Ex-Officio
Tony Keane, CAE
President and Chief Executive Officer
International Facility Management Association
Tony Keane, CAE, is president and CEO of the Houston-based International Facility Management Association, (IFMA). In this capacity he also serves as a Board Member of the IFMA Foundation. At IFMA he oversees the global organization from its Service Center of Excellence in Houston, Texas. IFMA is the world's largest and most widely recognized international association for professional facility managers, supporting over 23,000 members in more than 80 countries. The association's members, represented in 130 chapters, an institute and 16 councils worldwide, manage more than 37 billion square feet of property and annually purchase more than US$100 billion in products and services. Formed in 1980, IFMA certifies facility managers, conducts research, provides educational programs and produces World Workplace, the world's largest facility management conference and exposition.
Keane is a certified association executive with significant experience in the nonprofit sector. Prior to starting at IFMA in 2010 Keane served for approximately five years as executive director of NACE International, the professional association for corrosion prevention. While at NACE he also served as a director on the NACE Foundation Board, chairman of the Four Point Publishing, Inc. board and as a director on the Board of International Registration for Nuclear Coating Specialists (BIRNCS).
Keane previously served as chief operating officer of the Optical Society of America in Washington, D.C.; interim executive director and deputy executive director of the Construction Specifications Institute, located in Alexandria, Va.; and the Institute of Industrial Engineers, located in Atlanta, Ga.
Keane's past positions have provided him with a broad range of experience, from accounting to business management. He graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Cincinnati with a business degree in accounting and management. He also attended MBA courses at the University of Dayton and Georgia State University. He is a former Certified Public Accountant.
Additionally, Keane serves on the board of directors for GlobalFM, the Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau, (GHCVB) and on the board of directors for the Council of Engineering and Scientific Society Executives, (CESSE). He is a member of the American Society of Association Executives.
Chair
Marc S. Liciardello, CFM, MBA, CM
Vice President of Corporate Services
ARAMARK
Marc S. Liciardello, CFM, MBA, CM, is an accomplished business leader with more than 25 years of experience in the facility management profession. He currently oversees the strategic and tactical facility and real estate programs for ARAMARK's corporate office portfolio. While earning his engineering and MBA degrees in the evening, Liciardello advanced through the ranks of the profession and has experience in a broad range of markets with leadership roles in both the public and private sectors.
Liciardello also has extensive experience in profit and loss management, workplace strategy and portfolio management, operations management, process re-engineering and business process improvement. He is a published author who has given numerous presentations on integrated and intelligent building systems at various venues, including Bell Laboratories.
Liciardello earned his Certified Facility Manager® credential in 2002 and has been an active member of the Philadelphia Chapter of IFMA since 1997, where he continues to serve on the governmental affairs and education committees.
Guided by his passion for advancing the facility management profession and professional worldwide, Liciardello currently serves as an active thought leader and member of the "How-to Guide" advisory board, as well as on IFMA's education, sustainability and finance committees. Liciardello also chairs the international government relations committee, headquarters workplace steering committee and strategic planning committee.
First Vice Chair
Jon Seller
General Manager
Optegy Group
A veteran of the energy industry, Jon Seller has more than 26 years of experience in energy management and facility management in Asia Pacific. Currently the general manager of Optegy Group — a Hong Kong-based energy services company he co-founded in 2001 — he has developed energy and operations management solutions for nearly every type of facility and in more than 20 countries across Asia and the Middle East.
Prior to Optegy, Seller was the performance contracting business unit leader for Honeywell’s China, Australia and Pacific regions. Throughout his career, he has developed and managed the implementation of individual energy solutions projects of up to US$10 million and managed facility portfolios of up to 3,500 buildings. Seller is a board member of the Hong Kong Building Environmental Assessment Method Society and participates frequently in government consultation and advisory groups on energy and environmental issues relating to facilities.
Seller currently serves as chair of IFMA's finance committee. He is also a member of the IFMA Foundation board of trustees and IFMA's international government relations committee, international development advisory task force and headquarters workplace steering committee. Seller is a past president of the Hong Kong Chapter of IFMA, of which he has been a member since 2001. He participated in the IFMA Facility Management Forecast 2007 as a member of the panel of industry experts.
Second Vice Chair
James P. Whittaker, P.E., CFM, EFP, FRICS
President
Facility Engineering Associates, P.C.
James P. Whittaker, CFM, P.E., CEFP, FRICS, is president of FEA and has more than 25 years of experience in the facilities and built environment industry. He has earned Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in civil engineering. Whittaker has managed hundreds of facility-related projects for government, institutional, health care and corporate clients in the United Kingdom, Central and South America, and throughout the United States.
Whittaker serves on the board of directors for the National Research Council Board on Infrastructure and the Constructed Environment. He also sits on the industry advisory board of Brigham Young University's Facility and Property Management degree program. Whittaker is a fellow of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors and instructor in the facility management program at George Mason University. He also serves as secretary/treasurer of the APPA Educational Facilities Professionals board of directors.
Whittaker currently serves on IFMA's international government relations committee. In 2011 he was appointed as the IFMA representative on the U.S. Department of State Overseas Buildings Office Industry Advisory Panel. In this capacity he advises OBO senior leadership on best practices in facility management and high-performance buildings.
Whittaker is a certified IFMA instructor and has taught nearly 100 IFMA and GMU competency courses over the past decade. He has been a subject matter expert in the development of a number of IFMA educational courses including: the Facility Management Professional learning system, Sustainability Facility Professional™ courses, FM core competency courses, the Certified Facility Manager exam review course, the Business of FM course and the new Facility Management: A Practical Introduction course.
Past Chair
Kathy O. Roper, CFM, MCR, LEED AP, IFMA Fellow
Associate Professor, School of Building Construction
Georgia Institute of Technology
Kathy O. Roper, CFM, MCR, LEED AP, IFMA Fellow, is an associate professor in the School of Building Construction at the Georgia Institute of Technology.
With more than 20 years in practice, Roper has a broad range of experience in the multi-faceted specialties of facility management and corporate real estate. She has worked for Sprint Communications, Financial Service Corporation, the U.S. General Services Administration and the American Cancer Society — providing her with experiences in corporate, government and non-profit business environments. Roper incorporates her experience and knowledge into her teaching and research at the Georgia Institute of Technology’s integrated facility and property management graduate program.
Roper is a prolific author and contributor to various industry publications and journals, including more than a dozen scholarly publications. Her interest in sustainability led to her LEED Accredited Professional designation and nomination to the U.S. Green Building Council’s formal education committee.
Roper is also a Certified Facility Manager®, an active member of IFMA and an IFMA Fellow. She was awarded the 2005 IFMA Distinguished Educator Award of Excellence and the IFMA Distinguished Author Award of Excellence in 2007.
Board of Directors
Francisco Abrantes, MBA
Executive Director
Powertronglobal, Inc.
Francisco Abrantes, MBA, is the Executive Director of Powertron Global Inc.a building efficiency company. He is based in São Paolo, Brazil, where he is responsible for developing the market for a new sustainable solution to improve HVAC efficiency and at the same time reduce cost. He has more than 18 years of comprehensive experience in the pharmaceutical, health care, information technology, oil and gas, call center, and broadcast TV and radio industries, where he worked in the facility and property management, real estate, supply chain, HSE and construction areas.
Francisco Abrantes previously of the current assignment worked for JLL – Jones Lang LaSalle (2008 -12) as Head of the Facility Management Business Unit across Brazil where he was responsible to overseeing over 2.300.000 sqm of facilities in different sectors, such like financial, pharmaceutical, electronics, technologies, mining, oil&gas and services among some other.
Abrantes always works to create an organizational restructuring program in all companies he worked for, focusing on both quality and costs. Improving the quality of service provided and at the same time working to reduce costs.
Francisco Abrantes has an intensive experience in the non-profit organization, with good experience with all matters to procedure since the foundation/opening and then in the administrative daily basis responsibilities. Since 2005 he has been serving ABRAFAC - Associação Brasileira de Facilities (www.abrafac.org.br) as its founder member, financial director (2005-06), vice chairman (2007-08), chairman&CEO (2009-10), president of the board of advisory (2011-12), and currently he is serving as an elected member of the fiscal advisory board for 2013-14 term. Francisco Abrantes is also a member of GRUPAS – Grupo de Profissionais de Administração de Serviços, since 1999 and he has already served as its vice president in 2007 and then as its president in 2008.
