Lisa McKnight is a globally recognized marketing and brand leader with deep experience driving growth, creativity, and cultural relevance for some of the world’s most iconic consumer brands. Known for transforming global portfolios and scaling multi-billion-dollar businesses, she brings a rare combination of strategic vision, operational discipline, and purpose-driven leadership.
Throughout her career, McKnight has been an influential advocate for inclusive storytelling and purpose-driven marketing. She launched the Barbie Dream Gap Project, which has empowered more than 25 million girls globally, and has championed programs supporting women in leadership across industries.
As the Former Executive Vice President and Chief Brand Officer at Mattel, McKnight oversaw the company’s entire global brand portfolio—spanning six categories and more than 100 active brands, including Barbie®, Hot Wheels®, Fisher-Price®, American Girl®, and UNO®. She led a worldwide team of more than 1,000 across Product Design, Development, Brand Marketing, Consumer Insights, and Integrated Marketing Communications.
Under her leadership, Mattel achieved record market share positions, with Hot Wheels® and UNO® delivering record-breaking growth and Barbie® reaffirming its status as the #1 global toy brand.
Lisa McKnight is especially proud of the extraordinary turnaround she led of the Barbie® franchise—which grew nearly 2x from 2016 – 2021 and became the # 1 doll and toy property. McKnight led the brand strategy and marketing for the release of the blockbuster Barbie film, which earned $1.44B in box office revenues and became a worldwide cultural phenomenon.
Barbie was the highest-grossing film in the 100-year Warner Bros history and garnered multiple awards, including Oscars, Grammys, and Golden Globes. The record-breaking film’s campaign set a new benchmark for broadening audiences and led to hundreds of licensing partnerships.
Lisa McKnight defined Mattel’s five-year “Invest for Growth” roadmap and restructured underperforming divisions, returning Fisher-Price® and American Girl® to profitability and revitalizing Mega Bloks® as Mattel Brick Shop. She also expanded the company’s licensed IP portfolio to include Ferrari, Formula 1, DC Universe, Wicked, Wednesday, and K-Pop Demon Hunters, adding over $1.5 billion in contracted revenue.
Her enterprise-wide digital transformation advanced Mattel’s social media footprint to more than 170 million followers and 9 billion views in 2024, with Barbie® and UNO® recognized as Ad Age Top TikTok Channels.
A sought-after speaker, she has appeared at Cannes Lions, Fast Company Innovation Festival, ANA Masters of Marketing, and Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit, among others. Her honors include Forbes Most Influential CMO (2025, 2023), Adweek Brand Genius (2024, 2016), Women in Toys Trailblazer (2023), and multiple Cannes Lions and Clio Awards for marketing excellence.
She currently serves on the Board of Trustees at the University of Richmond and the Board of Directors of the Association of National Advertisers (ANA). Lisa McKnight holds a Bachelor of Arts in History and Mass Media from Denison University and completed executive programs at Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management and the Deloitte Next Generation CMO Academy. She resides in Los Angeles, California.
