About
Professional Summary
Michelle is a Vice President in the Workplace Advisory practice with a decade of experience in design and consulting expertise. Based out of the San Francisco Bay Area, she leads the team’s business practice within the western region.
With a passion for creating meaningful and valuable connections between people, technology and the work environment, Michelle helps create workplaces that help people and business thrive. She focuses on developing transformational spaces that boost employee engagement activity, as well as meet the client’s business goals and objectives.
Michelle believes a truly successful workplace is a combination of great design, vital amenities, and organizational engagement that craft the most meaningful employee experiences.
Accomplishments
Michelle regularly speaks and attends a wide range of conferences and contributes to articles within the industry that are focused on a variety of cross-disciplinary topics like the future of workplace, employee engagement and culture, technology, art, UX, and design thinking. Speaking engagement highlights include:
- CoreNet Global Summit 2017, Open Office Overload - Solutions for Minimizing Noise and Visual Distractions (Seattle)
- CoreNet Global Summit 2016, Scaling the Digital Revolution - How to Manage a Viral Explosion (Philadelphia)
Education
- B.Sc., Interior Design, Radford University (CIDA Accredited, DesignIntelligence Top Ten Program)
Prior to Colliers, Michelle led the Workplace Strategy & Design team on behalf of Capital One, where she gained invaluable experience from a corporate perspective overseeing its 10-million-square-foot real estate portfolio. In this role she was responsible for the implementation of global design standards, innovation pilots, change management, and the workplace performance program.
She began her career at one of the leading architectural firms, HOK, where she served as a regional planning lead within On-Site Services. There she was responsible for portfolio and occupancy planning, restack and sequence development for a large campus renovation and client relationship management.
Most recently, she was a leader of Workplace Strategy and Design at Knotel, an agile workplace provider and the fastest growing startup in flexible office space. There, she helped create new ways for occupier clients to design and fund their workplaces. While she was at Knotel, Michelle had the opportunity to work with a variety of professional organizations in Technology, Fin-Tech, and Cyber Security and was able to develop tailored solutions to enable culture and brand while meeting rapidly shifting business and growth objectives.
Memberships & Involvements
- American Society of Interior
- Design (ASID)
- CoreNet Global
- International Facilities
- Management Association (IFMA)
- Workplace Evolutionaries (WE)
- Women in Design
Services
Service Lines
Property Type
My Team
My Team
As Executive Managing Director of Workplace Innovation, Corporate Solutions | Americas, Keith leads Colliers’ expertise in this rapidly evolving field, helping our clients use the workplace as a competitive advantage to advance their business objectives through innovative and insightful workplace solutions.
Additionally, Keith brings more than 30 years of experience to Colliers International, including his previous role as Senior Director, Global Workplace Innovation at Johnson & Johnson. There he was responsible for program design and deployment of a set of new workplace principles for J&J’s global office portfolio of 60 million square feet and more than 900 locations.
Kate North
Vice President, Workplace Advisory
Salt Lake City - Valuation
I believe in the “power of place” and know how the workplace can be an incredible strategic asset when aligned with business objectives, culture and the people of an organization. I have spent my entire career exploring the “future of work” globally and understanding the implications of emerging disruptors stemming from new technologies and workforce. The workplace landscape continues to rapidly change as we strive to create environments that support “how we work best.” Successful companies now think about the workplace as an integrated set of actions and designs that together create a productive and engaging employee experience. I combine my passion – workplace strategy – and 25 years’ global experience to help leading organizations understand the impact the workplace can have on their overall business strategy. My expertise lies in workplace strategy, research, design and transformational change. By aligning workplace and business strategy, I have seen first-hand companies realize a workplace that fosters collaboration, innovation and sparks creativity.
The profession of a Workplace Strategist is emerging, and for more than a decade, I have been actively involved (globally) in creating two Workplace Communities of Practices. In 2012, I co-founded “Workplace Evolutionaries (WE),” a vibrant community within the International Facility Management Association (IFMA). Today, I serve as Global Chair of WE, comprised of 1,500+ members globally and growing. I frequently speak at industry events across the world and have co-authored the IFMA Foundation best-selling book “Work on the Move” in 2011, which is used extensively by IFMA members and associated academic institutions. In 2016, we co-authored a new version, “Work on the Move 2.” In 2014, I was honored to receive the prestigious International Associate Award for my contributions within IFMA. In 2017, I was awarded the IFMA Global Chair Citation from the Chairman of the Board for the impact the Workplace Evolutionaries has had on IFMA and the profession.
I was a founding leader of the CoreNet Workplace Community of Practice, the CoreNet Chapter Chair for New Zealand, and served as an Advisory Board Member for New Ways of Working and the New Zealand Green Building Council.
I am also an active member of the Executive Women in Corporate Real Estate and speak at numerous workplace and human capital conferences globally.
Prior to joining Colliers International, I led global development for e-Work.com, helping organizations prepare their workforces for “new ways of working” using highly interactive e-learning. I was also the director of Ideation, a workplace consultancy and research group within Haworth Inc.; and vice president of the Strategic Business Group within Herman Miller Inc., supporting organizational workplace transformation.
Charlotte Timms
Senior Director
Chicago - Downtown
Charlotte is Senior Director of the Colliers International | Workplace Advisory Group based in Chicago, Illinois. Her passions are innovation, property technology, the changing work environment and inspiring companies to create places that better enable business and people. She is a strategic thinker and has advised clients across multiple industry groups, throughout the US and globally. Charlotte’s strengths include problem solving and creative thinking.
Charlotte trained as a General Practice Chartered Surveyor (MRICS) in London, is an ambitious forward-thinking member of the RICS and was recently appointed to the Board for the Americas.
Chris Zlocki
Head of Client Experience | Executive Vice President, Occupier Services | Global
Denver - Downtown
I am focused on ensuring Colliers' Occupier Services clients receive best-in-class service delivery reinforced by a mindset of continuous improvement. My responsibilities include: account growth, setting direction on account strategy & innovation initiatives with an emphasis on maximizing service excellence, regular strategic engagement with clients, executive sponsor of our program to develop our account executives and directors and ongoing leadership of Technology and Consulting Services in the Americas.
Specialties:
Global Occupier Services Outsourced Account Leadership Executive Oversight & Governance for Outsourced Account Solutions for Tech Sector Clients Footprint & Real Estate Portfolio Planning
Business Intelligence Platform & KPI Development
M&A Integration Roadmaps & Operational Playbooks
CRE Organizational Effectiveness & Design
Capital Planning & Forecasting