Abrantes as a professional with large experience in one of the beginning career in the world and for sure in the Brazilian territory and due to this he has been working as an independent professor and consultant providing some classes as well as courses and trainings, speeches and conferences for several audiences, including students and professionals as well as for private and public companies. He has an international experience in attending conferences, workshops and trainings where he often is one of the speakers. He also works as a member of the Advisory Council of the Facility Management Program in the Business Administration Graduation at Florida Architectural and Mechanical University (www.famu.edu), since 2012.
Abrantes has MBA with a concentration in financial management from the University of Dallas USA / IPEP Brazil, a post degree in people management and a bachelor’s degree i n business administration.
Maureen Ehrenberg, FRICS, CRE
Global Director Facilities Management, Executive Managing Director
Global Corporate Services, CBRE, Inc.
Maureen Ehrenberg is the Global Director of CBRE's Global Facilities Management service line. Ehrenberg is responsible for the global teams delivering the operational, engineering, energy and sustainability, strategic sourcing, HSSE and other technical service solutions for CBRE's 2 billion square feet of corporate facilities under management. Her team takes a comprehensive and integrated strategic approach to drive transformative change in IFM service delivery. Collaborating with clients, they develop solutions to enhance value, streamline operations, implement best practices and reduce operating expense.
Ehrenberg joined CBRE in August 2009. She is an industry recognized subject matter expert in real estate operations and asset repositioning. Prior to joining CBRE, Ehrenberg was the President of Global Client Services and an Executive Officer of Grubb & Ellis Company. She has also held senior management positions with Premisys Real Estate Services, a subsidiary of the Prudential, and Sam Zell's Equity Group. Ehrenberg has over 25 years of experience in the commercial real estate industry. Her teams have won many significant client and industry recognition awards for service excellence and breakthrough innovations.
Ehrenberg is a Fellow at The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, serves as a member of Real Estate Advisory Board of the New York State Teachers Retirement System, and is a management trustee for the International Union of Operating Engineers.
Stephanie J. Fanger, M.S., LEED AP BD+C, EDAC, FMP, IIDA
Workplace Strategist
Goodmans Interior Structures
Stephanie J. Fanger, M.S., LEED AP BD+C, EDAC, FMP, IIDA is a faculty associate at Arizona State University, teaching a senior level interior design studio on work environments. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Design from Arizona State University in 2009. Additionally, Fanger obtained a Master of Science in Architecture from University of Nebraska- Lincoln in 2011 with a master thesis focused on workplace design, specifically the integration and benefits of an open office configuration from a closed environment.
Fanger serves as the student advisor to the IFMA Phoenix Student Chapter. She was awarded the 2011 Emerging Leader Award at World Workplace in Phoenix.
Michael D. Feldman, FMP, CM
Deputy Executive Director
Los Angeles World Airports
Michael D. Feldman, CM, is the deputy executive director over facility management at Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA), USA. He is responsible for the activities of the facilities planning, facilities engineering, environmental services, inspection services, and construction and maintenance divisions.
Feldman has been involved in airport development and management for 30 years. He began his career in the airport industry in June 1980 when he joined LAWA as an assistant city planner in the Environmental Management Bureau. He managed several key environmental programs including the first Part 150 Noise Compatibility Program for LAX, environmental clean-ups throughout the airport system and a variety of development projects.
In 1991 Feldman became the manager of aviation planning for the Aviation Division of the Port of Seattle. Prior to returning to LAWA, he was deputy managing director of aviation facilities and environmental programs for Sea-Tac International Airport. There he built an integrated facility management and maintenance organization and championed a sustainability program that reduced operating costs and environmental implications.
Feldman is a Certified Member of the American Association of Airport Executives and has served two terms as president of the Airport Facilities Council of IFMA.
Lesley Groff, CFM
Facility Manager
The Hershey Company
Lesley Groff, CFM, has more than 15 years of experience in the facility management profession and has successfully managed public and private office space. Currently, she is the facility manager for The Hershey Company and is responsible for more than 600,000 square feet of mixed used office space in historic buildings.
Prior to her position at The Hershey Company, Groff served in the facility areas of the Pennsylvania Supreme Courts and Tyco Electronics.
Groff has been the recipient of the facility manager of the year award from the Central Pennsylvania Chapter of IFMA in both 2003 and 2010, and was professional member of the year in 1999 and 2000. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Indiana State University in 1991. In 2005, she earned her Certified Facility Manager®credential.
