Strategic Advisory Group
President, IFMA BIZ Community
Edward Kacal MBA, BSc, CFM, PMP
Edward’s career of over 30 years has centered on utilizing his Industrial Engineering, Project Management, and Business Management expertise to improve business processes, building efficiency, and productivity across disciplines within the business, and developing strategic growth opportunities.
He has been the team leader in several company acquisitions and merger projects, where business models have been transformed and improved. His experience includes several capital-intensive projects in the manufacturing sector and several organizational transformation projects.
Since 2013, Edward has been Chief Executive Officer of Servus Limited, an Integrated Facilities and Project Management Company operating in Trinidad and Tobago. Servus provides a full suite of services, primarily to multinational corporations in the Energy, Financial, and Manufacturing Sectors.
Edward also lectured part-time for 7 years at the University of the West Indies (UWI) in Masters (MSc) programs in Project Management and in Strategic Planning and is an Associate Consultant with PMSL Limited, focusing on Strategic Development, Operations, and Project Management. He is also IFMA certified as an instructor for the Facility Management Professional (FMP) credential program.
Edward is the Immediate-Past-President of the local Chapter of the IFMA and is the Chairman of the Facility Development and Management Committee of the Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Commerce.
Immediate Past President
Mr. Abraham Ponniah, FMP, PMP
Abraham Thangapandy is a versatile, passionate volunteer and leading expert in facilities, construction & project management. As the Manager, Capital Projects at Kwantlen Polytechnic University, he brings a rich experience of over twelve-plus years working with large multi-geography organizations such as AFL, Thomson Reuters, Carillion, and Truven Health Analytics. Part of Abraham’s experience is in the highly dynamic emerging markets of Asia Pacific, where he managed facilities housing an employee base of more than 7,000 people.
Abraham strongly believes in a people-first approach to facilities and project management. He demonstrates a high level of expertise in interpreting and implementing global/regional policies in local contexts. Abraham holds a Masters in Labor Management, Diploma in Electrical and Electronics. He has several professional and project management certifications, including Project Management Professional (PMP), and Facility Management Professional (FMP), and holds a Red Seal paper as an Electrician.
Abraham Thangapandy has supported multiple IFMA BIZ initiatives and served on the Strategic Advisory Group as President of the community (2019–2021).
Strategic Advisor
Mr. Val Moraes, CFM, MBA, Assoc RICS, IFMA Fellow
Past President IFMA FM Consultants Council
Global Liaison IFMA FM Consultants Council
Strategic Advisor IFMA Business Community BIZ
Founder CEO & Managing Director GregMore Group
Val Moraes CFM MBA Assoc RICS, IFMA Fellow, is the Founder CEO, and Managing Director of GregMore Group, a Facilities Management Company specializing in FM Consultancy and FM Operations, based in Auckland, New Zealand.
His past experience includes senior FM roles with Super Deluxe Hotels (Oberoi Group), High Rise Commercial Buildings (Colliers International), and Supermarkets (Progressive/Woolworths Australia) besides large Corporates.
He is also the first New Zealander to be accredited as a Certified Facilities Manager (CFM) from International Facilities Management Association, USA (IFMA) and is accredited Assoc RICS from the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors and the first New Zealander as IFMA Fellow
He is one of the Founding Fathers/Foundation Board Members and Past Chair of Facilities Management Association of New Zealand (FMANZ) besides being the Past President of IFMA FMCC and current Vice President of the IFMA BIZ Community.
Val is also an Accredited Professional for Green Star rating of Buildings in New Zealand (GSNZAP).
Vice President & Director of Communication
Mr. Christopher Wilimitis, LEED AP
Christopher is a member of the New Jersey IFMA Chapter, previous to that he was with the Northern Illinois IFMA Chapter. He currently serves as Director of Communication for the BIZ Community and is eagerly supporting its members with enthusiasm and intent.
Christopher has worked for global companies Fiat-Chrysler, Ford Motor Co., Siemens, Bristol-Myers Squib, Nokia-Lucent, and currently with JLL for ExxonMobil as Regional FM.
Given the variety of industries he has worked in, he has gained a broad knowledge of facilities management, from project management to property management. He certainly appreciates the largest common thread of the multi-skilled workforce and their challenges in serving the needs of the demanding and ever-evolving workplace.
Christopher completed his Bachelor of Science degree in Finance from Indiana University Kelley School of Business and his Associate of Applied Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Purdue University. He received his LEED AP certification in Operations and Maintenance, holds a Real Estate Brokers License in the State of Illinois, is a certified BOMI International course instructor, and is pursuing his IFMA FMP designation.
Director of Stakeholder Engagement
Mr. John Ringness, SFP, MRICS
Community SAG Member
John Ringness is honored to serve as a member of the Strategic Advisory Group of IFMA’s Business (BIZ) Community During the day, John is the Director of Facilities at Trinity Western University in Langley, BC, Canada. John is also the Managing Director of NEXT FMS, an FM consulting company located in Vancouver, Canada. Mr. Ringness has over 30 years of experience in Facility Management with major global FM companies such as Johnson Controls, Carillion, Marriott Corporation – Facilities Division, Sodexo, ARAMARK Corp., Partners in Health (Haiti/USA), Lavasa Corporation (India), and Kohinoor Group (India).
Within IFMA, John was the founding President of IFMA’s Business Community, founding President of IFMA’s Mumbai Chapter, Past-President of IFMA FM Consultants Council, member of North American Operation and Maintenance Benchmarking Project Advisory Group, Asian Operations and Maintenance Benchmarking Project Advisory Group, Co-Author of IFMA’s Essential Education program, Co-Author of several IFMA’s Sustainability How-to-Guides, and Facility Management Journal author. In addition, John is the Chair of the CanBIM Think Tank for Digitization and Data and serves on the Canadian FM ISO Committee. He also speaks at conferences and enjoys mentoring.
John has completed the Facility Management certificate program at the University of Toronto, Canada, is an IFMA Sustainability Facility Professional credential holder, and holder of several FM-related certificates. He first joined the International Facility Management Association (IFMA) in the early 1990s and in 2012, joined the Royal Institution of Surveyors as a Chartered Surveyor. In his spare time, John is pursuing his MBA.
Coordinator of Young Professionals/Membership
Giselle Holder MSc. (FM), BSc. (Eng), PMP, FMP
Giselle Holder has gained a wealth of expertise and experience in the field of Facility Management (FM) and is a locally and regionally recognized young leader in providing FM consultancy. Giselle currently works as the Director of Acuitas Caribbean Facility Management Company Limited based in Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean. She graduated from the University of the West Indies, St Augustine Campus with a BSc. in Electrical and Computer Engineering in 2008 and later on attended Rochester Institute of Technology where she completed their Masters of Science in Facilities Management program in 2015. Giselle has worked in the field of FM for the past 12 years and has acquired much experience working with Facilities Engineering Associates (FEA) based in Fairfax, Virginia, USA on international, regional, and local projects where she worked on facility condition assessments, restoration consultancy, and facility management consultancy.
In 2013, Giselle co-presented with Geoffrey Abdulah, Director of Acuitas, at the IFMA World Workplace in Philadelphia on the topic, “Putting the ‘P’ in FM: Project Management for the FM Professional”. She is the first female President of the local IFMA Chapter of Trinidad and Tobago and is one of only four IFMA FMP Trainers in the Caribbean. She continues to work towards changing the FM culture both locally and regionally through her involvement with TT IFMA local Chapter as the current Treasurer and was recently recognized in 2020 by IFMA as one of its “40 under 40” FM professionals in the world.
