Judd Zebersky Built Jazwares Cares Alongside the Business From Day One
Corporate philanthropy is often grafted onto companies after they achieve success. At Jazwares, it came first. Judd Zebersky established Jazwares Cares at the company’s founding, years before Squishmallows made the brand a household name or Berkshire Hathaway became an investor. That decision reflected a philosophy rather than a marketing calculation.
Donations, Hospitals, and Nonprofits
Jazwares Cares has donated millions of toys over the decades and built lasting partnerships with organizations including Make-A-Wish, Ronald McDonald House, Toys for Tots, Title I schools, and children’s hospitals. Judd Zebersky and his wife contributed $2 million personally to Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital and are significant supporters of Make-A-Wish Southern Florida. The giving extended well beyond product donations, touching families going through serious illness and communities with limited access to resources. These commitments grew as the company grew.
Zebersky’s business background was not in toys or consumer goods. Judd Zebersky earned a JD from the University of Miami School of Law and ran a law firm before deciding that making toys was where he wanted to invest his energy. In 1997, he flew to China and spent months learning factory operations firsthand, studying injection molding, rotocasting, blow molding, and the engineering behind product design. That hands-on knowledge eventually shaped a company with 1,400 employees that distributes products across more than 100 countries.
Scale Did Not Change the Priorities
As Jazwares grew through licensing partnerships with Minecraft, Sonic the Hedgehog, and Fortnite, and through acquisitions including Wicked Cool Toys and Kellytoy, the philanthropic infrastructure that Judd Zebersky built scaled alongside it. Squishmallows, which came through the Kellytoy acquisition in 2020, sold over 100 million units in a single year and brought celebrity attention to the brand. Through it all, Jazwares Cares remained active. Zebersky stepped down as CEO on March 20, 2026. The company earned recognition from TIME, Fast Company, and Fortune during his tenure, and COO David Neustein assumed leadership on March 23, 2026. Refer to this page to learn more.
Learn more about Judd Zebersky on https://jazwares.uk/about-us/leadership