The Way We Work Series

As a senior strategist with more than 30 years in the design industry, Cindy’s role at Gensler is to steer effective alignment of a client’s organizational goals to a well-informed design response. She has achieved a diverse range of experience working within leading design firms, as well as positions in design publishing. McGraw-Hill published her first book, The Interior Design Handbook of Professional Practice. Cindy holds a faculty position in the Department of Architecture and Interior Architecture at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. In 2010, she was named a Design Future Council Senior Fellow. Cindy earned a BIA in Interior Architecture from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and a Master in Design Methods from IIT/Institute of Design.

Rachelle’s 25 year career has focused on corporate workplace strategy, interiors, renovations, and ground up buildings—with sustainability and the wellbeing of people and planet always top of mind. As Gensler’s Director of Workplace, Rachelle facilitates Vision development, programming, and design leadership working closely with her clients to understand their business objectives and ensure their vision and goals are present in the design solution. She is passionate about the design potential on every project and bringing it to light in a manner that exceeds the client expectations. An active national leader in innovative, sustainable design and solutions, Rachelle is one of the co-authors of the Minnesota Buildings, Benchmarks and Beyond Guidelines and co-founder of the Minnesota USGBC chapter. She was awarded the LEED Fellow distinction in 2013, the ASID Fellow distinction in 2009, and recognized as the ASID National Designer of Distinction in 2016. Rachelle was the National Chair of the ASID Board of Directors from 2014-2015, during which she furthered the case for sustainable design through policy, research initiatives, and engagements.

Brendon Schrader is the Founder/CEO of Antenna, a Minneapolis-based company that is changing the way people work by providing best-in-class marketers on demand. He is also the Founder/Publisher of Indypendently.com, a content and media platform for independent workers. Brendon’s insights on independent consulting, the gig economy, the changing nature of work have been highlighted in Inc. magazine, Forbes, Fast Company, and the Huffington Post. He holds an MBA from the Carlson School of Management, and an MEd from the University of Minnesota’s College of Education and Human Development.