Akira Chiba, president of Pokémon USA, will resign at the end of this year. He will be succeeded by Kenji Okubo, previously executive vice president and head of Pokémon USA’s Seattle office, effective Jan. 1, 2008. Okubo will manage Pokémon’s operations in New York, Seattle, and London, and will oversee all Pokémon initiatives outside of Japan.  

Gene Morra joins TechnoSource as director of marketing and Tom Hodgkins is named international sales manager.

Sesame Workshop named Aura Kenny Dunn as assistant vice president, government affairs.

Alicom Licensing named Christian Wallin and Fuad Khan as brand managers.

Access Licensing Group named Naz Amarchi-Cuevas licensing director.

Kidz Entertainment/EEMC expanded its Russian team with the appointment of Elena Sokolova as sales manager for Russia.