Lisa McKnight

Lisa Mcknight is Executive Vice President and Global Head of Barbie and Dolls for Mattel. Lisa oversees the entire Dolls portfolio for Mattel, leading a global team in brand strategy, product development, and marketing execution.
Lisa and her team have shaped the Dolls category to be a powerful portfolio of brands driving broad-based success with a commitment to brand purpose, design-led innovation, unwavering cultural relevance and executional excellence, all outlined by the Mattel Playbook. She has overseen unprecedented multi-year growth for the category, from scaling the Barbie brand 2X over the past six years to driving portfolio expansion with complementary brands like Polly Pocket and Monster High.
During her time at the helm of Barbie and Dolls, the category has reached nearly $2B in gross billings and, for the past two years, Mattel has been the #1 Global Doll Manufacturer and Barbie has been the #1 Global Toy Property. In 2021, the Barbie brand saw its high sales on record.
Under Lisas’s leadership, the Dolls portfolio won back the groundbreaking licensing rights to the Disney Princess and Frozen franchise, as well as Universal’s top entertainment properties Spirit Riding Free and Trolls.
Lisa has been instrumental in evolving the iconic Barbie brand into the most diverse doll line on the market that is reflective of the world kids see around them. With tenets rooted in the power of purpose, empowerment, inclusivity, culture, and role models, the Barbie brand continues to inspire the limitless potential in every girl and has never been more relevant than it is today.
Lisa has led the charge in defining the brand’s global social mission with the launch of the Barbie Dream Gap Project – a multi-year initiative dedicated to leveling the playing field for every girl. Since launching in 2018, Lisa has overseen the celebration more of than sixty global role models and raised more than a million dollars for nonprofit organizations that have powerful vehicles in place to reach girls at a global scale.
In 2019, Lisa expanded the Mattel doll portfolio with the launch of Creatable World, the first gender-inclusive doll line to challenge traditional views around who a doll was for, sparking cultural conversation heard around the world, earning a Toy of the Year nomination for “Doll of the Year” and named one of TIME Magazine’s 2019 Best Inventions.
Today, Lisa is leading the charge in the return of one of the best-selling fashion dolls brand of all time, Monster High, by refueling the franchise and introducing the brand’s message of inclusivity to a whole new generation of kids. In addition to leveraging licensed properties and powerful Mattel IP that makes it possible for anyone to find a doll that resonates with them, Lisa brings new properties to market that capture emerging trends popular with kids.
Since joining Mattel in 1998, Lisa has held numerous high-level leadership roles. Prior to overseeing all Mattel doll properties, Lisa served as the Senior Vice President of Marketing for North America, overseeing consumer marketing, media, social and e-commerce for a multiple category portfolio of owned and licensed brands, brands including Barbie, Hot Wheels and Fisher-Price.
Prior to Mattel, Lisa began her career in advertising, working on a variety of accounts from Taco Bell to The Fairmont Hotels, before transitioning to a marketing role at Gap, Inc.
Lisa is the 2016 recipient of AdWeek’s Brand Genius Award and serves on the boards of MAKERS Women and the Toy Industry Foundation, with a focus on the DE&I committee. Lisa is also the executive sponsor of Women of Mattel and and a member Women In Toys, through which she serves a mentor to women in the toy, licensing and entertainment industries. In 2020, she was a finalist for WFA’s Marketer of the Year title and in 2021, named to Business Insider’s most innovative CMOs list. Lisa is a frequent guest speaker at conferences such as the Cannes International Advertising Festival, Fast Company Innovation Festival, WFA Global Marketer Conference, Most Contagious Summit, Brand Innovators and The Gathering Summit, which welcomed Barbie as a cult brand in 2021.
Lisa resides in California with her husband and two daughters