Mia Mends, a global transformation executive and trailblazer, is known for her purpose-driven leadership, strategic turnarounds, and unique human touch.
As CEO of C&W Services, Mia oversees integrated facilities services across the United States, including Puerto Rico, and Canada. She leads approximately 14,000 team members serving clients across various industries, setting the company’s strategic course for profitable growth and innovation amid an ever-changing landscape.
Hired in June 2022, Mia heads a major facilities management corporation within Cushman & Wakefield, the global commercial real estate firm generating over $10 billion in annual revenue with 50,000 employees across 60 countries. She is a member of its Global Management Team. With over 20 years of experience in P&L, Transformation, and Operations, Mia has spearheaded complex initiatives in multiple global organizations. She’s worked at Citibank, the Ritz Carlton, United Airlines, and Noventis, the payments company.
Before joining C&W Services, Mia spent a decade in senior leadership roles at Sodexo, the food services and facilities management company headquartered in France. She started at the multinational organization in Brazil, overseeing sales in eight Latin American countries while learning Spanish and Portuguese. Her other positions at Sodexo included a three-year tenure as Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) of North America, where she led the enterprise-wide redesign of the end-to-end Target Operating Model for the $10 billion North America Food and Facilities Management Business. Her mandate encompassed operating capacities, core business capabilities, strategic and operational levers, organizational and functional structure, as well as people, processes, technology, and information resources. She also served as CEO of Inspirus, a Sodexo-acquired employee engagement SaaS company, and CEO of Impact Ventures, leading SodexoMagic, a joint venture with Magic Johnson Enterprises.
Mia is an H&R Block corporate director, sitting on its Audit Committee. She also serves on the board of EMERGE, a nonprofit that helps low-income students enter top colleges. Passionate about the development of girls and women, Mia founded a nonprofit organization, Seven Sisters to Sisters, and has been involved with the Girls Empowerment Network and Girls Inc.
She holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a bachelor’s degree in economics from Wellesley College, where she is a member of its Business Leadership Council. As part of her Harvard fieldwork, Mia co-authored a case with Oprah Winfrey that’s been incorporated into the business school’s curriculum.
Breaking barriers throughout her career, Mia hopes her milestones will inspire others. She was a featured trailblazer in the book Women Mean Business: Over 500 Insights from Extraordinary Leaders to Spark Your Success. Mia has also been named one of the Most Powerful Women in Corporate America.
Born in Ghana, Mia is trilingual and speaks Fante. She remains committed to running a multinational company that ties profits to purpose and strives to uplift society.