No kid should ever feel excluded by Toca Boca. That was the vision statement that I challenged our team with at our annual company meeting in 2015. I thought we had done a good job with breaking gender stereotypes through our early work, but it was time to expand the ambition even further.

Since then we have come a long way in terms of diversity definitions, process and methodology. But we’ve also grown increasingly humble around how complex these matters can be sometimes. So in order to ensure that our efforts are leading us in the right direction, we appointed a dedicated advisory board solely for diversity issues.

Having a second  — and learned — opinion has been very valuable and supportive for us in this process. Because while ambition is a great place to start, you can’t beat the addition of experience and perspective. Our diversity board offers us just that. Take a look below to see who we have partnered with here.

-Björn Jeffery, Co-founder & CEO

Kevin Clark

Kevin Clark is a professor of learning technologies and the founding director of the Center for Digital Media Innovation and Diversity at George Mason University. Kevin’s research focuses on the role of interactive and digital media in education, broadening participation in STEM, and issues of diversity in children’s media, where he has more than 20 years experience as a children’s media advisor and consultant. Kevin holds a doctorate from Pennsylvania State University.

“Toca Boca has chosen to address diversity head-on by recognizing it is a complex issue that requires deliberate and consistent efforts.”

Juliana Martínez

Juliana Martínez is assistant professor at the World Languages and Cultures Department at American University in Washington, D.C. She is also a researcher and associated faculty of the Women’s Gender and Sexuality Studies Program, and the Center for Latin American and Latino Studies at that same institution. Juliana teaches courses on gender and sexuality that focus on Latin America or the U.S. Latino community, and writes about the intersection of violence and body politics in the Latino and Latin-American context. Juliana combines her academic work with advocacy and consulting. Juliana holds a doctorate from UC Berkeley.

“This is very exciting. I am glad that the company, particularly now, has such a true commitment to diversity at the core of its mission.”

Seeta Pai

Seeta Pai is a research and strategy consultant to social impact organizations. She’s led international and U.S. research on child development, parenting, kids’ media, and education at Common Sense Media, Sesame Workshop, UC Berkeley, and Harvard. Seeta holds a doctorate from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and is the mother of two young girls.

“I love that this effort means kids could potentially get to see that there are many ways to be cool! Showing non-stereotypical characters engaged in non-stereotypical pursuits helps model that it’s OK for them to do that too!”

Joanna Rubin Dranger

Joanna Rubin Dranger is a Swedish author, cartoonist, artist and illustrator best known for her graphic novels Miss Scaredy-Cat and Love and Miss Remarkable and Her Career. She is a professor in illustration at the Department of Design, Craft and Arts of the University College of Arts, Crafts and Design (Konstfack) in Stockholm, where she shares responsibility for the MA programme in Visual Communication.

“I think Toca apps are communicating that there isn’t anything to be afraid of in relation to a modern, diverse, multicultural society, but the opposite: It´s positive, playful and cute.”