Delos™, the pioneer of Wellness Real Estate™, is pleased to announce that Despina Katsikakis, an acclaimed leader in the field of workplace design who has consulted for Google, Microsoft, and Morgan Stanley, has joined its Advisory Board. Katsikakis will provide strategic advice and recommendations related to the impact of the workplace design on employee well-being and corporate culture.
“Physical workplace is one of the top three factors affecting performance and job satisfaction, and personnel costs significantly outweigh the costs for design and construction and maintenance and operations,” said Delos Founder and CEO Paul Scialla. “Despina’s keen insight and years of experience designing and implementing successful workplace design strategies will be a tremendous asset as we continue to support offices that add measurable value to the health, well-being, productivity and happiness of employees and create valuable return on investment for employers.”
A trained architect with over 30 years of experience in the field of workplace transformation as a former Chairman of DEGW, consultant at Barclays Corporate Real Estate, and currently an independent adviser, Katsikakis has implemented successful workplace design projects aimed to improve employee productivity, wellness, and engagement for her distinguished roster of clients. A firm advocate of the commercial benefit of creating a built environment that supports the health and well-being of employees, she was a driving force behind some of the most iconic and most copied workplaces in the world. Acknowledging that buildings are now places with the power to attract and retain staff in an age when work is no longer bound by location, she uses her strong understanding of business goals to formulate and deliver tactics centered around hard business strategies and profit, while developing interiors that are unique to the particulars of a business and its existing culture.
“I have much admired the Delos vision which aligns with my own focus to bring a human centric approach to the workplace whilst delivering value to business,” said Katsikakis. “Healthy employees are significant to a healthy bottom line. The working environment can either stimulate and sustain people’s engagement and energy or dampen and drain it. Delos has recognized that this provides a great opportunity for businesses which requires an ongoing protocol engaging leadership, space design, technology and policies to support people to thrive and do their best work. I am excited to join such a distinguished advisory board to further this journey towards creating workplaces that make people feel healthier, more energized and deliver successful business outcomes.”
Katsikakis joins a distinguished panel of Delos advisors including Dr. Deepak Chopra, world renowned health and wellness expert; the Honorable Dick Gephardt, former House of Representatives Majority Leader; Leonardo DiCaprio, sustainability advocate and actor; Nicholas LaRusso, former Medical Director of Mayo Clinic Center for Innovation and Distinguished Investigator of the Mayo Foundation; Rick Fedrizzi, CEO & Founding Chair, U.S. Green Building Council; Deborah L. Wince-Smith, President & CEO, Council on Competitiveness; Mel Martinez, former Chairman of the Republican National Committee, HUD Secretary, and United States Senator; Jason McLennan, world renowned sustainable building expert; Dr. Michael Roizen, Chief Wellness Officer at Cleveland Clinic; Sue Firestone, Founder and Chairman of Smith/Firestone Associates; Xue Ya, President, FMG Consulting; David L. Pogue, Global Director of Corporate Responsibility, CBRE Group, Inc.; Li Ming, Chairman of the Board and CEO, Sino-Ocean Group Holdings Limited; and Randy Fiser, CEO of the American Society of Interior Designers.
About Delos™
As the pioneer of Wellness Real Estate™, Delos is transforming our homes, offices, schools, and other indoor environments by placing health and wellness at the center of design and construction decisions. Delos helps create spaces that actively contribute to human health, performance and well-being by marrying the best innovations in technology, health, science, and real estate. The Delos platform includes programming, consulting, research, and an array of innovative, built-in amenities that research suggests may improve occupant well-being. More information on Delos is available at www.delos.com.
