Member Spotlight - Mia Love
As a facilities leader, neurodiversity educator, and public speaker, Mia Love channels her dynamic expertise toward a clear mission: helping people discover where they thrive and how to achieve the best and highest use of their talents.
Not only does Mia champion this mission for others, but it is also a key element of her own professional journey. Serving in the facilities departments at Stanford University and Stanford Health Care for more than twenty-five years, she has cultivated a strong professional foundation that underpins her commitment to growth, empowered leadership, and equitable education.
Building a Strong Foundation
Mia began her facilities career at Stanford as a housing building manager before advancing to project crew supervisor within the maintenance department. As a maintenance crew leader, she directed a team of twenty employees, ensuring the quality and efficiency of ? million square feet of residential and dining facilities.
Driven to explore facilities management within a healthcare setting, Mia’s curiosity led her to Stanford’s world-class medical center. Across a span of five years, she worked in a variety of property and program management roles, all united by the goal of upholding rigorous health, safety, and compliance standards.
Ultimately, her journey led her back to the University. Today, Mia serves as a zone director of within Land, Buildings, & Real Estate (LBRE), and this role carries significance in more ways than one.
“Women in facilities are still few and far between,” Mia said of her role as one of Stanford’s four district directors. “Within my professional network, my peers and I galvanize together to raise awareness and encourage other women to consider this field.”
The Impact of Mentorship
Mia describes her day-to-day work as dismantling obstacles for her talented team of engineers, facility specialists, and supervisors. These efforts enable teams to optimize Stanford’s teaching and research facilities, and in turn, empower students and faculty to achieve their academic goals.
APPA plays an integral role in supporting Mia’s leadership. Her introduction to the organization came by way of Kimberly Case-Nichols, now Chief Operating Officer of Nevada Health & Bioscience Asset Corporation.
After attending a Pacific Coast Regional Conference, Mia remarked on the depth and diversity of APPA’s leadership and committed herself to getting involved. Since then, Mia has served on APPA’s board and now serves as a faculty member. Mia lauds APPA’s professional standards as setting the industry benchmark.
Mia also attributes her career development to professional mentorship. The late Kerry Bach, who at the time was a Field Operations Supervisor, was a mentor she regarded highly. Kerry’s lessons were not confined to only facilities leadership; he taught her valuable life lessons.
“Kerry showed me so much and taught me things about life at work,” Mia remarked. “He was the type of person who would invite you to his house for dinner with his family. He was truly someone that poured into you.”
Inspiring Growth Every Day
Mia approaches each day with excitement to tackle new challenges, a perspective she attributes to the Stanford “ripple effect”—the institution’s unique culture of innovation and excellence that promotes inspiring positive change.
APPA’s mission, including its K-12 initiatives, similarly aligns with Mia’s future-forward approach. By reaching the earliest levels of education, she believes APPA can accelerate transformation across the education continuum.
Reflecting on her career journey, Mia imparts the importance of maintaining robust lines of support even for facilities leaders who have amassed extensive experience.
“Sometimes, when people have been in their roles for more than twenty years, they may fall by the wayside,” she said. “It’s important to check on the ‘veterans’, to make sure that they are still OK and they feel plugged in.”