Joachim W. Hohmann, MSc, Ph.D., CFM
Managing Partner
Consultants Circle
Joachim W. Hohmann, MSc, Ph.D., CFM, is managing partner of Consultants Circle, where he provides consultancy in facility management technology to major European companies, federal agencies, and state and local governments.
Hohmann is also a professor at the Technical University Kaiserslautern, Germany, teaching on the foundations of facility management and information technology (IT). He is a chartered surveyor of the European Patent Office and author of numerous books and articles on IT in facility and real estate management.
Hohmann is a founding program committee member of the European Facility Management Conference. He is also a founding member of the German Facility Management Association’s special interest group on computer-aided facility management.
He is an active member of the FM Consultants Council of IFMA and serves as its global liaison for Central Europe. In 2002, Hohmann became a Certified Facility Manager®.
William M. O'Neill, CFM
Associate Director, Facilities Management
University of Minnesota
William M. O’Neill, CFM, is operations and maintenance facilities director of one of three University of Minnesota facility management districts that provides maintenance, custodial, construction, energy management and administration services throughout the university.
O’Neill has more than 18 years of experience in facilities, having previously held positions as associate director for facilities management central services as well as construction manager and facilities manager. As associate director, he was responsible for directing the construction; recycling, waste and reuse; and signs and graphics business units across 24 million square feet of facilities.
O’Neill is currently sustainability chair of the Academic Facilities Council of IFMA, where he served as president from 2004 to 2006. In 2008, he earned his Certified Facility Manager® credential. He earned a Bachelor of Arts from William Paterson University and an MBA certificate from the University of Saint Thomas.
Kevin B. O'Toole, CFM, NCARB
Senior Manager, Workplace Services
Corporate Real Estate and Facilities Management
Vanguard
Kevin O'Toole is the senior manager of workplace services within Vanguard's Corporate Real Estate and Facilities Management Department. His responsibilities are the development and implementation of short and long term strategies to effectively manage workplace services for Vanguard's domestic and international real estate portfolio. The core purpose of the Workplace Services Team is to provide a reliable, sustainable, safe, and high quality work environment for the employees while being the highest value provider of those services for the shareholders.
O'Toole has a broad range of workplace experience within the corporate, research and development, and university industries. This experience involves all aspects of IFMA's core competencies in his combined 28 years in the facilities management, real estate, engineering and architectural professions.
O'Toole is a graduate of Temple University, Bachelor of Architecture, and a MBA graduate from the University of Phoenix. He earned his Architect Registration Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in 1990, NCARB designation in 1994 and CFM designation in 2003. He has been an active professional member of IFMA since 2000.
O'Toole currently serves on Temple University's Facility Management Advisory Board for their Bachelor of Science Facilities Management Program and the Community College of Philadelphia's Facility Management Advisory Board for their Associate in Applied Science Facility Management Programs. Furthermore, he has served on the Greater Philadelphia Chapter of IFMA and the Delaware Valley Chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council boards.
Eric Teicholz, IFMA Fellow
President
Graphic Systems, Inc.
Eric Teicholz is president and founder of Graphic Systems, Inc., a Cambridge-MA firm specializing in facility management and real estate automation consulting. He is a Fellow of the International Facility Management Association; a recent member of the IFMA Foundation's Board of Trustees where he chaired Knowledge Management, the previous Chair of IFMAs Sustainability Committee (SC) and current co-chair of SC's Knowledge Management task force, a member of the Board on Infrastructure and the Constructed Environment (BICE) for the Federal Facilities Council at the National Academy of Sciences, a recipient of the Department of the Navy's Superior Public Service Medal for his participation on a blue ribbon FM panel, working directly for the Secretary of the Navy, defining the future strategy for Naval Shore Facilities, a member of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Facility Advisory Council for their Integrated Facility Management initiative, and Chair of the Advisory Board for the Built Environment Coalition .
Teicholz has helped organizations define and implement technology for over 25 years. He lectures internationally and is the author of hundreds of articles and 12 books on computer graphics, facility management, Computer-Aided Design and Architecture, Computer-Aided Facilities Management and Geographic Information System technology. Teicholz was educated as an architect at Harvard University's Graduate School of Design. Before founding Graphic Systems, Teicholz was an Associate Professor at Harvard's Graduate School of Design and Associate Director of Harvard's largest R+D facility, the Laboratory for Computer Graphics and Spatial Analysis.