Building Better Together: Shaping a Healthy, Sustainable, Equitable Future
Thank you for attending the Building Better Together leadership event on September 26th, 2023. Co-sponsored by Armstrong World Industries, the esteemed 9 Foundations organization, and the iconic National Building Museum, this event was a convergence of academic, nonprofit and public companies coming together to foster relationships that will drive positive change in the built environment.
Together, we can elevate the standards of spaces, ensuring they reflect the values of safety, wellness, and equality.
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Hosts of the Event
Dr. Joseph Allen is an associate professor at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and the director of Harvard’s Healthy Buildings Program. He is the coauthor of Healthy Buildings: How Indoor Spaces Drive Performance and Productivity, which was recognized as a ‘Best Book of the Year’ by the New York Times and Fortune magazine. During the pandemic, Dr. Allen has served as Commissioner of The Lancet COVID-19 Commission and Chair of its ‘Safe Work, Safe Schools, and Safe Travel Task Force’.
An internationally renowned expert and sought-after advisor, he works with senior executives at Fortune 500 companies across major sectors of the economy to implement healthy buildings strategies. Dr. Allen has authored over 80 peer-reviewed scientific papers and regularly contributes to the New York Times, Washington Post, and The Atlantic.
Aileen Fuchs is the President & Executive Director of the National Building Museum, where she started her role in May 2021. For over a decade, Aileen has been working at the intersection of site-specific historic interpretation, adaptive-reuse activations, and cultural destination-making. Aileen served as President and CEO of Snug Harbor Cultural Center & Botanical Garden from 2017-2021. She oversaw the property management and cultural programming of the historic 83-acre site. Before that she served as Executive Director of Exhibits & Programs at the Brooklyn Navy Yard where she established and ran the Museum and Visitor Center, BLDG 92.
Prior to these endeavors, she worked in exhibition development with the American History Workshop. She currently serves on the Boards of the Washington, DC Economic Partnership (WDCEP) and the DowntownDC Business Improvement District (BID).
Mark Hershey is the Senior Vice President, Americas of Armstrong World Industries. He leads the business strategy along with business development efforts. He joined the company in 2011 as general counsel and secretary and subsequently served as chief compliance officer and leader of the company’s sustainability efforts,the separation of the flooring business in 2016, the sale of its European and Asian businesses in 2019, the acquisition of Turf Design, Moz Designs and Arktura in 2020, and the issuance of the company’s inaugural sustainability report in 2021.
Prior to joining AWI, Mark held the position of senior vice president, general counsel and secretary at Ricoh Americas Corporation, Prior to his role with Ricoh, Mark held similar leadership positions at IKON Office Solutions, Inc.
He serves on the board of trustees of The National Building Museum.