Meet The Jury – 2024

Yasmien is Head of Design & Experience for TD Bank. Her role is to drive global workplace innovation, leading a team that activates experiences, enables flexibility and enhances collaboration for colleagues across the enterprise. She has spent her career creating resonant, inclusive and universal experiences with a human-centric focus. Her career spans consulting and client-based design and real estate strategy in workplace, retail and hospitality sectors.

Hassan Shaikh is a South African born workplace strategist and an accomplished real estate professional, with a proven track record of success with global real estate projects & workplace innovation strategies. Over a two-decade career, he has managed diverse projects for renowned organisations in biopharmaceuticals, property funds, aviation, retail, & design, transforming workplaces through innovation to drive competitiveness, agility, and sustainability, while empowering users with people-centric spaces.

He is currently based in Germany at Boehringer Ingelheim and part of the Global Real Estate and Facilities (GFE) team serving as Senior Manager Workplace Strategy. He is a PhD candidate pursuing a Doctorate in Design through the University of Hertfordshire (UK), with research emphasis on developing a new workplace model advancing diversity, equity & inclusion (DEI) and a speaker at industry-related conventions and summits throughout Europe and South Africa.

With over a decade of experience working with individuals of diverse disabilities across different age groups and socio-economic backgrounds, Francisco’s expertise in human-centered design, task analysis, accessibility, and UX provides him with a uniquely empathetic and functional perspective when it comes to architecture and design. As an Occupational Therapist leading the Inclusive Design team at the architecture firm M2, he is passionate about helping designers create inclusive and accessible spaces and products. He has served as a speaker during the global conference “In Pursuit of Equity: A Symposium to Re-envision the Center for Universal Design” and presented about the “Intersection of Occupational Therapy and Architecture” during the 2024 AOTA Inspire Annual Conference and Expo. Francisco is also a Second City-trained improv enthusiast and performs with his improv group in comedy theaters around Chicago.

Ebbie Wisecarver is Chief Design Officer at WeWork. Since joining the company in 2015, she has held multiple positions, including architect and development project manager for Australia, design director of Asia, Australia and India, and head of project delivery for WeWork Japan. Previously, Wisecarver held positions at prestigious design firms Diller, Scofidio + Renfro New York and Steven Holl Architects. She holds a Master of Architecture from the University of Pennsylvania and has participated in numerous traveling exhibitions and fellowships, including a competitive summer internship at Takenaka Corporation in Osaka, Japan. A strong advocate for gender equality, Wisecarver currently serves as the executive sponsor of the company’s employee resource group, Women of WeWork, and is on the board of the Beverly Willis Architecture Foundation, which focuses on gender equity in the design and construction industries through research and education.

Frank Cottle is an expert and a thought leader on the intersection between flexible working, technology, and the future of work. A frequent speaker on the conference circuit and a highly sought-after guest for podcast interviews, Frank has become an authority on the dynamics and practicalities of the future workplace.

His unique vision can help business leaders, workers, and those interested in the future of work to understand the changing landscape of the workplace, and the people it impacts.

Whether you’re leading a team of five or five thousand, we’re all moving towards the future workplace together. What matters, and what sets your brand apart, is how you get there. Preparation is key, and through his relaxed yet authoritative Southern Californian style, Frank will utilize over three decades of experience and leadership as an entrepreneur, investor and flexible workspace expert, to lead a thought-provoking and engaging discussion on the future of work and what we can expect to find there.

As founder and CEO of the Alliance group of companies, Frank has been building flexible workspace brands since 1979, establishing himself as an advocate for new ways of working that empower people to work better, smarter, and more productively.

As Americas Lead, Client Solutions, Total Workplace at Cushman & Wakefield, Antonia leads a team of specialist workplace strategists and change managers who work closely with major space occupiers across the USA. In high demand since the pandemic elevated the issue of workplace relevance and experience to the top of the CEO agenda, Antonia is an industry leader and speaker who addresses the themes of strategic thinking, employee experience, dynamic and flexible workplace environments, and optimizing space to deliver organizational benefits.

Her work focuses on the role of the workplace in the success of the lives of its users and their businesses. In addition, she supports occupants with sophisticated change programs and campaigns that address behavioral adjustments needed to ensure success in the hybrid workplace. She is deeply interested in how the workplace needs to change to remain relevant to the culture of organizations and as a forum for the personal development, learning and growth of its people.

Educated as an architect in Australia, Antonia’s career and passion for learning about the experiences of people took her from Adelaide to Sydney and Hong Kong, where she supported clients in China and Singapore, prior to moving to the San Francisco Bay Area. She has worked with clients and delivered thought leadership across the US and Canada for over 20 years.

Steve is in his 12th year at Intuit and leads the Places Workplace Design Team and their work globally. He drove the workplace solutions component of a cross-functional team reimagining the workforce/workplace post-COVID, and serves as the liaison between the Places and Brand teams.

Steve has toggled back and forth between the design and client side of the equation for most of his career. Prior to Intuit, Steve has had leadership roles at Sasaki, Gary Lee Partners, Ratcliff Architects and Interspace. Prior to heading west, Steve spent 15 years at The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency in Washington DC leading the design team.

Steve was a member of the UC Berkeley Extension Interior Architecture Advisory Board, has served on the board of directors for the International Interior Design Association (IIDA) as well as the American Institute of Architects (AIA) National Interior Architecture Committee. He has been a Global Co-Chair of the Intuit Pride Network, an Ambassador for the AIDS Emergency Fund in San Francisco, a volunteer for the American Cancer Society and pro bono designer for the GLBT Historical Society.

