Ayse Kalaycioglu (“I’shay Kah-lay-je-ah-lou”) is a talented architect and professional with 30-plus years of diverse private, non-profit and government experience in architecture, planning, construction, owner’s representative, facility and feasibility assessments, space programming, capital improvement plans, and cost-benefit analysis.

Ayse most recently served as the Chief Operating Officer for the Illinois Department of Central Management Services (CMS). She oversaw the bureaus of Property Management, Agency Services, Emergency Management, and Environmental Health & Safety. She was responsible for a $300 million operating budget to manage more than 700 properties, 12,000 vehicles and pieces of equipment with a staff of more than 350.

Prior to joining CMS, Ayse served as Deputy Commissioner for the Bureau of Architecture, Engineering and Construction at the Chicago Department of Fleet & Facility Management (2FM.) In that role with the City of Chicago, she was responsible for design, capital projects’ planning and management, the Department’s capital plan, space planning, consolidations, and oversight of energy efficiency programs in 425-plus City-owned and leased facilities in a green, sustainable, and cost-effective manner.

Ayse oversaw 500 capital projects with over $200M in budget, including City Hall, Woodson and Sulzer Regional Libraries, Harold Washington Library, 2FM’s new repair shop in Englewood, Chicago’s Public Safety Training Campus as well as the renovations to accommodate female firefighters and paramedics in over 40 firehouses.

She came to the City of Chicago after serving as the Director of Owner’s Representative Services at IFF, a non-profit that worked with other non-profits across the region to assist them with real estate and capital project needs. Ayse led the effort on major capital projects on behalf of non-profits, including Access Living, the Black Ensemble Theater, Children’s Home and Aid, Centers for New Horizon, Noble Network of Charter Schools, Little Brothers Friends of the Elderly and Erie Family Health Center.

Prior to that non-profit role, she worked as a staff architect at Gorskie, Reifsteck Architects in Champaign, Illinois, where she worked with private and government agencies and clients on programming, facility assessments, and design and construction projects, including the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and the State of Illinois’ Capital Development Board.