Board of Director's Bios
The Michigan Lean Consortium is governed by an all-volunteer Board of Directors that believes Lean principles and tools can help organizations of all kinds thrive and turn around the state of Michigan's economy.
Pamela is a lifelong resident of Michigan and is married with two adult daughters. She began working for the State of Michigan in 2015 and is currently the State Assistant Administrator for the State of Michigan's DTMB Agency Services, supporting LARA, DIFS, MDOS and Lottery. Before working for the State, she spent ten years as a facilities manager in the financial sector, with an emphasis on continuous improvement and change management.
Pamela attended Davenport University, she has a Master of Management degree and holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree. She is certified in the State of Michigan’s Lean Process Improvement facilitation program and is a certified Six Sigma Lean Black Belt in Government. She is also a PMI certified Project Management Professional, Prosci certified Change Practitioner and has extensive training and experience in Contract Management and Emergency Management.
Pamela began serving on the MLC Board of Directors in December 2020, having served as the Board Secretary and Event Director prior to accepting the position of Chair in February 2025.
Josh Smith lives in Holland, Michigan with his wife, Samantha, who teaches 3rd grade, and their two sons; Hudson and Gordon. They are his world! They also have a chocolate lab named Maizey who is great playmate for the kids!
Josh is currently working at ZFS as the Director of Operational Excellence. Josh has been with ZFS since early 2020. Prior to that, he worked at US Marble, where he was introduced to Lean manufacturing and helped champion Lean implementations in multiple stone and marble manufacturing plants throughout the US.
Josh graduated from Ferris State University with a BA in Science-Integrative Studies. He is also a certified Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt.
Josh grew up on a small dairy farm in Morley, Michigan. He is an avid sports fan and very passionate about his teams – GO BLUE! Josh is a firm believer that the Tigers will someday make the world series again – and hopes he lives to see that day! Josh is also on the board of directors for the Zeeland Little League and he coaches baseball during the spring/summer seasons.
Dr. Patricia Malone is a CPA, CMA and Certified Professional Facilitator. She works primarily with organizations and individuals to help them reach their highest potential through the practices of organization development, strategy facilitation, leadership, and operational excellence. She has served as CFO, COO, and SR Transformation leader in both small and large private equity and publicly held organizations and has worked with teams all over the world to develop strategy, streamline and manage business processes, facilitate, and implement lean projects, and create and manage operational excellence programs.
Dr. Malone’s dissertation research was focused on developing a theory and emergent framework of creating strategic capacity, which is defined as the ability of an organization or individual to obtain their vision, mission, and goals. To that end, she helps individuals and organizations create purpose and meaningful results for positive change.
She earned a Doctorate in Business (DBA) from Lawrence Technological Institute, an MBA in Finance and Marketing from The Ohio State University, and a BA in Accounting and Finance from Wright State University. In her free time, she adventures with her husband of 25 years and her two children, bikes, meditates, gardens, and hikes.
Stephanie Welch
Secretary/Training Director
Stephanie has over 15 years in the pharmaceutical industry, she specializes in training and continuous improvement. Her career has been dedicated to enhancing operational efficiency and fostering a culture of learning and development. She is passionate about developing and teaching continuous improvement and professional development courses, to share her knowledge and help others grow in their careers. She graduated with a Bachelor’s in Applied Science from The Ohio State University, which laid the foundation for her career in the pharmaceutical industry. Currently, she is a Training Manager at Grand River Aseptic Manufacturing, where she continues to share her expertise and passion for professional development.
Stephanie was born and raised in Michigan, she currently lives in St. Johns Michigan with her husband and their “mini farm” of animals. In her free time, she loves to read and has plans to write a novel someday.
Melissa Sherman
Events Director
Melissa has worked in the utility industry for over 27 years, both for an Investor Owned and Cooperative, gaining experience in Electric and Gas Distribution Engineering, Business Support for Pumped Storage, River Hydro and Renewable Generation, Online Scheduling for Fossil Generation, and Enterprise Change.
Throughout her career, Melissa has instituted lean methodology while embedding change management methodology. From scheduling to warehouse redesigns, to value stream analysis. Melissa analyzes and measures the effectiveness of existing business processes and develops sustainable, repeatable, and quantifiable business process improvements. She analyzes data to drive problem solving, root cause analysis and functional area process improvement. Responsible for delivering significant results in Company Breakthrough Objectives.
She is passionate about leading others on their continuous improvement/lean and change management journey. She enjoys being able to share her love for teaching/coaching others and seeing the “ah ha” moments when someone truly understands the methodologies. It is through breaking down those methodologies in terms they understand that they can then tackle those big problems.
Melissa has also taught higher education since 2008 both in-seat and on-line in management, entrepreneurship and engineering disciplines, relating a lot of her teaching to the utility industry.
Melissa holds a Bachelors in Industrial Engineering Technology, a Master’s in Leadership Studies from Baker College, along with a Graduate Certificate in Leadership Strategies from Davenport University. She also holds an Associates Certificate in Project Management from George Washington University and is certified in Change Management through Acuity Institute.
Performance Improvement Professional at Covenant Healthcare in Saginaw, MI.
Bob has over 25 years experience in plant, field service operations, government and healthcare (inpatient and outpatient). He is proficient in quality engineering techniques including internal and external auditing, Six Sigma, Lean and supplier development. Bob has served as the President for The Michigan Association for Healthcare Quality and a subject matter volunteer for the Michigan Lean Consortium. He is a graduate of Cleary University, a current student at the University of St. Francis and holds numerous professional certifications. In his spare time Bob enjoys referring soccer and spending time with his three grand-kids.
Membership Director
Kim is a Michigan resident and currently an Operational Excellence Manager at Dart Container Corporation. She became an MLC member in 2013, and has been active in supporting MLC Events, including the Annual Conference and Leadership Summits. Kim has a passion for helping organizations reach their full potential by gaining efficiencies in business operations through improvement plans, daily management, root cause analysis, and employee engagement strategies. She enjoys inspiring others to be innovative and open-minded, and regularly mentors individuals on Lean methodologies.
Prior to her current role, Kim was a Senior Black Belt at a national engine manufacturer where she successfully designed and executed multi-stakeholder improvement projects at service centers and plants throughout the U.S.
Kim earned her Master of Management from Walsh College of Business and Belt certification from Oakland University in Rochester, MI. In addition to being a certified Lean Six Sigma Black Belt, she has formal training and expertise in troubleshooting resolution, change management, program facilitation, ISO quality auditor certification, and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.
Kim enjoys spending time with family, traveling, and making the most of every day.
Outreach Director
Michelle Formanczyk is a dedicated Learning and Development Consultant with over 25 years of experience in quality, continuous improvement, and lean manufacturing operations. Her innovative approach, informed by certifications in Learning Design for Sustainability and Shingo Cultural Excellence, integrates modern neuroscience to create transformative educational journeys for a diverse range of clients.
Michelle's extensive experience spans from small mom-and-pop shops to multi-national corporate conglomerates, with a special passion for Michigan small businesses. She firmly believes that serial collaboration is the key to a thriving entrepreneurial economy in Michigan.
Michelle holds a BA in Political Science and General Business Management from Oakland University. Her unique talent for making highly technical concepts approachable and understandable has inspired many to embrace a fresh approach to old conversations. She excels in connecting people in extraordinary ways, creating powerful networks that foster a culture of continuous improvement and learning.
As the Director of Outreach at the Michigan Lean Consortium, Michelle brings her passion, knowledge, and loyalty to the forefront, ensuring that the Consortium's mission of advancing lean principles and practices is achieved through collaboration and innovation.