Mersea Kidan is a seasoned Continuous Improvement (CI) leader with over 20 years of experience driving operational excellence and leading enterprise-wide continuous improvement programs. At Kodiak, he leads the Continuous Improvement program, leveraging A3 thinking and Strategy Deployment to align improvement efforts with strategic priorities. He champions the Daily Management System to build a culture of continuous improvement and drive daily operational excellence through structured problem-solving. Mersea also facilitates the development of core processes that enable operating companies to succeed in their markets.

Mersea began his career in manufacturing as an industrial engineer and advanced through operations leadership and CI program management roles. Over the past 15 years, he has specialized in building lean management systems across manufacturing, healthcare, and construction industries. He is a hands-on leader skilled in designing and executing operational excellence strategies, CI programs, and large-scale transformation initiatives.

In his most recent role at Harmon, a subsidiary of Apogee Enterprises, Mersea led the development and implementation of the Apogee Management System—integrating strategy deployment, daily management systems, and structured problem-solving to drive sustainable performance.

Mersea is passionate about coaching leaders and teams to achieve sustainable performance through self-awareness, team alignment, and change leadership. Known for his authentic and collaborative style, he has a track record of uniting teams around shared goals and fostering individual and organizational growth.

Outside of work, Mersea enjoys reading, writing, community service, and family vacations.