Our People Giving Back

Throughout the year, Mattel employees from every region around the world come together to celebrate Play it Forward and to give back to the communities where they live, work and play. Key Play it Forward moments rally employees to come together for June’s Global Volunteer Week and throughout the holiday season. From building play kits to hosting epic play dates on campus, each region works with their local nonprofits to create moments that matter most.

Play it Forward Volunteer Week

Play it Forward Volunteer Week

Every June, Mattel employees around the world come together to celebrate Play it Forward Global Volunteer Week. Throughout this week, employees activate to give back to the communities where they live, work and play. From building play kits to hosting epic play dates on campus, each region works with their local nonprofits to create moments that matter most.

Hot Wheels Speedometry

We believe in STEAM learning and want to make this as accessible as possible for all kids. Launched in the Fall of 2013, Speedometry – a free curriculum offered online to educators, and designed for kindergarten and fourth-grade students, that utilizes Hot Wheels cars and tracks to teach the fundamentals of STEAM is the result of a collaboration between the USC Rossier School of Education, the Mattel Children’s Foundation and the Hot Wheels Brand Team. Our goal is to empower parents and educators with an engaging and accessible curriculum that teaches math, science and physics.

The Ruth Handler Mentorship Program

Launched in 2020, The Ruth Handler Mentorship Program, in partnership with Women in Toys, Licensing, and Entertainment (WiT), helps women at all levels of their career achieve their goals, with a focus on facilitating career development. The program offers guided, personalized mentorship between women in the industry to build skill sets, increase industry knowledge and achieve developmental goals.

Underwritten by the Mattel Children’s Foundation and named after Ruth Handler, Mattel’s co-founder and creator of the Barbie brand, the program is designed to be company-agnostic.

Brave Barbie
Mattel’s annual toy donation includes brave Barbie dolls, a series of dolls without hair designed to bring hope and comfort to young patients battling cancer and illnesses that cause hair loss. To date, Mattel has donated more than 70,000 dolls to UCLA Mattel Children’s Hospital and to its network of more than 200 hospitals associated with the Children’s Hospital Association, CureSearch for Children’s Cancer, and the National Alopecia Areata Foundation, among others.