Jenny Niemann Appointed as New Chair of ID’s Board of Advisors
By Casey Halas
October 11, 2024
Before Jenny Niemann moved to Chicago from Boston to become an entrepreneur and to launch her own company, she had spent nearly 20 years working at Steelcase, an international manufacturer of furniture and other goods for offices, hospitals, and classrooms.
It was at Steelcase that Jenny found herself working and collaborating with a lot of designers, many from the Institute of Design.
She was inspired by the “great talent” of her employees and colleagues who were ID alumni. She enjoyed their different perspectives and approaches to projects. She didn’t know how deep her connection with ID would grow, and that she would eventually become chair of ID’s Board of Advisors—a role she officially stepped into in August 2024.
Jenny left Steelcase 10 years ago to become president, CEO, and owner of her current company, Forward Space, which specializes in workspace consultation, procurement, delivery, installation, and maintenance to create innovative work environments for today’s workforce. During this transition, she was advised by the chair of the Steelcase board, Rob Pew, to get involved at ID while she was in Chicago.
Rob Pew was, at that time, serving as the chair of ID’s Board of Advisors. During the years following her acquisition of Forward Space, Jenny took Rob’s advice and got involved with ID and Illinois Tech. She joined ID’s Board of Advisors in 2018, later joining Illinois Tech’s Board of Trustees in 2019 and serving on the trustees’ Facilities and Public Safety committee.
Now, as a chairperson, she looks forward to continuing to work with the ID community.
In addition to working closely with the dean and being a sounding board for his goals and vision, Niemann sees this new role as an opportunity to take advantage of her experiences and connections to provide input and access for the college.
“I want to be more of a catalyst, help in the community. I have different connections to get visibility or new thinking,” she says.
Jenny is also looking forward to continuing her relationship with Illinois Tech as a whole—a place that she didn’t expect to become so familiar and involved with.