Marianne Szymanski is founder and president of Toy Tips, Inc., an international child development research group that conducts independent on-going academic and scientific research on products from the toy and juvenile product industries. A national author, entrepreneur, speaker, lecturer and media personality, Marianne has led her organization's unbiased tests of over 40,000 products from more than 1200 manufacturers and publishes Toy Tips and Parenting Hints Magazine. (toytips.com)

A former retail sales representative for an international toy manufacturer, Marianne saw the opportunity to provide parents with unbiased information they can trust on how to select products that enhance a child's development. This inspired the 1991 formation of The Toy Research Institute, a year-round program of toy evaluation and testing that does not accept revenue from manufacturers. In order to serve her local community with toy lending, Marianne created the Toy Tips Toy Lending Library in conjunction with the Franklin Public Library in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.