hasbro Women Innovators of Play 2024 are coming soon. More information, sign-ups, and updates on this year’s programming can be found on the campaign website.