NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The International WELL Building InstituteTM (IWBITM) today announced the appointment of Rachel Gutter to the role of president, IWBI. She succeeds Kamyar Vaghar, who is leaving IWBI after two successful years in this role.
“Having Rachel step into this role is all about what’s next for WELL and reflective of the growth of the global health and wellness movement,” said IWBI Chairman and CEO Rick Fedrizzi. “With the successful launch last week of WELL v2TM, the next version of the popular WELL Building StandardTM, with the significant growth we are seeing in WELL registration and certification and in the uptake of the WELL APTM credential, she’s the right leader for the next phase of WELL’s global development.”
“I was very fortunate to have someone of Kamyar’s caliber and talent at the helm during my first phase at IWBI,” continued Fedrizzi. “He brought operational structure, expertise and an intuitive sense that's proven helpful time and again as we've engaged with the global real estate community. With the launch of WELL v2 last week, Kamyar decided it was the perfect time to transition back to what he loves most —investing in and developing real estate. We’re sad to see him go, but his ongoing advocacy for real estate as a force for good, and for WELL specifically, will benefit us all for decades to come. We have been extremely fortunate to have his leadership during this time and wish him tremendous success.”
“IWBI’s work to transform people’s health through better buildings and communities is leading this next wave of market transformation for global real estate,” said Gutter, “The team and I have enjoyed working side by side with Kamyar these past two years, and we look forward to taking WELL to the next level.”
“Rachel demonstrates authentic leadership every day and has built a talented team and a great product,” said Vaghar. “She is what’s needed to continue to propel the WELL movement forward.”
Fedrizzi noted that as IWBI’s chief product officer, Gutter was instrumental in bringing the latest version of WELL to the market. “For more than a year, she tirelessly sought the input of the global WELL community across all disciplines, then systematically channeled that input into a rating system that’s more equitable, global, simpler, clearer and designed for improved return across every metric.” Gutter will add the IWBI Commercial team to her portfolio of responsibilities, bringing together product development and customer engagement.
Gutter joined IWBI as chief product officer in 2016. She came to IWBI after nearly a decade at the U.S. Green Building Council, where she served as senior vice president of knowledge and was founding director of the Center for Green Schools.
The recipient of the 2012 World Green Building Council’s Chairman’s Award, Gutter is co-chair of the Garrison Institute’s Board of Directors and serves on the Advisory Board of Paul Hawken’s Drawdown Project to reverse global warming. She is a sought-after speaker and frequent guest lecturer and instructor at the Harvard School of Public Health’s Center for Health and the Global Environment, where she has taught various courses to graduate students and executives and presented as part of lecture series. She is a graduate of Tufts University.
About the International WELL Building Institute
The International WELL Building Institute (IWBI) is leading the global movement to transform our buildings and communities in ways that help people thrive. The WELL v2 pilot is a recently launched version of its popular WELL Building Standard, which will continue to be offered to the market, and the WELL Community Standard pilot, a district scale rating system that sets a new global benchmark for healthy communities. WELL is focused exclusively on the ways that buildings and communities, and everything in them, can improve our comfort, drive better choices, and generally enhance, not compromise, our health and wellness. IWBI convenes and mobilizes the wellness real estate community through management of the WELL AP credential, the pursuit of applicable research, the development of educational resources, and advocacy for policies that promote health and wellness everywhere. For more information about IWBI and WELL, please visit us here.
