IWBI Launches Global Network of Advisors to Advance Human Health and Equity in Cities

NEW YORK, April 20, 2022 /3BL Media/ - The International WELL Building Institute (IWBI) today announced the launch of its inaugural WELL City Advisory, which will explore ways to support local governments worldwide in demonstrating leadership on advancing health and well-being across their buildings, organizations and communities. The WELL City Advisory is the newest to join a set of IWBI Advisories, and the first IWBI advisory to identify and scale strategies that can be used by city leaders to help achieve this vision, recognizing the critical role local government leaders can play in protecting and enhancing human health.

Working in partnership with the National League of Cities (NLC) and informed by this newest advisory, IWBI will work to design and shape strategies to encourage cities to demonstrate leadership and address health, safety, resilience and equity challenges, while promoting well-being. Volunteering for this inaugural effort, more than 50 experts from nearly 20 countries joined the advisory bringing deep expertise across public health, sustainability, engineering, design, architecture, policy and urban planning.

“IWBI is working to meet cities where they are. The WELL City Advisory is a diverse group of experts who understand the design, function and operations of municipalities, big and small, local and global,” said Rachel Hodgdon, President and CEO, IWBI. “The advisory will help develop a framework, tools and coaching to allow cities to weave human health, equity and well-being into their DNA. We’re grateful to this tremendous group of leaders for joining with us today at such a critical moment to reimagine the future of cities and the significant role they play in enhancing, improving and protecting human health.”

The advisory will be led by a group of distinguished co-chairs representing diverse backgrounds, including:

• Lucia Athens, Chief Sustainability Officer, City of Austin, Texas, USA
• Stephen Benjamin, Former Mayor of Columbia, South Carolina, USA
• Richard Carmona, M.D., MPH, FACS, 17th Surgeon General of the United States and distinguished professor at the University of Arizona, USA
• Martin Chavez, Infrastructure Advisor for the State of New Mexico and former Mayor of Albuquerque, USA
• Cheming Chiang, PhD, Distinguished Professor, Cheng Kung University, Taiwan
• Karen Freeman-Wilson, President & Chief Executive Officer, Chicago Urban League, former Mayor of Gary, Indiana, USA
• Abbie Galvin, LFRAIA, Government Architect, New South Wales, Australia
• Lisa Helps, Mayor, City of Victoria, Canada
• Despina Katsikakis, Executive Partner and Global Lead, Total Workplace, Cushman & Wakefield, United Kingdom
• Khee Poh Lam, PhD, Architect (UK), FRIBA, FIBPSA, Provost’s Chair Professor of Architecture and Built Environment at the National University of Singapore, Singapore
• Brooks Rainwater, Senior Executive and Director of City Solutions, National League of Cities, USA
• Lotte Schlegel, Executive Director, Institute for Market Transformation (IMT), USA
• Daohong Shi, Partner and Executive Director of Future Technology and Art (FTA), Founder of TOP Research Institute, China
• Malcolm Smith, Australasian Cities Leader for ARUP, Australia
• Nathaniel Smith, CEO for Partnership of Southern Equity, USA
• Sandy Verschoor, the Right Honourable Lord Mayor, City of Adelaide, Australia
• Haishan Wang, Chief Expert and Chairman of Zhong Jian Xie Certification Centre Co., LTD, China
• Susan Wiggins, Executive Director, Ontario Professional Planners Institute, Canada
• Arron Wood, Director, External Affairs, Clean Energy Council; former Deputy Lord Mayor of the City of Melbourne, Australia
• Yin Zhi, Professor and Doctoral Supervisor, School of Architecture, Tsinghua University, China

The WELL City Advisory will provide feedback on strategies that can help cities take action and demonstrate leadership in advancing health, well-being and social equity in everything from municipal buildings to public spaces and from programs to policies. During its one-year term, the advisory will also identify tools that will enable city leaders to effectively implement leadership actions on health and recommend key metrics and awards for measuring progress and recognizing sustained leadership over time.

“We know how the leadership actions of cities can reverberate across communities and countries,” said Jason Hartke, Executive Vice President, External Affairs. “The WELL City Advisory will help guide IWBI’s programmatic direction and support our goal to empower cities and municipalities around the world to lead by example, offer equitable solutions and implement strategies that can scale worldwide. We’re thrilled to have such accomplished co-chairs leading the charge.”

Along with the annual 10 WELL Concept Advisories, IWBI Research Advisory, WELL Equity and WELL Homes Advisories, the WELL City Advisory joins a network of nearly 300 experts from over 35 countries across various professions.

In standing up these advisories, IWBI has gained valuable input on solutions to health and well-being concerns, best practices for localization, case studies to fill research gaps and potential areas for innovation when developing new pathways, ratings and opportunities to make healthier places accessible to everyone, everywhere.

About the International WELL Building Institute
The International WELL Building Institute (IWBI) is a public benefit corporation and the world’s leading organization focused on deploying people-first places to advance a global culture of health. IWBI mobilizes its community through the administration of the WELL Building Standard (WELL) and the WELL Health-Safety Rating, management of the WELL AP credential, the pursuit of applicable research, the development of educational resources, and advocacy for policies that promote health and well-being everywhere. More information on WELL can be found here.

International WELL Building Institute pbc is a wholly owned subsidiary of Delos Living LLC. International WELL Building Institute, IWBI, the WELL Building Standard, WELL v2, WELL Certified, WELL AP, WELL Portfolio, WELL Portfolio Score, The WELL Conference, We Are WELL, the WELL Community Standard, WELL Health-Safety Rating, WELL Health-Safety Rated, WELL Health-Equity, WELL Performance Rated, WELL Performance Rating, WELL and others, and their related logos are trademarks or certification marks of International WELL Building Institute pbc in the United States and other countries.

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