Board of Trustees

Jenny Niemann

Board of Trustees, Chair

Jenny is the President, Chief Executive Officer, and Owner of Forward Space, an independent Steelcase dealership in Chicago. She leads the company's strategic direction, providing guidance to meet client needs, setting goals, defining strategies, and overseeing company activities.

Forward Space offers a range of products and services, including furniture, floor covering, technology, and architectural products, as well as workplace consultation, planning, procurement, delivery/installation, and maintenance. As a Certified Women Business Enterprise (WBE), Forward Space operates multiple locations in Chicago and Milwaukee, with nationwide service capabilities representing hundreds of manufacturers.

Before joining Forward Space, Jenny was CEO of Red Thread, a Steelcase Dealership in New England. She began her career with Accenture (Andersen Consulting) in information systems consulting and spent nearly 20 years at Steelcase, where she held roles in sales, product marketing/innovation, operations, and process improvement through IT and LEAN methodologies.

Jenny holds an MBA from the University of Michigan Ross School of Business and a double major in Mathematics and Economics from Bowdoin College. She serves on the Steelcase, Inc. Board of Directors and is a trustee for The Chicago Architecture Center and the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT). Additionally, she is a member of YPO Gold Chicago, The Economics Club of Chicago, and CoreNet.