Boston, MA The New England Chapter of CoreNet Global has named the winners of its 2025 Awards of Excellence, acknowledging the outstanding corporate real estate achievements of Boston’s remarkable individuals and companies in 2024. The winners will be formally presented with their awards at the annual event, this year hosted at the New England Aquarium on May 14.

Leadership Award Winners

Global Corporate End User Leadership: Rich Bettina, vice president of global real estate services, Fresenius Medical Care.
Bettina is a vice president of global real estate services for Fresenius Medical Care, a global leader in renal care. Bettina has over 35 years of director-level management experience in North America, Latin America, and Asia Pacific for companies including Fresenius Medical Care, Dell/EMC, Teradyne and IBM. He has a proven track record in organizational development, process optimization, and governance, driving measurable savings and impacts. A results-oriented leader, Bettina is responsible for more than 46 million s/f for a portfolio of over 4,000 locations including clinics, offices, and industrial sites globally. He oversees a team of direct staff and contracted partners to manage nearly 500 transactions annually, including new builds. He also initiated and leads a space optimization initiative to improve efficiency and reduce costs for Fresenius Medical Care. Before joining Fresenius Medical Care, Bettina served as the director of real estate and facilities for Latin America at Dell-EMC Corporation, where he played a key role in the business transformation following the largest acquisition in high-tech industry history at that time. He is an active member of CoreNet New England and on the board of directors.

Service Provider Leadership: Varunee Betts-Kosowan, vice president of strategic partnerships, ClearSpace Design
As the vice president of strategic partnerships at ClearSpace Design, Betts-Kosowan plays a pivotal role in driving client success through a comprehensive approach to product information, industry trends, financial insights, and contract management. Supported by her dedicated team, Betts-Kosowan ensures that every account is managed with meticulous attention to detail, offering innovative solutions tailored to meet clients’ unique needs and budget requirements, all while adhering to their timelines. In addition to her professional accomplishments, Betts-Kosowan is an active leader within the CoreNet Global – New England Chapter, where she previously served as co-chair of the Education Committee for over four years. Currently, she serves as the liaison to that committee on the chapter’s board of directors. Betts-Kosowan is also a proud graduate of the CoreNet Global New England Chapter’s Leadership 2.0 Program. Her expertise, leadership, and commitment to client success make her distinguished in her field.

Young Leader Leadership Award: Jasper Gondhi, PE, director, VVA – part of Drees & Somme
Gondhi consistently brings leadership and value to his company by exemplifying a high level of commitment to both his clients and his team. As a director, he maintains a strong work ethic while fostering a supportive environment for colleagues to grow and develop. His leadership and value are demonstrated every day by the role he plays as a client-facing lead for very important, complex and multi-million-dollar projects. Gondhi’s approach to management focuses on collaboration, ensuring that his team members are not only equipped to handle their individual responsibilities but also motivated to advance in their careers and at VVA. By supporting the growth of his team while maintaining a focus on client satisfaction, Gondhi aligns his efforts with the company’s long-term business goals and strategic vision. He has proven to provide a positive impact to VVA’s core business and strategic plan by ensuring that the needs of clients, industry partners and colleagues alike are priorities. 

Volunteer Hall of Fame: Courtney Hickey (Lombardo), global sales project manager at Humanscale
A member of CoreNet since 2016, Hickey (Lombardo) has become a master of collaborating amongst her CoreNet peers to further the organization’s goals and objectives. As the former co-chair of the New England Chapter Young Leaders committee, she was the nexus of many committees within the New England chapter. She managed to not only grow the participation of the next generation of CRE professionals within the chapter with Young Leader-specific events and programming but also acted as a liaison for her committee to drive engagement, increase visibility and utilize the talent of the Young Leaders for the greater good of the chapter. In 2024, she became co-chair of the Golf Committee and helped execute a premier chapter event by introducing new sponsorship, engaging members, and helping to raise money for Boys & Girls Club of Boston. As a graduate of CoreNet’s Young Leaders Professional Development Program, Hickey (Lombardo) demonstrates what succession planning and opportunity can look like at CoreNet Global. 

Best Workplace Award Winners

Best New Small Workplace: Income Research + Management (submitted by Gensler)
Income Research + Management (IR+M) is a privately owned, independent fixed-income investment management firm that serves institutional and private clients. In embarking on a move to a new office, IR+M’s key driver was the alignment of hybrid policy and design. Gensler’s proprietary predictive analytics tool enabled the design team to map assignment and space utilization across teams and develop a hybrid strategy and office design that optimizes business synergies and real estate. The resulting new workplace is a model of efficiency and a catalyst for fostering community, collaboration, and culture. A neighborhood-based layout supports the unique needs of the business units and environments are tailored to how employees enjoy working. Space types include individual-focused workspaces, purposefully scaled hybrid collaboration zones, and a centrally located cafe and lounge that doubles as a venue for gathering and social events.

Best New Large Workplace: Foundation Medicine (submitted by Gensler)
Foundation Medicine’s (FMI) new 16-?oor headquarters in the city’s Seaport is a vibrant vertical campus that unites scientists and administrative teams under one roof. The move from various locations to one centralized campus allows FMI to streamline its operations, meet current and future employee needs, and transform cancer care. Throughout the 600,000 s/f space, designing for a sense of community and connection was paramount. The campus provides state-of-the-art labs and a dynamic workplace ecosystem with abundant employee amenities – including a full-service café, winter garden, outdoor terrace, ?tness center, and employee art gallery. At the heart of the campus lies its visual centerpiece: a mural by cancer survivors in which each identi?ed the shape and color associated with their care team. The result is an emotionally powerful and hopeful installation that establishes a sense of purpose while embracing FMI’s tradition of connecting with the community. LEED Platinum certi?ed, 100% of the building’s operational electricity will be generated from certi?ed renewable resources. With a strong focus on health, wellness, and the environment, sustainable strategies were incorporated to meet both LEED and Fitwel certi?cation standards for the interior ?t-out.

Best New Workplace Outside of New England: La Defense Reimagined: A Workplace Transformation by Biogen (submitted by Biogen)
Biogen France is the fourth largest subsidiary of Biogen worldwide and has been serving French healthcare professionals and patients since 1994. The Biogen France office has always embodied the path to excellence, with the office being certified as a Great Place to Work in 2020, 2021 and 2022. It was important to Biogen’s Global Real Estate Team to ensure that the project has a transformative impact to the company – financially, socially, and environmentally, while ensuring that its corporate culture of co-construction and shared leadership remains intact. The La Defense project redefined how Biogen employees worked and interacted. It incorporated innovative concepts such as the integration of lab and office spaces to foster collaboration and knowledge sharing. Biogen’s workplace design team implemented Activity-Based Working (ABW) and neighborhood-based planning to break down silos and encourage spontaneous interactions. The modular and flexible design in the furniture and fixtures allows the team to easily adapt to evolving headcounts and uses. The open-plan layout, without enclosed offices, promoted transparency, engagement, and access to leadership. By optimizing real estate utilization, process management and design, the team successfully promoted Biogen’s goals of fostering flexibility, collaboration and human-centered approaches within the company.

For more details on the Awards of Excellence Gala, visit the CoreNet Global New England Chapter website. 

The New England Chapter of CoreNet Global represents the best and brightest in the region’s corporate real estate industry. The chapter’s 600+ members are passionate about advancing the organization’s mission to connect real estate professionals, end users and service providers to advance knowledge, promote personal excellence and add value to each individual and their respective enterprises.