Georgia-Pacific's Laura Knebusch Named to Ad Age's Leading Woman 2026

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Aug 11, 2026, 10:13 ET

Award recognizes Georgia-Pacific's senior vice president of CPG Marketing & Customer Experience for driving business growth, marketing innovation and industry leadership.

ATLANTA, Aug. 11, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Laura Knebusch, senior vice president of CPG Marketing & Customer Experience at Georgia-Pacific, has been named one of Ad Age's Leading Women 2026, an annual recognition honoring executives who are driving business results, leading high-performing organizations and influencing the future of marketing through innovation, strategic vision and industry leadership.

Laura Knebusch, named one of Ad Age's Leading Women 2026, has helped strengthen Georgia-Pacific’s market organization and position, as well as growth of Georgia-Pacific's multi-billion-dollar portfolio of professional and consumer brands, including Angel Soft®, Quilted Northern®, Brawny®, Sparkle®, Vanity Fair® and Dixie®.

As senior vice president of CPG Marketing & Customer Experience, Knebusch leads an organization of more than 80 marketing, media, analytics and consumer experience professionals responsible for the strategy and growth of Georgia-Pacific's multi-billion-dollar portfolio of professional and consumer brands, including Angel Soft®, Quilted Northern®, Brawny®, Sparkle®, Vanity Fair® and Dixie®.

Over the past year, Knebusch has helped strengthen Georgia-Pacific's marketing organization and position its iconic consumer brands for growth in an increasingly complex and evolving marketplace. Under her leadership, Georgia-Pacific has expanded the use of AI-powered tools across creative development, media optimization and analytics, accelerated its digital marketing strategy, strengthened retail media capabilities and advanced consumer engagement across its portfolio of consumer brands.

Her leadership has helped drive award-winning work across Georgia-Pacific's brands. Over the past year, the Angel Soft® brand's "Potty-tunity" campaign earned Gold and Silver Cannes Lions awards, the Quilted Northern® brand's "Keep It Quilted" campaign received the Grand Prize in Media Excellence at the ANA In-House Agency Conference and Brawny® was recognized as one of Fast Company's Brands That Matter. These recognitions reflect the company's commitment to combining consumer insights, creativity and data-driven decision making to build brands in meaningful and effective ways.

"Laura is an exceptional leader whose vision has transformed not only our marketing organization, but how our brands connect with consumers," said Fernando Gonzalez, president, Georgia Pacific Foodservice Solutions. "She has built a modern marketing organization that embraces innovation, develops outstanding talent and continually looks for ways to grow our brands and serve our customers. We are incredibly proud to see her recognized by Ad Age."

Knebusch joined Georgia-Pacific in 2008 and has held a series of progressively senior leadership roles across brand management, shopper marketing and consumer experience before being named senior vice president of CPG Marketing & Customer Experience in 2023. Throughout her career, she has championed a consumer-first approach while fostering a culture of collaboration, curiosity and continuous learning.

"I'm honored to be recognized alongside so many accomplished leaders," said Knebusch. "What makes this recognition especially meaningful is that it reflects the incredible work of our talented teams across Georgia-Pacific. Every day, they bring fresh ideas, challenge us to think differently and find new ways to connect with consumers. I'm grateful for the opportunity to work alongside them.'

The 2026 Ad Age Leading Women honorees will be recognized at an awards luncheon in New York in October.

About Georgia-Pacific
Based in Atlanta, Georgia-Pacific and its subsidiaries are among the world's leading manufacturers and marketers of bath tissue, paper towels and napkins, tableware, paper-based packaging, cellulose and building products. Our familiar consumer brands include Angel Soft®, Brawny®, Dixie®, enMotion®, Quilted Northern®, Sparkle® and Vanity Fair®.
Georgia-Pacific has long been a leading supplier of building products to lumber and building materials dealers and large do-it-yourself warehouse retailers. Its Georgia-Pacific Recycling subsidiary is among the world's largest traders of paper, metal and plastics. The company operates more than 150 facilities and employs approximately 30,000 people directly and creates more than 80,000 jobs indirectly. For more information, visit: gp.com/about-us. For news, visit: news.gp.com. Follow Georgia-Pacific on LinkedIn, Meta, Instagram, X and YouTube.