Jenny Niemann

Jenny is president, chief executive officer and owner of Forward Space, an independent Steelcase dealership in Chicago. She is responsible for the strategic leadership of the company—providing guidance in support of client needs, establishing goals, defining strategies and providing general oversight of company activities.

Prior to her role with Forward Space, Jenny was CEO of Red Thread, a Steelcase dealer in New England. Red Thread is a wholly owned subsidiary of Steelcase Inc., the global leader in the furniture industry, providing products, services and insights into the ways people work. Steelcase (SCS) is traded on the NYSE with annual revenue of $3billion.

Jenny started her career with Accenture in information system consulting. She then spent twenty years with Steelcase before moving to Red Thread. Her work experiences at Steelcase included sales/distribution, product marketing/development, operations, and process improvement through information technology and LEAN.

Jenny earned an MBA from the University of Michigan Ross School of Business. She graduated from Bowdoin College in Maine, with a double major in Mathematics and Economics.

She is a member of the Steelcase, Inc. Board of Directors.  Additional board and advisory commitments include Trustee on the board of The Chicago Architecture Center (www.Architecture.org), member of the Women’s Business Development Center (wbdc.org) advisory committee and member of the IIT Institute of Design Board of Overseers. She stays involved in the Chicago community through membership in the Young Presidents Organization (YPO) Chicago Chapter, The Economics Club of Chicago and The Chicago Network (Thechicagonetwork.org). She is currently on the YPO Chicago and The Chicago Network boards. She is a member of CoreNet, an organization focused on professional development in the corporate real estate profession.

Raised in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Jenny has lived in Maine, Ohio, Massachusetts and currently lives in Winnetka, IL with her husband.