2023 C-Suite Awards
Public Company: Deborah A. Thomas | Hasbro Inc. executive vice president and chief financial officer
DEBORAH A. THOMAS HAS A STRONG BELIEF: “It’s the people that you meet in life that makes life interesting.”
Rhode Island business boosts efficiency and sustainability with Rhode Island Energy
Hexagon, a global technology and software company, develops products that combine sensor, software and autonomous…
Learn More
Thomas will be saying farewell to those people soon. The outgoing Hasbro Inc. executive vice president and chief financial officer is retiring after 25 years with the Pawtucket-based toy maker.
Gina Goetter, who was CFO for motorcycle manufacturer Harley-Davidson Inc., has been named Hasbro’s new CFO. Thomas now will take on an advisory role because it’s important to her to make sure Goetter has the best information available about the company and is prepared to succeed.
“I want to make the transition as easy as possible for [Goetter], as well as the employees of the company,” Thomas said. “Being a leader in an organization, you want to make sure that the team and the organization has the smoothest transition possible.”
When Thomas became CFO of Hasbro in 2009, she assumed not just the technical aspects of the role but also the internal leadership and external public-facing roles. She was ranked as one of the Leisure Sector’s Top CFOs by Institutional Investor Magazine, as voted on by the buy-and-sell-side community, on multiple occasions.
Along with her CFO role, Thomas has also contributed to Hasbro’s growth. She led the company’s information technology department and supported the implementation of statutory accounting principles, the company’s enterprise financial reporting system, and other platforms to advance and streamline finance operations.
“IT is incredibly important whether it’s technology in your product or it’s just the technology used to support your company,” Thomas said. “It is very important to have data and information to provide to your team as they are thinking about what is the next new product that we want to design.”
According to her colleagues, one of the most important aspects of Thomas’ leadership is that she takes the time to know her Hasbro team members as people, not just as employees. Colleagues appreciated that Thomas helped employees do their best work and gave them a reason to believe in her as their leader. She also believed in her team. Thomas listened to what her colleagues had to say and took all views into consideration when making decisions at the company.
Early on in Thomas’ tenure, a team member held an event for investors. Management initially supported it but questioned its value. The event ultimately went forward, and it was successful. Following the event, Thomas sent her team an Edible Arrangement with a note that read: “Thank you for knowing what we needed, even when we all didn’t realize it.”
“The work is great, but the people are great too. Knowing who their families are and what interests them enriches me. I often find that you’ll find someone who has this amazing hobby that I know nothing about, I get to learn some-thing new when I talk to them. But I also learn about what interests them,” Thomas said.
“And as a leader, when you can tap into the interests of people, you are often picturing what their next role could be and how you develop them, so it’s good for them and its good for the company as well.”
Thomas has also contributed to Hasbro’s growth as a female leader and mentor to women across the global organization. She led Hasbro’s finance team, which is traditionally thought of as a male-dominated field, with strength and poise. Thomas has also built a team of senior leaders who are predominantly women. Thanks to Thomas, Hasbro is on its way to meeting its 2025 goal for female leadership across the company.
Thomas, in reflecting on her quarter century with the worldwide toy maker, said that she had learned something every day on the job.
“I have not been bored once in 25 years. I’m fortunate,” Thomas said. “I am at a great company, with great brands. I am very fortunate.”
