Joanna Griffiths is the Founder and President of intimate apparel and activewear brands Knix and Kt by Knix. Since launching the company in 2013, Joanna has been credited with helping invent the leak-proof underwear category, which is considered the fastest growing segment within intimate hygiene and has changed the lives of millions of people around the world.
Over the past decade, Joanna has fought for representation in body diversity, paving the way for a needed shift towards inclusivity in the intimates category and in advertising more broadly. Reinforcing this ethos, the brand has always featured products on people of every size, and in 2o2o, Knix was the first lingerie brand to create an entire TV advertising campaign of women over 50.
Joanna is a champion for female entrepreneurship, stressing the importance of supporting female founded businesses and being vocal about the stereotypes that exist around women in business today. In 2021 Joanna made headlines for disqualifying any potential investors that questioned her ability to run a company and be a mother. Holding her ground worked, Joanna closed Knix’s $50M Series B financing just three days before giving birth to her twin daughters – on International Women’s Day no less.
In 2022 Joanna broke the Canadian record for the largest publicly disclosed sale of a private company by a solo female founder when Swedish health and hygiene Giant Essity purchased 80% of Knix valuing the company at $400M USD. Always one to push for greater change when asked about the record Joanna shared she hopes it is a title she holds for a short period of time and can’t wait to cheer on whoever holds it
next.
A firm believer that it is every business’s responsibility to give back to the community, in 2022, Joanna launched the Knix Fund committing $1M in giving over the next three years. Each year the Knix employees vote on the fund’s focus and find partner organizations that are working in the community to effect change. The fund’s first mandate was a cause near and dear to the Knix team’s heart, Menstrual Equity. The next cohort for the Knix Fund will be a collaboration between Knix and Catalyst, to self-finance and produce female-forward documentaries that ignite conversation and inspire change.
Joanna’s long list of accolades include Waterstone’s Most Admired CEO and Glossy’s 2024 Founder of the Year, an AdWeek Women Trailblazer and in 2023 was named Canada’s EY Entrepreneur Of The Year® and represented Canada for the Global title. Joanna holds an MBA with Distinction from INSEAD, sits on the board of the Toronto International Film Festival, holds multiple patents and released her first book “Life After Birth” via globally renowned publisher Rizzoli in 2021 and her first children’s book “Some Periods” in 2023.
Joanna resides in Toronto where she lives with her husband, Dave and their three kids.