Steve earned his architecture degree from Texas Tech University.

Rex Miller started his career as a project manager in the architecture and construction department for Southwestern Bell now AT&T, in 1978. He has worked as an owner, manufacturer, distributor and sub-contractor. His background has given Rex unique insight into the current and future challenges owners and providers face. He works at the intersection of numerous complex challenges including the common nightmare of delivering capital projects, workplace disengagement, toxic shadow cultures, workplace health, and well-being. Rex believes that healthy teams are the secret to strong teams. Rex has written numerous books including The Commercial Real Estate Revolution: Nine Transforming Keys to Lowering Cost, Cutting Waste and Driving Change in a Broken Industry; Change Your Space, Change Your Culture, The Healthy Workplace Nudge and WHOLE. He has won the CoreNet Global Innovator Award, Industry Excellence Award and IFMA’s Award for Excellence. Rex holds a master’s degree as a futurist and entered consulting after 25 years as a corporate leader. His unique experiences and skills allow Rex to guide leaders into new conversations forming new relationships that result in new realities. Some of his clients include Google, GoDaddy, Intel, MD Anderson, Atrium Health, UHS, DPR, FOX Architects, One Global Design, Haworth, and many others. When project teams hit a wall, owners will call on Rex Miller to quickly get to root issues, rebuild broken trust and realign the team around its mission. Rex lives in North Texas and recently celebrated 40 years of marriage, and has three children (almost off the payroll), and three dogs.

Ben Waber, PhD, is the president and co-founder of Humanyze, a workplace analytics company. Humanyze analyzes existing corporate data to apply its one of a kind analytics to measure Organizational Health and its components of employee-engagement, team-productivity, and organizational-adaptability. These analytics are used by enterprises to answer specific questions related to the impact of Workplace, HR, and Digital Transformation. He is a visiting scientist at the MIT Media Lab, previously worked as a senior researcher at Harvard Business School, and received his Ph.D. in organizational science from MIT for his work with Alex “Sandy” Pentland’s Human Dynamics group. Waber’s work has been featured in major media outlets such as HBR, Wired, The Economist, and NPR. He has consulted for industry leaders such as LG, McKinsey & Company, and Gartner on technology trends, social networks, and organizational design. His book, People Analytics, was published by the Financial Times Press in 2013.

Dave Gilmore is the President & Chief Executive Officer of DesignIntelligence. He is a frequent university lecturer as well as corporate speaker across the Built Environment industry. His work involves frequent interaction with leadership teams and governance entities regarding leadership transition, business sustainability, and organizational resilience. He serves as a strategic advisor to many of the largest and most successful Built Environment industry firms in the United States. Dave is also the Founder and Managing Director of The Tricord Group, a boutique equity fund with partners in Atlanta, Boston, and Minneapolis. 

Alexis Dennis-Huether is an interior designer with over 20 years of experience who joined SLAM in 2021 as an Associate Principal. With a passion for connecting with clients and their organizations, Alexis’ interest lies in continual exploration of how design thinking can support the business plan. She has the essential ability to combine empathy, creativity, and rationality to meet user needs, solve problems, and drive business success through design. Alexis leads project teams from initial concept through completion of construction and is adept at sculpting spaces that solve problems and meet project budgets. Alexis was part of a team that won a Next Work Environment Competition award for “Mind the Gap,” a theoretical project featuring a mobile workplace that came out of SLAM’s Workplace Innovation Think Tank (WITT). The team also won a WellBeing + Greatest Impact award for “CollaborEATs,” which blends food, dining, and meeting into the workplace.  She has been published in Interior Design, Contact Magazine, Office Insight, and Time Out NY. Alexis served as Director for the IIDA’S LA City Center as well as the IIDA Southern California Board of Directors.

Ken Wilson is a Design Principal and the Design Director for Interiors in the Washington, DC office of Perkins and Will. He is also one of two Co-Global Design Directors for Interiors and serves on Perkins and Will’s Design Board and Sustainability Council. Ken has been practicing for over 35 years and his portfolio includes architecture, interiors, graphics, and product design. He is the only architect to hold fellowships in the AIA, IIDA, and the Green Building Certification Institute (LEED Fellow). His projects have been published in seven different countries and have received over 120 national and local design awards. In 2005 Ken was named “Designer of the Year” by Contract magazine, and in 2018 he received ASID’s Designer of Distinction Award which annually honors one professional who has established a body of superior work demonstrating creativity, excellence, and innovation.

As Chief Product Officer at the International WELL Building Institute (IWBI), Jessica helps to lead IWBI’s global movement to transform health and well-being through our people first approach to buildings, organizations and communities. Combining her experience partnering with global market adopters in her previous role as IWBI’s Chief Commercial Officer, Jessica drives the continuous evolution of the WELL Building Standard (WELL) and focuses on scaling WELL’s positive impact around the world. She oversees the standard development, implementation and achievement processes, as well as customer experience, technical account management and education.

Before joining IWBI, Jessica led consulting services at Delos and worked with WELL’s early adopters on improving business performance by prioritizing health. Prior to WELL, she developed and delivered educational programs for the New York City green building community at Urban Green Council. Trained as an interior designer, Jessica intersected design and real estate at LB Architects where she managed interior design and construction projects for corporate, residential and not-for-profit clients.

Jessica is a WELL Faculty and one of the first WELL Accredited Professionals, having earned her credential in 2015. She is a LEED Accredited Professional and a licensed interior designer who holds an NCIDQ Certificate. She is a graduate of Cornell University.