Disney Parks, Experiences, and Products Chairman Josh D’Amaro has been appointed to the national board of directors for Make-A-Wish America, the organization revealed in a press release today.
Make-A-Wish announced the addition of D’Amaro and Scooter Braun, CEO and board member of HYBE America and founder of SB Projects, to the national board of directors following the national board meeting on Feb. 3. Known best for granting life-changing wishes to children with critical illnesses, Make-A-Wish currently has 24 board members responsible for guiding the organization’s operations.
According to the release, Braun and D’Amaro offer “unique skills and respective expertise across areas of business expansion, strategy development, talent management and more to the Make-A-Wish mission to deliver the life-changing impact of a wish to more children with critical illnesses.”
D’Amaro’s leadership and voluntary service experience are certainly factors that make D’Amaro an obvious choice for the National Board of Directors serving Make-A-Wish. The foundation cites the Walt Disney Company as the world’s largest wish granter and touts D’Amaro’s accomplishments in explaining their excitement over the appointment:
As Chairman, Disney Parks, Experiences and Products, D’Amaro oversees Disney’s iconic travel and leisure businesses, including six theme park-resort destinations in the United States, Europe and Asia; a top-rated cruise line; a popular vacation ownership program; an award-winning guided family adventure business; and the global consumer products operations, which includes the world’s leading licensing business across toys, apparel, home goods, digital games and apps; the world’s largest children’s print publisher; and the shopDisney e-commerce platform. Josh leads a cast of more than 150,000 people – and since Disney is the world’s largest wish granter, many cast members interact with Make-A-Wish families regularly. In total, the Walt Disney Company has helped to grant more than 145,000 wishes worldwide since 1980. D’Amaro continues the Disney legacy of top executives supporting the wish-granting organization through voluntary service on national, global and chapter boards.
Make-A-Wish America Press Release, Feb. 7, 2023.
D’Amaro, too, appears eager to be involved as a newly appointed member of the organization’s leadership, seeing it as an opportunity to serve as an ambassador for the many Disney cast members who have shown unwavering support for the Make-A-Wish Foundation for more decades. According to the organization, Disney and Make-A-Wish have granted wishes for more than 145,000 children with critical illnesses worldwide since 1980. Historically, one out of every two wishes granted in the U.S. has been a Disney wish.
“Both Disney and Make-A-Wish understand what a positive impact hope, imagination, and happiness can have on the lives of seriously ill children,” said D’Amaro in the press release. “It’s an honor to represent the thousands of Disney cast members around the world who create magic and help make wishes come true every day for these amazing families.”
D’Amaro is the latest Disney executive to join the organization’s National Board of Directors. Ousted CEO Bob Chapek also served on the board for Make-A-Wish. It appears Chapek renounced his position when he was forced out of the Walt Disney Company.
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