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Over the course of her career, Lynn Baez has led some of the most complex and impactful facilities portfolios in the world. She has overseen real estate operations within Google Bay Area portfolio, executed large-scale M&A integration at Dr. Pepper Snapple Group, and embedded a groundbreaking facility management outsourcing model for Ericsson and Nokia through Cushman and Wakefield and Sodexo. She has consulted with the US Pentagon, and led operations for facilities as diverse as airports, cattle ranches, and production and distribution centers.
Today, as enterprise vice president of facilities management and workplace at McKesson, Baez is responsible for nearly 800 facilities. Her focus spans workplace strategy, operational excellence, sustainability, and innovation—ensuring that environments function at their best to serve the needs of patients, providers, distributors, and staff.
Baez’s career in facilities management began with a bold pivot. After starting in public service with the US Environmental Protection Agency, she quickly realized that regulatory compliance wasn’t the change-making path she had envisioned.
“I wanted to help organizations build smarter, more sustainable operations, not just audit or enforce compliance statues,” Baez explains. “Facilities management offered a space where I could align people, processes, and places for better outcomes.”
That clarity fueled a decades-long ascent through the FM profession. Along the way, Baez became deeply involved with the International Facility Management Association (IFMA), where she earned credentials including Certified Facility Manager, Facility Management Professional, and Sustainability Facility Professional. She contributed to the development of key sustainability standards, chaired various Councils and Chapters, and served on its global board and executive committee.
From 2024 to 2025, Baez served as IFMA’s global chair. Her tenure focused on navigating the post-pandemic landscape, driving fiscal recovery, and expanding the association’s global reach. Under her leadership, IFMA launched its first conferences in Latin America, Ghana, and Dubai, solidifying its commitment to inclusion and international collaboration. Today, Baez is a proud IFMA Fellow, a distinction earned by just 2 percent of FM professionals worldwide.
Throughout her rise, Baez has also been a fierce advocate for equity in the facilities space. She knows firsthand the barriers that exist for women and people of color, and she brings intention to every room she enters.
“I’ve walked into meetings where I was mistaken for the cleaning crew,” she says. “Instead of correcting the assumption immediately, I used the moment to observe, honor that profession—and then returned as the executive leading the conversation. Moments like that remind us that presence is powerful, and that advocacy comes in many forms.”
Baez’s personal journey adds another layer of depth to her professional mission. A two-time cancer survivor, she now oversees a facilities portfolio in which many buildings are dedicated to cancer care and healing environments.
“I know what it feels like to walk into a treatment center and not feel seen or supported,” she says. “That experience became a turning point for me. I made a commitment to use my position to improve that experience for others, through better operations, better partnerships, and a deeper understanding of what patients need.”
For Baez, every building is more than just a structure—it’s a vessel for healing, ensuring health products and materials arrive to those that need it, community building, and change. Her leadership proves that facility management is not just about operations—it’s about impact.
And while her journey didn’t follow the public service path she once envisioned, she continues to serve in a way that’s just as meaningful, by transforming spaces that transform lives.
Strategic, knowledgeable facility managers can positively impact an organization’s bottom line— by optimizing costs, boosting efficiency and safeguarding assets. The International Facility Management Association (IFMA) is the world’s largest organization for facility management professionals, supporting over 25,000 members across 140 countries. We provide essential resources, industry standards, educational opportunities and world-class training, to advance the FM profession globally (IFMA.org) and regionally, including in Latin America (LATAM.IFMA.org). Dedicated to innovation and excellence in facility management, IFMA leads the future of the built environment by fostering collaboration and knowledge sharing. Our digital content, industry credentials, global events, and thought leadership—including the Connected FM podcast—empower facility managers to create safer, efficient, and sustainable workplaces worldwide.
