International, federal, and state perspectives on achieving improvements in school IAQ. Moderated by: Kenneth Mendez, CEO and President, Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America
Featured Speakers (invited):
- Andela Jaksic-Stojanovic, Education Secretary, Montenegro (invited)
- Rachel Hodgdon, President and CEO, International WELL Building Institute (invited)
- Representative Megan Cotter, Rhode Island House of Representatives (possible)
- Joseph da Silva, PhD, NCARB, MESM HEAL Project Director, Coordinator, School Building Authority, RI
Session Focus:
- International Commission on Indoor Air Quality
- Evolution of IAQ standards and tools in the U.S.
- Moving forward in Rhode Island
- Challenges for achieving broadscale change
As the President and CEO of the International WELL Building Institute (IWBI), Rachel Hodgdon is leading a movement to advance human health through healthier buildings, more vibrant communities and stronger, more equitable organizations. Her motto is “Always be winning for good,” and she’s put that to work at IWBI, developing research-backed tools to help organizations create places where people can thrive. Today, these people-first places extend across 5 billion square feet of space in 130 countries and growing.
Prior to joining IWBI, Rachel spent nearly a decade at the intersection of sustainability and human health, helping the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) make LEED the world’s most widely used green building rating system. At USGBC, she founded the Center for Green Schools, which mobilized $275B+ investments in LEED-certified educational facilities and deployed over 750,000 volunteers to transform schools on every continent.
Rachel serves on numerous boards and advisories for organizations including Second Nature and the Real Estate Pride Council. A graduate of Tufts University, she is a sought-after media voice, inspirational speaker and frequent guest lecturer and instructor at the Harvard School of Public Health’s Center for Health and the Global Environment, Harvard University Kennedy School of Government, the University of Connecticut School of Business and Tufts.
Reference: https://resources.wellcertified.com/people/leadership/rachel-hodgdon/
Representative Megan Cotter, Rhode Island was elected November 8, 2022, to represent District 39 in Exeter, Hopkinton, and Richmond. She is a member of both the House Education Committee, the House Health and Human Services Committee, and the House Small Business Committee.
Representative Cotter has been a strong advocate for forests, farms and conservation. In her first year in the House, she sponsored legislation that created a legislative commission to help the state determine the best action for improving forest management. In 2023 and 2024, she chaired that commission, which issued recommendations that included funding forest fire prevention programs and more forestry staff in the Department of Environmental Management, state and local collaboration to map accessible routes for firefighting in forested lands, and helping owners of forested lands to develop fire management plans. Her leadership and advocacy helped add funding in the 2025 state budget for additional forest rangers at DEM, and led to the addition of land conservation funding to the “green bond” proposal on the ballot in November 2024.
She continues to push for property tax relief, as well as for education, children and rural communities. A law she sponsored in 2025 puts structures in place in all school districts to effectively support students’ mental and behavioral health.
Representative Cotter grew up in the Elmhurst section of Providence, with working parents who divorced when she was young. Her father imparted upon her and her siblings the importance of hard work and kindness, involving the family in church and volunteering for those in need. She graduated from Classical High School in 2002, and went on to University of Rhode Island, where she triple majored in English, Comparative Literature and Classical Studies.
Shortly after college, she married her husband, Christopher. They soon had three children, Emily, Joseph, and Charles. Like many Rhode Islanders, they struggled under the weight of rent, utilities, health care, and student loans, but eventually managed to buy a home in Exeter. When that home was completely destroyed in a fire in 2017, their tragedy was transformed into a profound lesson on kindness and community, as neighbors and friends reached out with support from every direction. Rather than move, they did not hesitate to rebuild in the same spot. They and their children are active volunteers in the community that gave so much to them.
Reference: https://www.rilegislature.gov/representatives/cotter/Pages/Biography.aspx