Meet the Board of Directors NomineesWe’re pleased to introduce the nominees for the 2026 Michigan Lean Consortium (MLC) Board of Directors. Four board seats are open this election cycle, and all current MLC members are invited to cast their vote on the proposed slate of nominees. If elected, board members will serve a three year term. Members will receive an email with detailed voting instructions. If you are a current member and did not receive this communication, please contact admin@michiganlean.org for assistance.
State Assistant Administrator | State of Michigan Current MLC Board Member 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. Prior to joining Agency Services, Pamela served as a Process Improvement Consultant for the State of Michigan with an emphasis on technology initiatives. 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.
University of Michigan Faculty | Founder of the MLC Debra is a collaborative, assertive, and visionary leader with a unique blend of corporate, academic, and entrepreneurial experience. She has held executive roles at Johnson & Johnson, Ford, PwC, Exide Technologies, and Vassar Brothers Hospital, and is a recognized expert in Lean thinking across industries. With experience in over 50 countries, Debra currently teaches engineering at the University of Michigan, advises partner companies on Lean implementation, and owns both a consulting firm and Shimmy Shack—Michigan’s first vegan and gluten-free food truck and bakery. She has taught at multiple universities and law enforcement agencies and is passionate about helping organizations thrive through change, transformation, and continuous improvement.
Sr. Quality Improvement Consultant | Consumers Energy Current MLC Board Member 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.
Current Board Member 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. | Board of Directors Position DescriptionsInterested in seeing what each Board Member does? Check out the following position descriptions. These descriptions are working documents and subject to change.
Note: If elected, new members will work with existing board members to determine their position. |
Pamela Burgess 
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Debra Levantrosser 
Melissa Sherman 
Robert Sturza