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2015 Global Wellness Award Winners
Include Canyon Ranch Founders and
Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg
Miami, FL – December 7, 2015 – The 2015 Global Wellness Awards winners were announced during the 9th Global Wellness Summit (GWS) in Mexico City last month. Next year’s Summit will be held October 17-19 in Tyrol, Austria.
2015 Global Wellness Award winners:
– Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg was honored with the “Building a Well World Award.” Mr. Bloomberg received this award for his commitment to, and philanthropic support of public health policies worldwide, but in particular for his work in Mexico. Through the Obesity Prevention Program, Bloomberg Philanthropies has committed $16.5 million toward a three-year effort to support public health policies aimed at reducing obesity in Mexico, which has one of the highest rates of overweight in the world.
– Enid and Mel Zuckerman, founders of Canyon Ranch, shared the honors as “Wellness Innovators” for their successful 30-year running of Canyon Ranch Health Resorts and their founding of the Canyon Ranch Institute in 2002, a non-profit with the mission to prevent disease. Fifteen years ago, Enid and Mel took their advocacy for healthy living to the field of education, helping to fund the development of the first and only accredited college of public health in Arizona, known today as the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health at the University of Arizona. The Zuckermans’ innovative ideas have truly laid the foundation for today’s spa and wellness industry.
– Green Spa Network won for “Leader in Sustainability” in recognition of its commitment to developing educational materials and blueprints for creating sustainable business practices in the spa and wellness industries. Since its inception, in 2007, Green Spa Network has grown to include over 750 members, representing all facets of the spa industry.
– Geraldine Howard, co-founder of Aromatherapy Associates, took the honor as “Leading Woman in Wellness” for her unfaltering mission to educate on scent’s impact on the health of the body and mind, and for bringing aromatherapy to the forefront of wellness practices. Recently, Geraldine’s battles with cancer have made her even more mindful of the positive impact of aromatherapy as part of her treatment protocols, a message she shared with delegates via her Skype acceptance of the award.
– The first-ever “Leader in Workplace Wellness Award” was presented to Kenneth R. Pelletier, PhD, MD, and a clinical professor of medicine at the University of Arizona School of Medicine and the University of California, School of Medicine, San Francisco (UCSF) . Pelletier’s work in this field was far ahead of its time, and he has spent decades doing research and delivering successful programs to the Fortune 500 and government agencies through the Corporate Health Improvement Program (CHIP), which he developed in 1984.
“Presenting the Global Wellness Awards to such diverse and deserving recipients was gratifying for our whole team,” said Susie Ellis, chairman and CEO. “It was particularly rewarding to have Geraldine join us via video to accept her award and I look forward to presenting Michael Bloomberg with the first-ever ‘Building a Well World’ award in New York.”
Winners were determined by the GWS Board of Directors and were sponsored by The Ghareini Group, a leading German manufacturer of high end spa and beauty beds, furniture and equipment; Booker, a New York-based cloud booking system that transforms the way local services are managed by businesses and discovered by consumers; Kamalaya Wellness Sanctuary, a multi-award winning wellness sanctuary & holistic spa located on the beachfront of the tropical southern coastline of Koh Samui, Thailand; and Enaya Care, a pioneer in day spas and wellness centers in Saudi Arabia.
An additional award given at the Summit went to students at The University of Nevada, Las Vegas who won the 7th Annual Student Challenge to create a spa of the future that encompasses indigenous Latin American Culture. Sponsors of this year’s student challenge were: Chiva-Som; Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts; FRHI Hotels & Resorts; Hilton Worldwide; Klafs Group; Red Door Spa; ResortSuite; and Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces.
About the Global Wellness Summit: The Global Wellness Summit (GWS) is an invitation-only international gathering that brings together leaders and visionaries to positively shape the future of the $3.4 trillion global wellness industry. Held in a different location each year, the Summit attracts delegates from all over the world. Summits have taken place in the U.S., Switzerland, Turkey, Bali, India, Morocco and Mexico City. The 2016 Summit will be held in Austria from October 17-19.
