This week is Women in Construction Week, a week to honor the women who are making a difference in the commercial and residential construction industries.
Here is a look at the successful career of Michelle Palys, vice president of performance excellence and ESG with Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois-based Graycor.
Michelle joined our team over a decade ago after working with Graycor as a subcontractor on a complex project in Mexico. Her passion for people, culture, strategy and systems serves her well as Graycor’s Vice President of Performance Excellence and ESG. She is charged with implementing the strategies that help Graycor achieve its Continuous Improvement, Change Management and Organizational Development goals while cultivating positive relationships with employees, clients, subcontractors and suppliers across the communities that Graycor serves.
In her role, Michelle directs Graycor’s Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) strategy as well as the Operational Excellence Committee, which works to improve operations and results while enhancing the work-life balance of Graycor’s most valuable asset—its people.
A Latina from Juárez, Mexico, Michelle is passionate about learning, traveling, music, movies and languages. Michelle holds a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez and MSc (master’s) degree in construction project management from the University of Manchester and is currently seeking her MBA. She completed graduate studies in Quality and Productivity Management with the Central Japan Industries Association, is certified by the American Society of Quality and is currently pursuing an MBA at the University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign.
