The International WELL Building Institute (IWBI) has appointed Rachel Gutter to the role of president. She succeeds Kamyar Vaghar, who is leaving IWBI after two successful years in this role.
Gutter joined IWBI as chief product officer of IWBI 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.
Gutter will also add the IWBI commercial team to her portfolio of responsibilities, bringing together product development and customer engagement
“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,” says IWBI Chairman and CEO Rick Fedrizzi.
Fedrizzi says 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 channelled that input into a rating system that’s more equitable, global, simpler, clearer and designed for improved return across every metric,” he says.
“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, adding that, “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.”
