Debbie Goodland, President & Founder

Debbie Goodland has always carried with her an entrepreneurial spirit perfectly matched with her creative energy and appreciation for diverse cultural traditions.

The idea for developing a line of multiracial toys came as Goodland noticed an obvious lack in today’s toy market, dolls – namely, a lack of dolls that more realistically resembled the growing population of children born to parents of mixed races.

In fact, Goodland herself was born in Jamaica and is of African, Scottish, and English descent. She moved to the diverse landscape of Toronto, Ontario, Canada at the age of eight and has lived there ever since. Growing up in downtown Toronto, she was not only exposed to children from varying backgrounds other than hers, but she was also able to develop positive interracial relationships.

As her years in grade school continued, Goodland was exposed to the homes, foods, traditions, families and cultures of her friends, which gave her an educational experience no institute could match. Her friends included Koreans, Hungarians, Chinese, Italian, Japanese, Scotts-English, Portuguese, Jewish, Finnish, Latin American, West Indian and Interracial.

"My home life also played an instrumental role in shaping my views and outlook on the world around me. My parents operated an open door policy, which enabled my siblings and me to welcome our friends into our world. Our friends ate at our table, slept in our home, and went on vacation with us. These experiences taught me how very similar we all are."