Director - Facility Management Consulting & Procurement (GroPro)

Behind every building facing, under every basketball court floorboard, and over every lighting system is someone who procures materials, manages logistics and installations, keeps a steely eye on costs, and oversees administrative details. At Gro, that person is Kathy Womack.

She previously worked in commercial real estate management (with Bank of America) and later in non-profit building services (YMCA of Florida’s First Coast). At Gro, the range of services she provides include facility management, procurement services, vendor selection (architecture, engineering, construction), owner representation, contract negotiations, and capital funding support.

“I enjoy working with clients to develop a platform for partnerships and collaborations with national service providers,” she says. One of her primary accomplishments is providing a professional standard of operations to, as she describes it, “the YMCA movement, to improve and sustain the portfolio of YMCAs for generations to come.”

Womack believes that non-profits should expect their real estate assets to perform as well in the marketplace as those in the commercial sector. From 30 years in the industry – including more than a decade on the boards of directors for YMCA affiliates in Charlotte, Tampa, and Jacksonville, and the Georgia Florida Blood Alliance – she led development of more than $100 million in new construction and renovations at more than 20 YMCA facilities. 

A graduate of Missouri State University, where she was class president, Womack holds a bachelor’s degree in organizational communications. She also earned the Real Property Administrator (RPA) and Facility Management Administrator (FMA) designations from the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA). 

Serving in voluntary roles with the Jacksonville International Facility Managers Association and the Women’s Leadership Network, she likes to quote Dr. Martin Luther King: “You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.” 

She and her husband Matt spend time with their family in the northern Florida outdoors. She also joins friends in group exercise classes at the YMCA.