Michiel Bakker is the Director of Global Food Services for Google, Inc. where he leads the company’s world-renowned food program and supports foodservice-related activites and initiatives. A 20-year hospitality veteran, Michiel has extensive expertise and experience in hotel food and beverage operations, creating and maintaining partnerships with various third-party restaurant and bar operators, hotel F&B development, hotel openings, as well as general hotel operations.
Michiel holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the Hotel Management School Maastricht (The Netherlands), a MBA from the University of Bradford (United Kingdom), a Master’s of Hospitality Administration degree from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and a Master’s degree in Real Estate and Construction Management at the University of Denver.
Prior to joining Google in March 2012, Michiel served as Starwood's Corporate Director of F&B, New Builds and Transitions, in the USA from 2004 through 2008. In this role, he was responsible for the divisional F&B team, overseeing and supporting the F&B programming and all pre-opening F&B activities at Starwood's new builds and conversion properties in Hospitality and the Hotel School Maastricht, The Netherlands, in 1991.
With “Food @ Work,” Michiel will discuss Google’s Food Program, which provides nutritious, healthy meals to Googlers around the world. He will also discuss his current focus on bringing people together around food, using workplace configurations that complement social and secluded work behaviors. Michiel hopes to inspire people to see food choices as a way to build more sustainable lifestyles and communities.