Debra Joester
President & CEO

Debra Joester has led the international licensing agency to the forefront of its field. Recognized as a licensing and merchandising industry leader, Joester has more than 20 years of experience in developing award-winning strategic brand extension programs as well as breakthroughs in entertainment licensing, promotional licensing and special events marketing. Prior to founding her own agency, Joester held the position of president at Hamilton Projects, Inc. for 10 years, during which time she lead the New York-based international licensing agency to its top position within the industry. As the architect of the firm’s most important programs, Joester was responsible for the licensing success of the Chrysler and Dodge divisions, Dr. Scholl’s, Miller Brewing Company, The United States Postal Service, Coppertone and other blue chip accounts. At JLG, Joester continued to drive the global success of the Jeep brand for over a decade, and, more recently, developed the innovative licensing strategy for two of the world’s leading media brands, The Discovery Channel and Animal Planet.

In the entertainment arena, Joester recognized the potential of pop culture breakouts, “South Park” and Aaron Spelling’s “Beverly Hills 90210″, and established successful global merchandising and promotional campaigns that broke new ground. At JLG, Joester developed and executed the strategy that re-introduced Care Bears to a new generation of children delivering nearly $3 billion in sales for the brand. In 2011, Joester was early in identifying opportunities for entertainment properties emerging from the web, with the launch of viral sensation, Annoying Orange.

She is a frequent guest speaker at national and regional conferences, has served on the LIMA board of directors and as an officer for the organization, and serves on the board of Kids In Distressed Situations. Joester began her career as a marketing executive in the music industry, working with bands including the Eurythmics and Judas Priest.

Joanne Loria
Executive Vice President & COO

In her more than 20 years’ experience in licensing and merchandising, Joanne Loria has created unique retail programs for Parents magazine and the pop culture phenomenon “South Park,” and was one of the original architects of the re-launch strategy for Hanna Barbera’s classic cartoon archive. Since co-founding the agency, Loria has led strategic planning and development for PepsiCo North America brands, Pepsi, Mountain Dew. Aquafina, AMP and SoBe, as well as Kellogg’s and has been instrumental in the growth of JLG’s food and beverage portfolio with brands such as Johnsonville Foods, Entenmann’s and SoBe. Prior to JLG, Loria was Senior Vice President of Hamilton Projects, where she managed sales and marketing efforts for clients such as Coppertone, Dr. Scholl’s and Miller Brewing Company as well as the company’s financial and business operations. Before entering the licensing business, Loria had a career in direct marketing and merchandising with Columbia Records’ Columbia House division, where she developed the first non-music merchandise catalog targeted to club members, an initiative that was emulated by other companies and became standard practice in the industry for the next two decades.

She is a frequent guest speaker, has served on the LIMA board of directors and is an active fundraiser for LIMA’s charity of choice “The Children’s Brain Tumor Foundation.”

Christine McAuliffe
Senior Vice President

Christine has over 20 years experience in account services and in the development and management of licensed merchandise programs. Her knowledge and experience of international markets has been a driving force behind the success of Joester Loria Group’s global business including the award winning Jeep Consumer Products program. As Senior Vice President, Christine oversees the strategic planning and management of JLG’s corporate clients which include PepsiCo brands and Hachette Filipacchi publications Car and Driver and Road & Track. Christine joined Joester Loria Group in 1999. She previously worked with licensing agencies Hamilton Projects, 4Kids and United Media.

Pamela Henneberry
Vice President, Finance and Operations

Pamela joined The Joester Loria Group in 2000 and has over 20 years of experience in financial accounting, specializing in developing systems and controls to support business growth and enhance operating efficiencies. Prior to joining JLG, she worked as a Senior Accountant at Paul Scherer & Co., a public accounting firm servicing Advance Publications, Inc., one of the nation’s largest privately-held companies and publishers of Conde Nast, The New Yorker, Glamour and Vanity Fair magazines. As head of finance and operations at JLG, Pamela oversees all accounting, budgeting, financial statement preparation and Human Resource functions of the agency.

James Slifer
Senior Vice President, Business Development

James Slifer specializes in brand and entertainment licensing in the creation, management, and business development of successful trademark licensing programs for global consumer brands. He has over 15 years of experience developing brand-extensions for some of the world’s most valuable brands including: Jeep, PepsiCo, Entenmann’s, Kawasaki, Home Depot, Peter Rabbit, Discovery Communications, Chrysler, and others. Since joining The Joester Loria Group in 2001, James’s responsibilities include overseeing sales, new client acquisitions, and specializing in extending brands into emerging and non-traditional licensed product categories. Before joining The Joester Loria Group, James worked at Copyrights Group, Bradford Licensing Associates, and Apex One. James also serves on the LIMA Board of Directors.

Polina Rey
Vice President, Entertainment and Media Brands

Polina Rey has more than a decade of experience in sales and marketing, managing breakthrough award winning licensing programs such as Pokemon, Yugioh and Care Bears. Rey joined The Joester Loria Group in 2003. Her responsibilities include strategic development and implementation of the merchandising, marketing and sales strategies for leading entertainment and media brands such as Care Bears, Planet Earth, Pinkalicious and Discovery Communications’ brands. Prior to working at Joester Loria, Rey managed in bound licensing at F.A.B, a leading licensed accessory manufacturer. Rey began her licensing career at 4Kids Entertainment where she played an integral role in launching and managing successful children’s entertainment licensing programs.