With more than 38 years of experience, Kay is a recognized expert on workplace design and
strategy issues. She is an award-winning designer who has worked with several Fortune 500
companies to optimize their global real estate portfolios and create innovative work
environments based on their unique organizational DNA. As Co-Director of HOK’s WorkPlace
team, a practice that supports organizations undertaking multiple projects in various locations,
and a member of HOK’s Board of Directors, Kay is responsible for helping clients redefine how,
when and where their people work, and supports a holistic design approach that integrates an
organization’s people, processes, and technology. She was recently selected from her field of
peers to provide Congressional Subject Matter Expert Testimony to the U.S. House of
Representatives on “Federal Real Estate Post-COVID-19: A View from The Private Sector.”
In 2020 Kay was named ASID’s Designer of Distinction for the year. Kay is considered an
industry thought leaders on workplace. She has authored multiple white papers and articles on
a variety of design related topics including wellbeing; next gen workforce; technologies impact
on the workplace; space fusion and the rise of the human factor.
In 2021 Kay was elected to both the ASID and the IIDA College of Fellows and inducted into the
2022 SCN Hall of Fame, celebrate contributions to the AV/IT industry. In 2022 Kay was
recognized by both Melwood and IFMA for her continued research and efforts to bring
awareness to DEI initiatives and the needs of the neurodiverse community. Kay was awarded
the IFMA Distinguished Author Awards for her research and whitepapers on Neurodiversity and
was awarded the first Melwood Ability Awards - Inaugural Accelerator Award for her efforts to
raise awareness about the needs of the Neurodiverse.
Kay currently serves on the National ASID Foundation Research Taskforce, the IWBI Health
Equity Advisory Team and the Advisory Board for WorkDesign Magazine and I&S Magazine.
She was recently appointed to the University of Richmond Customer Experience Advisory
Board after serving two years on the George Washington University Customer Experience
Certificate Program Advisory Council. During her career she has also served on the
International Boards of CoreNet Global, AVIXA, and IFI - International Federation of Interior
Designers /Architects, the Boards of ASID, IIDA and NCQLP and the Advisory Board of Virginia
Tech School of Architecture and Design and NVCC. She is an active member of IFMA and co-
founder of the IFMA Workplace Evoluntionaries, WE community and serves as an Executive
committee for WE. Kay is committed to mentoring the next generation of designers and as such
mentors multiple individuals within HOK and across the industry. She is also a Founder of the
DC Chapter of UPWARD, a global network dedicated to the professional advancement of
women in the workplace.
“We are witnessing the evolution of workplace, and design can be a powerful tool in that
endeavor. What designers have always done well, the art of design, is being enhanced with the
emerging science of design. By creating environments that support wellbeing, inclusivity and
inspire those within them, we can drive powerful outcomes and create spaces that reflect our
humanity. We need to design with courage to define the next generation of great places to
transform the way we work, live, learn and play. We are no longer just designing environments.
We are designing the experience. We need to mentor the next generation of designers to carry
the torch forward.”
