The International Facility Management Association (IFMA) announced the 2026 Class of IFMA Fellows, the association’s highest honor: Kati Barklund, Jiří Knap, Michael Khai Loon Ng, Sampson Opare-Agyemang, John Ringness and Dean Stanberry.
The six honorees will be officially inducted as IFMA Fellows at the opening session of IFMA’s World Workplace 2026 Conference and Expo, to be held November 18 in Anaheim, California.
“Being named an IFMA Fellow is a distinguished achievement that recognizes exceptional leadership, lasting service and meaningful contributions to advancing the facility management profession worldwide,” said IFMA President and CEO Michael V. Geary. “Kati, Jiří, Michael, Sampson, John and Dean are passionate, selfless and inspiring leaders whose influence in the built environment is felt today and will for generations. They truly embody IFMA’s global mission to advance the knowledge, value and growth of FM professionals so they can perform at the highest level.”
IFMA’s Fellows Program was established in 1992. Only 0.5 percent of the IFMA membership may hold the title of IFMA Fellow. As of this year, only 146 individuals have been honored as IFMA Fellows.
Barklund has been honored as a 2025 IFMA Top Global Influencer and received the 2025 WE Community Award of Excellence in Communications, 2020 IFMA Outstanding Women in FM, Microsoft Platinum Speaker Award and Pharmacia Best Project Manager.
As strategic advisor and senior manager at Tenant & Partner, she has advised more than 30 organizations, helping clients report stronger satisfaction, workplace attractiveness, sustainability performance and cost outcomes. Her earlier work at Coor helped launch Green Services, Smart Office Solutions and advisory services influencing more than 100,000 users. Within IFMA, Barklund chaired IFMA’s Sweden Chapter, growing membership, partnerships, events and digital engagement, and now serves as Global Chair of Workplace Evolutionaries (WE).
A senior expert advisor for facility management and president of IFMA’s Czech Republic Chapter, Knap has turned the chapter into a nationally recognized authority, connecting IFMA with government, academia, industry and emerging practitioners. His work includes shaping official FM competency standards, representing Czech and IFMA interests in European digital-twin standardization and helping give facility management a formal, government-mandated seat at the table in national BIM policy.
As an independent consultant, he advises major corporate and public-sector projects, including life cycle and operational readiness work for large-scale developments. As COO and service operations director for ISS Facility Services in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, he led integrated FM operations representing CZK 2.2 billion in annual services and more than 8,200 indirect employees.
Ng boasts more than 30 years of experience across health care, higher education, libraries, commercial property and international project development. As division director, operational support services, at KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital in Singapore, he oversees complex 24/7 operations spanning facilities and maintenance, sustainability, crisis planning, workplace safety, biomedical engineering, digitalization, security and business continuity.
Ng has played a pivotal role in advancing facilities management across Singapore and the Asia-Pacific region. Since joining IFMA Singapore Chapter in 2015, he has served as vice president, regional advisor, conference chair, instructor and ambassador. He helped shape Singapore’s FM Industry Transformation Map, promoting Smart FM, outcome-based procurement, professional accreditation and design for maintainability. He has supported IFMA chapter development in Vietnam and Indonesia, chaired major World Workplace Asia-Pacific conferences, and helped grow professional participation across the region.
As managing director of Prolicon Plus Limited and founding president of the IFMA Ghana Chapter, Opare-Agyemang has helped build the country’s facility management community from the ground up, expanding professional awareness, membership, training and certification pathways. His leadership has supported more than 200 credentialed and trained facility management practitioners, including CFMs, SFPs and FMPs, and helped embed facility management education in universities and professional training programs.
He was instrumental in the development and launch of the inaugural IFMA Africa Conference and has contributed to the event’s growing recognition and stellar reputation among industry professionals in Africa.
He has promoted sustainable FM, infrastructure stewardship, policy development and international professional standards and continues to work with emerging IFMA chapters in Rwanda, Uganda and across Africa.
Ringness’ career spans more than four decades of strategic operations, sustainability, digital transformation and professional service. As director of facilities at Trinity Western University, he leads a 157-acre campus of 34 buildings and structures totaling 822,000 square feet, manages US$6.3 million in operating and capital renewal budgets and secured support for a US$185 million deferred maintenance program. His work has advanced energy performance, accessibility, indoor air quality and data-driven asset stewardship, including a 2026 NAFA Clean Air Award for TWU’s filtration practices.
He helped develop IFMA’s Mumbai Chapter, strengthened the FM Consultants Council, founded and later returned to lead IFMA’s Business Community, and has contributed to benchmarking, sustainability, education and knowledge initiatives.
His recognition includes Building Transformations’ 2021 Trailblazer Award, IFMA’s 2015 Global Council of the Year and Council Award for Program and Professional Development, a 2016 RICS Modus feature recognizing his 35-year FM career, and selection as one of 21 Canadian CRE professionals featured by Hays International.
Stanberry’s career reflects more than two decades of service, innovation and professional achievement. A longtime IFMA member and IFMA Denver Chapter leader, Stanberry helped guide the chapter through a period of growth that included multiple IFMA Awards of Excellence and recognition as Large Chapter of the Year. His own honors include Recognition of Outstanding Service from the USGBC Rocky Mountain Region, Outstanding Contribution by a Professional Member from the Denver Chapter of IFMA, the chapter’s Distinguished Member Award, IFMA’s Facility Management Achievement Award and the Lou Doyle Distinguished Member Award.
Across IFMA’s global network, he has served as sustainability community chair, government affairs committee chair, IFMA Foundation trustee, IFMA global board director, board chair and immediate past chair.
