PC Degrees: B.A./French, with a minor in business; Master of Business Administration

Activities Participated in as a PC Student: Junior Year Abroad through DIPA Syracuse University in Strasbourg, France; named to Phi Sigma Iota (International Foreign Languages Honor Society); Providence College Division I Basketball Cheerleader, 1983-1984

Career Path Highlights: Cappello joined in the fun at Hasbro, Inc., a worldwide leader in children's and family leisure time products and services, in April 1988. Calling working at Hasbro her "dream job," she has undertaken product development and marketing roles of increasing responsibility across multiple categories, including Juvenile Products, Infant, Preschool, Girls, Boys, Creative Play, Candy, and Licensed Properties. Cappello served as vice president of Hasbro's Disney Business Unit, leading a cross functional marketing and product development team for the Disney Film business. She went on to serve as the vice president of marketing responsible for Preschool toys, including Play-Doh, Tonka, Licensed Preschool, and Juvenile Products.

Today, as a vice president and play futurist in the Design and Development Department of the Future Now division, Cappello is helping to lead a newly formed group within Hasbro called Future Now, a global team dedicated to conceptualizing future play initiatives (2+ years and older), and creating design inspiration for the development teams working on near-term projects. This includes activities such as running brainstorming sessions, sponsoring innovation events, leading offsite immersions on brand-related subject matters, and finding and nurturing outside expert relationships geared toward expanding knowledge and creative thinking. She also occasionally speaks about both her role at Hasbro and about the concept of "play" at business and academic forums, the most recent of which was a talk on "Meaningful Play" at a conference sponsored by Michigan State University. She was awarded her master of business administration degree from PC in 1992.

Family: Husband, Michael; one daughter

Staying Involved: Cappello has taken part in PC student shadowing and mentoring programs and has made a career advice presentation to a PC class. She also attends class reunions and occasional PC sports events.

"Transforming" Quote:  "I will never forget a very simple story my Strategic Management professor shared with us about a real-life work experience he had on implementing change in a large organization. To illustrate a human being's natural resistance to change, he recalled a story about the pain and anxiety which broke out across an entire department as a result of a simple suggested process change that challenged the status quo--until they tried it and realized it actually simplified their tasks, freed them up for other activities, and was better for their overall well-being. To get them to try it, however, required persistence, empathy, and creativity. As someone who embraces and encourages change, I found the insight and information interesting. In my role as futurist, I am regularly tasked to get others to both initiate change (innovation) and embrace and respond to the inevitable change that is coming. I find myself recalling that story often and using the tools and insights he shared with us to help achieve my goals.