August 5, 2026

Driven by curiosity and collective success. Meet Marisa. 🪐

For Marisa, leadership means creating the conditions for others to succeed: bringing people together, building trust and helping teams make decisions with clarity and confidence.

“I was looking for an environment where collaboration mattered more than competition, and where leadership meant bringing people with you.” Marisa, Senior Director, Finance, Business Development, Insights and Analytics

A career shaped by exploration and stepping into the unknown

From early in her career, Marisa chose variety over a predictable path, moving across roles, functions and geographies to build a broader view of how businesses work and how decisions are made.

Her path began with mathematics and an early move into finance, before taking her across Spain, the UK and the US, through finance partnering, transformation work and an MBA at London Business School. Each step built her technical expertise while reinforcing what matters most to her: growing as a leader in an organisation where collaboration, care and strong values matter as much as performance.
“It wasn’t always comfortable but that’s where the growth came from, which makes it exciting”

Building an end-to-end understanding of the business

At the LEGO Group, Marisa continued to lean into breadth, taking on roles that expanded her view of the organisation across strategic finance, retail, manufacturing and operations.

With experience across the UK, Czech Republic and Poland, including sales offices and, at the time, the LEGO Group’s largest packing factory, she built a practical end-to-end view of how the business operates.

“That breadth is what allows you to really contribute at a different level because you’re not just looking at one piece—you’re seeing how everything fits together. From there, you move from being an expert in one area to being someone who connects the dots across many.”

Stepping into leadership required more than taking on a larger scope; it meant shifting from personal delivery to enabling others.
For Marisa, leadership became less about having all the answers and more about asking the right questions, building trust and supporting people through change.

Collaboration in practice.

Today, Marisa leads finance, business development, strategy, insights and analytics within LEGO® Education, connecting performance, direction and execution.
“Our role is to help the business drive clarity and direction through strategy, financial insight and data.”
In practice, that means partnering with leadership teams, supporting long-term planning, enabling day-to-day decisions and helping teams stay aligned.

One experience in particular tested that belief. Early in a new role, while commuting from another country with her nine-month-old baby, Marisa joined a global, cross-functional effort responding to a fast-moving and sensitive situation.

For Marisa, it became a defining example of collaboration in practice: experts who were strangers coming together across functions, geographies and roles to work towards a common goal.
“The best outcomes don’t come from individuals; they come from teams working together.”

A core part of Marisa’s role is helping the business navigate complexity, from strategic choices and competing priorities to changing market conditions.
Her team translates that complexity into clarity by simplifying strategy, making data meaningful, highlighting trade-offs and helping people understand what needs to happen next.

A culture that shapes how you lead

What has stood out most to Marisa is the culture of the organisation.
“People here genuinely care about the work, about the purpose, and about each other.” Marisa, says.

It is a culture that encourages collaboration over competition, values diverse perspectives and connects people through shared purpose. That matters personally too. As a parent of two young children, Marisa describes this stage as busy and demanding, but manageable because of the trust, flexibility and pragmatism she experiences at work.

Although her work is often strategic and behind the scenes, Marisa feels closely connected to its impact. As a parent, seeing how differently children learn has deepened her belief that education should create space for every child to engage, participate and reach their potential.
“It makes me proud to be part of work that can help create more inclusive learning environments.”

Even at a senior level, Marisa sees growth as ongoing.
“There’s always more to learn new perspectives to understand, new challenges to take on.”
It is something she encourages in her team too: take on new challenges, explore different paths and stay open to growth, even when it feels uncertain.

“Growth doesn’t come from staying in one place, it comes from being willing to step into something new.”

Just imagine your LEGO® Education career.

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