Facility Executive Live! Conference Speakers
At Facility Executive Live!, industry experts will present a variety of topics that are of critical importance to facility management professionals.
At Facility Executive Live!, industry experts will present a variety of topics that are of critical importance to facility management professionals.
Stephen is senior planning officer for the Washington, DC Department of General Services (DGS). He is a skilled capital project manager, with a career that includes his own architecture firm in New York City; public service with the NYC Dept of Design and construction; and strategic planning projects in the Middle East. In 2008, after returning to the United States, Stephen reentered public service, this time in Washington, DC’s Office of Property Management.
Upon the creation of the DC Dept of General Services, he served a year as Deputy Director for the Construction Division. He was then selected to create the Planning Office of the Department of General Services. As part of its work, DGS Planning is involved in transforming industrial sites into sustainable public works facilities; upgrading District office space into creative communities; increasing awareness for co-locating of multiple municipal needs and increasing economic development opportunities. His department also administers Facility Condition Assessments, and is involved in urban agriculture, public safety and municipal facility master planning.
As Associate Director of Organizational Development for the Office of Facilities Management and Reliability at the Smithsonian Institution, Judie is responsible for strategic initiatives that support continuously improved organizational performance including benchmarking, best practices, strategic planning, change management, outreach, professional development, and staff education. She is a Certified Facility Manager and a member of the IFMA ISO Technical Committee 267 (Facilities Management), Chair of the Federal Facilities Council Committee on Workforce and Management Practices, and a member of the Board of Advisors of the Catholic University of America Facilities Management graduate degree program. In addition to being a frequent speaker about facility management, leadership, and career development and branding initiatives for facilities teams, Judie is the co-author of The Care and Keeping of Cultural Facilities: A Best Practice Guidebook for Museum Facility Management. She is also active in the International Association of Museum Facility Administrators, Society of Human Resources Management, and Association for Talent Development.
Rich is Principal of FM Studios, a full-service provider of interior design and space planning services in Fairfax, VA. He has worked as a registered architect and designer since 1977, for both local and national design firms in Philadelphia and Washington, DC. He founded FM Studios in 1985. Rich’s clients benefit from his knowledge of facilities management trends and best practices. He has been an active member of the International Facility Management Association (IFMA), where he has served as President of the Capital Chapter and on the IFMA International Board of Directors. He has been an instructor and course developer for IFMA International, the Facilities Management Certificate program at George Mason University and the BOMI Institute since 1983. Rich has spoken at numerous IFMA conferences and at a number of International Facilities Management conferences. Rich is a visionary who sees the big picture. His out of the box thinking helps clients see and consider other options to solve complex design issues.
Greg is the first Director of Sustainability for Washington College in Chestertown, MD. His responsibilities include management of waste, water, fuel, and electricity; development of sustainability and energy strategy; and “greening” the 237-year-old campus. He works alongside students, faculty, and staff to reduce Washington College’s impact on the global, regional, and local environments. Prior to this position, he was Professor of Biological Sciences and Director of the Center for Leadership in Environmental Education at Chesapeake College, in Wye Mills, MD. A biologist by training, Greg holds degrees from Duke University and Florida State University. He is co-editor, with Jennifer Chirico, of “Thinking Like an Island: Navigating a Sustainable Future in Hawai‘i.”
Donny Gonzalez is a native Washingtonian and has been a public servant for over 10 years, starting as the Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner of 1A09. For the District of Columbia, he currently serves as the Deputy Director of the DC Department of General Services (DGS) Facilities and Maintenance Division. In this role, Donny plans, organizes and directs the annual budget, maintenance, repair and alteration of district facilities and grounds. He is a principal district representative in preparing for the turnover of newly constructed area facilities to DGS. In his previous role as the Senior Operations Manager, he oversaw the work order management system, personnel management and teams that provide oversight of district government facilities including police stations, DC Fire and Emergency Management, public schools, and recreation facilities.
In his previous role as Community Liaison at the Office of Public Education Facilities Modernization (OPEFM), Donny served as a representative for the Agency at public meetings and established the School Improvement Team or SIT to create better collaboration with parents, school and community leaders and contractors around school modernization projects.
Dave Hunt is an international expert in the field of emergency response with a 32-year background in law enforcement, terrorism response, fire/arson/explosives investigation, hazardous materials response, and emergency medical response. He has worked in every area of national response guidance, including developing a nationwide threat assessment tool with the FBI.
Over the past five years, he led the effort to develop and deliver a completely revised Active Shooter Preparedness curriculum for the US Department of Homeland Security. He served as lead instructor for the program and hosted a recent DHS 96-minute video: Active Shooter Preparedness Emergency Planning.
Dave is a Certified Protection Professional and was recently selected to serve on the Technical Committee to revise the National Standard for Workplace Violence Prevention and Intervention and develop an Active Assailant Incident annex. He recently worked on the after-action report for the Las Vegas, NV shooting, and is currently working with the Federal Aviation Administration to revise their active shooter and extreme workplace violence preparedness.
Jeff has been Director of Landscape, Airport and Golf Services at the University of Mississippi since 2000. He and his team have gained national recognition through Ole Miss winning the National Professional Grounds Maintenance Society (PGMS) Best Maintained Campus twice, and named most beautiful campus by Newsweek in 2011, the Princeton Review in 2013 and USA Today in 2016. He is the current President of PGMS. McManus has a Bachelor’s degree in Landscape and Ornamental Horticulture from Auburn University and is the recipient of the 2016 Horticulture Alumni of the year. He is also an International Society of Arboriculture Certified Arborist. His book, “Growing Weeders into Leaders – Leadership Lessons from the Ground Level”, focuses on cultivating excellence among staff.
John currently serves as a Capital Outlay Project Manager for the Virginia Community College System, responsible for capital projects at the Annandale and Loudoun Campuses of Northern Virginia Community College. He has been in the facility management field for more 25 years leading teams in operations, maintenance, project management, and environmental health and safety. For 20 years, he served as the Manager for Facilities Operations and Maintenance for the World Bank, achieving industry recognition for improvements there. John is a certified IFMA instructor and has delivered IFMA related courses as well as independent training for public, private, government, and international organizations. John received the 2015 Educator Award of Excellence from the IFMA Capital Chapter. Currently, he serves as part-time faculty for the FM Certificate Program at George Mason University and the Masters in Facility Management Program at Catholic University of America. He also is a co-instructor for the Glasscock School of Continuing Studies for Rice University, specializing in preparing students to take the CFM credential exam. John worked as an HVAC design engineer/project manager/ team leader for several Washington DC architectural and engineering companies for over 15 years and is a registered Professional Engineer in Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia.