National Geographic has named Christine Kelly as its director of licensing, toys, and games for National Geographic’s Brand Licensing division. In this new role, she has been tasked with National Geographic’s toy business—both licensing and strategic retail partnerships. She will oversee marketing, retail strategy and product development, including new franchises.
Kelly comes to National Geographic from Mattel Consumer Products, where she served as senior manager of licensing for Mattel’s Infant-Preschool division. While at Mattel, she was responsible for managing the company’s consumer products business in North America for its Fisher-Price and Thomas & Friends brands, and helped launch Thomas & Friends direct-to-consumer collaborations with American Girl, Mattel, and Fisher-Price. Prior to Mattel, Kelly managed the Thomas & Friends brand for HIT Entertainment and served as director of licensing at Kids with Character LLC, where she served as the key point person with licensors Disney, Warner Bros., Care Bears, and Iconix.
