A Profile of Aykean Forde

Aykean Forde, the Facilities Director of the International School of Port of Spain is an ambassador of FM. What exactly does that mean? How do you define that? She coined the term ambassador because she feels that in her role with IFMA, and in all the work that she does, her interactions have a global reach.

“I’m mentoring people from Saudi and people from the Caribbean, who call me for advice,” said Aykean, who is from Trinidad and Tobago. “I make myself available to the world in whatever way I can, including helping students with research papers.”

Aykean believes that many roads can lead to careers in facility management, but she got her start in the human resources (HR) industry where she was involved in recruitment, selection, and fundraising events.

But the first position that really opened her eyes to bigger possibilities, not just in HR, but also in operations, was when she was the first employee to be hired for an international membership shopping company, like Costco.

The shopping company position gave Aykean exposure to finding desks for staff, researching office space, hiring people, and store security. Management recognized Akean’s abilities, and they had her join the operations side of the business. She was asked to open other stores in other countries.

“I've always had that diverse international experience from very early on in my career that has given me a very open perspective about people and the differences in people, the value of people, and learning from people,” said Aykean.

Eventually, Aykean was asked to be the operations manager for an international K-12, her first real exposure to facilities management.

If someone had asked Aykean when she was a child what she wanted to be when she grew up, she’d probably say a teacher. She remembers having all her cousins lined up on the steps and she’d teach them. She’s been a lifelong learner. She just finished a second master’s in educational leadership and now she’s getting her teacher’s license out of Washington, DC through Moreland University.

“My vision in the future is to be able to build schools in underserved areas across the globe,” said Aykean. “That's my huge lofty vision. I love the education space.”

Being the facility director for a school is keeping Aykean on her toes because there are always threats to student safety. She said that the three biggest emergencies her school is at risk for include active shooters, earthquakes, and fires. Her team focuses on drills and ensuring that there are no gaps in security systems and life safety systems. There was a 6.2 earthquake late on a Saturday night.

“By Sunday, I had the vendor recertify all our gas lines as being functional with no leaks. I also had my structural engineering company check the known weak areas around the school to see if there was any damage to determine if the school was safe for occupancy,” said Aykean.

“I was able to do that because of the established relationship and preventative maintenance program that I employ. Every three years, we ensure that the structural integrity of our school is inspected by a certified engineer. Because of our established relations, there were no interruptions, and we had classes on Monday morning as usual,” she said.

Working and living on a tropical island provides a respite from the stresses of facility management, and opportunities for complete rest and relaxation, but Aykean who has three adult children regularly travels to the United States and other places.

Based on her experience forging a career in facility management, Aykean offers these words of advice for those just starting out.

“Learn, learn, learn! It would be extremely important from the starting blocks of your career, to set goals to achieve the highest level of success in the FM profession. Wherever your career journey will take you, the best gift you can give yourself is to invest in your professional growth and development by taking a posture of continuous or lifelong learning,” she said.

“IFMA has played a valuable role in equipping me to become a strategic thinker and world class FM leader through its various certifications and credential programs. The opportunities to volunteer to review course content, serve on various industry working groups and committees at various levels throughout my career has opened up a world of opportunities to contribute to the profession for which I am forever grateful,” she added.