Top Ambassador Spotlight: Leila Schey, Gensler

Best in Building HealthFitwel AmbassadorsFitwel Champions
Written By Marcos Reynaga


As part of our ongoing Best in Building Health series, we’re excited to celebrate one of Fitwel’s Top 20 Ambassadors, Leila Schey of Gensler!

AT A GLANCE

Image: Leila Schey, Sustainability Specialist, Gensler

Name: Leila Schey

Role: Sustainability Specialist

Location: Newport Beach, CA (previous Gensler offices: Washington D.C., Shanghai, London, Denver)

Ambassador Since: November 2018

Leila has been a valuable member of the Gensler (one of our Fitwel Champions and part of the Fitwel Technical Advisory Board!) team for 12 years, sharing her Fitwel expertise across a number of projects. Learn more about what Best in Building Health means to Leila and how becoming an Ambassador has impacted her professionally.

What does Best in Building Health mean to you?
I believe design can positively impact health and wellbeing, inclusivity, and sustainability, especially when incorporating research and evidence-based strategies from organizations like Fitwel. The most impactful projects I’ve been a part of approached this holistic impact not only through data-driven design, but through strong collaboration on strategy with all people involved. Fitwel embodies this type of interconnected approach by considering how design, operations, policies, and communications impact the experience of a place. Taking clients through certification sparks conversation among so many different parts of an organization from benefits managers and facilities to external partners like landlords or municipalities and gets everyone talking about health and wellbeing. This holistic approach helps create places people want to be! I love that Best in Building Health spotlights these types of places and I’m honored to play a part in their creation.

Interior view of Gensler's European Headquarters in London. Photo courtesy of Gensler and photographer Johan Dehlin.
Overhead view of the employee staircase at Gensler's European Headquarters. Photo courtesy of Gensler and photographer Johan Dehlin.

Interior views of the Gensler European Headquarters in London, a project Leila worked on. Photos courtesy of Gensler and photographer Johan Dehlin.

Why did you choose to become a Fitwel Ambassador?
I had been working on projects pursuing ambitious sustainability goals but was looking for a more robust way to incorporate health and wellbeing beyond biophilic design. I was living in London and went to an event where I heard Joanna Frank [CEO of the Center for Active Design and Adai, the operator of Fitwel] speak and her words just resonated! I discussed Fitwel with several clients who I thought may also be interested and shortly became a Fitwel Ambassador when I saw the impact this certification could make.

What in particular have you valued most about being an Ambassador?
Becoming a Fitwel Ambassador has fueled a passion for integrating designing for people with designing for the environment. It has helped me pivot into sustainability and wellness consulting and strategy from my career as a designer and architect.

For a complete look at the 2023 Best in Building Health Top 20 Ambassadors list click here.

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Marcos Reynaga
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