WELL Executive: Up Close and Unscripted

Avi Rajagopal, Editor in Chief, Metropolis Magazine
Beyond Compliance: Interiors as the New Environmental Front Line

Avi unpacks why human health is the ultimate “prime mover” for commercial real estate investments, why we must resist turning the health movement into a rigid “compliance industry,” and how design professionals can preserve their creative edge while factoring their work into broader global carbon goals.

Cheryl Durst, President and CEO of the International Interior Design Association (IIDA)
The Human Stakeholder: Life-Centric Balance and the Rituals of Wellness

Cheryl shares her expert perspective on why designers must act as the primary stakeholders for the human condition, how treating leadership as a ritual completely changes organizational well-being, and why “Cheryl’s Guide to Joy” serves as the perfect salve for a stressed-out community.

Brendan Owens, Chief Sustainability Officer and Principal at HKS
Merging the Waves: Bridging Carbon Reduction and High-Stakes Leadership

Moving from his early days as the chief developer of LEED at USGBC to managing the Pentagon’s massive portfolio of half a million buildings for the U.S. Department of Defense, Brendan shares masterfully raw lessons on high-stakes leadership, navigating the ubiquitous complexities of forever chemicals (PFAS), and treating human performance and planetary health as an inextricably linked goal.

Rick Fedrizzi, Executive Chairman of IWBI, Founding chairman of the USGBC
Reclaiming Intention: Market Transformation and the Absence of Stress

As the master architect who led the creation of LEED, Rick shares an extraordinarily candid look at his personal transformation journey, navigating the difficult transition away from a grueling corporate exec schedule and unlocking the power of intentional wellness anchors like a loving family, grandchildren and his garden.

Dr. Tauni Lanier
Authoring the Rules: Otherness as a Superpower and Systems Finance

Listen close to Dr. Tauni Lanier as she details her decades at the forefront of global sustainability conversations, including her pivotal roles launching the Dow Jones Sustainability Index and the UN SDGs. Tauni shares how she successfully harnessed her personal “otherness” as an asset to bust through white noise and maps out crucial, often-overlooked design and policy interventions to destigmatize menopause in the modern workplace.

Chrissa Pagitsas, CEO, Pagitsas Advisors
Committing to an Impact-Driven Career: True North and Executive Edge

In this purpose-driven conversation, the best-selling author of Chief Sustainability Officers at Work shares the strategic motivations behind her massive professional milestones, leveraging green bonds for scalable global impact, and using a hyper-personalized toolkit to carve out essential boundaries for family and self-care.

Yasushi Kinoshita, Representative Member of Eminence Partners and Co-Chair of Green Building Japan
The Culture of Care: Ancient Wisdom and Productivity Reframed

Yasushi shares the jarring, beautiful story of stepping away from a grueling, high-pressure banking and real estate investment career at age 50 to recover his smile and reconnect with his children. He outlines how wellness in real estate provides an essential talent recruitment strategy in Japan, why traditional architecture seamlessly bridges the gap to biophilic design, and why productivity is an expression of efficiency rather than hours worked.

Professor Alessandro Miani
An A-Ha Moment in Medicine: Public Health in the Built Environment

Grounded by his extensive background in medicine and deep roots in Italy, Alessandro shares his unique perspective on why public health matters and his personal “a-ha moments” surrounding the profound bearing that building design and operation choices have on human well-being.

Richard Carmona, Governance Council Chair
The Nation’s Doctor: High-Stakes Triage, Humility and Speaking Truth to Power

Dr. Richard Carmona, 17th Surgeon General of the United States and Chair of the IWBI Governance Council, traces a lifelong journey of service starting from a childhood in Harlem to the combat zones of Vietnam, the SWAT team and acting as the “Nation’s Doctor.” Dr. Carmona details how high-performing leaders can effectively empower their teams to speak truth to power and meticulously cultivate psychological safety