Please join Kathy Walters, Group President – GP Consumer Products, and Lisa Carlson, GP National Accounts Manager and Scheller ’12, for an interactive conversation, discussing key principles that make free societies prosper and how those are important in your life and career.  Lisa will talk with Kathy about these concepts and how they are reflected in real-life examples from the management philosophy at Georgia-Pacific. The discussion will include questions from Lisa as well as from the audience at large – providing a unique opportunity for attendees to gain valuable insights from an industry leader.

Kathy’s leadership experience in the consumer products industry made her a natural fit to head GP’s Consumer Products Group, which contains the largest retail and commercial tissue and tabletop businesses in North America. Kathy joined GP in 2004 as president of the North American Commercial (away–from–home tissue) Business and Communication Papers. In 2007, she was promoted to her current position to lead the entire Consumer Products Group — which at the time included a large business in Europe that GP later divested. Before joining GP, she held leadership positions in a number of global paper and tissue companies. A respected member of the business community, she serves on the Board of Directors for INVISTA, the Georgia Aquarium and the World Affairs Council of Atlanta, as well as on the Board of Trustees for Syracuse University. She holds a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Syracuse University, as well as a Master of Business Administration in finance and strategic planning from the University of Pennsylvania, Wharton Business School.

About the Impact Speaker Series:

Since 2002, the IMPACT Speaker Series has brought highly successful business leaders from a variety of industries to campus to share their experiences and give advice to students and other entrepreneurs on topics ranging from "building a venture around intellectual capital" to "successful entrepreneurship in large organizations" and "socially responsible leadership." The weekly series provides Georgia Tech students, alumni, and the Atlanta business community an opportunity to network and learn from successful entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, and notable business and non-profit leaders. The lecture series is sponsored by the Institute for Leadership and Entrepreneurship.

The series is free and open to the public.