Initiative Co-Chair

Allison Howard, Founder and CEO, Nollapelli, United States

Allison Howard is the founder and CEO of Nollapelli, a new wellness linen company with innovative products that promote healthier sleep, skin and hair. She brings a background in chemical engineering and 20 years of corporate experience in the US and abroad. Allison is passionate about wellness, healthy aging, and simple ways to improve outcomes. She is based in Pittsburgh, PA, and was a member of the former Beauty Meets Wellness Initiative of the GWI.

Initiative Co-Chair

Francisco Levine, Chief Business Officer, Bryte Labs, United States

After being a hotelier for 10 years, Francisco Levine shifted into technology and embarked on the mission to reshape sleep in hotels. Former CEO of Atton Hotels (6X growth and sold to Accor Hotels) and a McKinsey & Co trained consultant, Francisco joined Bryte Labs as its chief business officer. Francisco holds an MBA from UCLA and a BS degree in Business from Universidad Adolfo Ibanez in Chile.

Michael J. Breus, PhD

Clinical Psychologist & Clinical Sleep Specialist, United States

Michael J. Breus, Ph.D., is a double board certified Clinical Psychologist and Clinical Sleep Specialist. He is one of only 168 psychologists in the world to have taken and passed the Sleep Medicine Boards without going to Medical School. Dr. Breus is the author of three books with the newest book (2017) The Power of When, which is a groundbreaking bio-hacking book proving that there is a perfect time to do everything, based on your biological chronotype (early bird or night owl). Dr. Breus gives the reader the exact time to have sex, run a mile, eat a cheeseburger, buy, sell, ask your boss for a raise and much more based on over 200 research studies. He is an expert resource for most major publications, doing more than 300 interviews per year (Oprah, Dr. Oz, The Doctors, NY Times, Wall Street Journal, etc). Dr. Breus has been in private practice for 23 years and was recently named the Top Sleep Doctor of Los Angeles by Readers Digest.

Dr. Param Dedhia

MD, Canyon Ranch, United States

Are you healthy? Are you living the life you want? Helping people answer these questions is what inspires Param Dedhia, MD to hop out of bed and get his feet on the ground every morning. During his ten years at Johns Hopkins, Param’s early career was rooted in internal medicine, gerontology, obesity medicine and public health. For the past 12 years, he was at Canyon Ranch where he served as executive health expert, integrative medicine practitioner and director of sleep medicine. With all these experiences, Param and his colleagues in nutritional science, exercise physiology and behavioral psychology continue to roll up their sleeves. Together, their goal is for us to connect to our best health and live the lives we want.

Thom Downing

Athletic Trainer, United States

From the Silicon Valley elite to the area’s superlative sports franchises, Thom has successfully coached Bay Area high performers for over three decades. This experience has enabled him to effect improvement in health profiles, guide clients in the adoption of life-changing habits, and ultimately, enhance the vitality of those with whom he and his team of professionals have worked. Thom has a Bachelors and Masters Degree in Kinesiology and he is certified in Athletic Training, Strength & Conditioning, and Nutrition. A well known entrepreneur, advisory board member and public speaker, Thom was born and raised in Kodiak, AK and is also an Alaskan commercial fisherman.

Reina Govindarajan Collett

Reina Govindarajan Collett is a fashion & beauty startup executive with a 15-year track record leading teams for top SaaS and consumer goods tech firms. Prior to joining wellness brand, Prospect Farms, Reina was an early player in the subscription box world at the women’s lifestyle pioneer FabFitFun. There, she played an instrumental role in the company’s subscription box business scaling its membership from less than 50,000 to 2 million in 3.5 years, catapulting the company to unicorn status. In this role, she grew the company’s e-commerce business from less than 1% to 30% of the company’s total revenue totaling $200M+.

Reina started her career in tech on the founding team of one of the world’s top retail B2B applications NuORDER as their global Head of Account Management & Customer Success. Capitalizing on a decade of fashion industry experience, her contributions enabled the company to scale its client base from less than 20 to over 600 in 2.5 years. The company was acquired by one stop commerce provider Lightspeed in 2021.

Currently, Reina is the Chief Revenue Officer of Prospect Farms, a 253 acre vertically integrated wellness farm producing premium full spectrum and terpene enriched products for people and pets. With a commitment to sustainability and transparency, the company is working to elevate clean CBD and supplement standards for all. Reina N. Govindarajan holds a B.A. from Boston University, a masters from the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising in Los Angeles, and an M.B.A. from Hult International Business School. She currently lives between New York and Los Angeles, CA with her husband and their pup Gobi.

Tammy Pahel

VP, Spa & Wellness, Carillon Miami Wellness Resort, United States

Tammy Pahel, VP of Spa & Wellness at Carillon Miami Wellness Resort and American Spa’s 2019 Spa Director of the Year began her career in 1989 as Executive Director at Nemacolin Woodlands Resort and led the property to a “Top Ten Spas” ranking by Conde Nast Gold List. She also led the spa operations for Arizona Biltmore Resort & Spa, The Spa at Caesar’s Palace and Deer Lake Lodge & Spa. Pahel is the Founder & Principal of Spa Management Solutions, Inc., which she launched in 1999. Committed to having a prominent voice in the spa industry, Pahel served on the International Spa Association Board for four years and participated for an additional eight years on various ISPA committees. She is currently the Director of Education for the Southeast Spa Wellness Association. Pahel has been innovating her entire career and has been continuously elevating the spa and wellness experience at Carillon since 2017. With her forward thinking approach and strategic partnerships with leading global technology brands, she has brought cutting edge technology and touchless services during a time when people are seeking different types of wellness services. Pahel strategically developed new revenue streams, increasing profitability and continues to enhance the guest experience more and more.

Dr. Rebecca Robbins

Instructor, Harvard Medical School, United States

Dr. Rebecca Robbins is an Instructor in Medicine at Harvard Medical School and an Associate Scientist at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital. In her research, she designs and evaluates novel interventions to improve awareness about sleep and sleep disorders. Her research has appeared in the New York Times, the Financial Times, and Martha Stewart Living. She has made appearances on national television, including Fox Business News, ABC Nightline, and The Today Show. She is the co-author of a book entitled Sleep for Success!. She has held teaching positions at the Weill Cornell Medical College in Doha, Qatar and Harvard College.

Julie Mallon

Certified Sleep Consultant Parental Educator

Julie is a highly-qualified professional with over 30 years’ experience, having previously being a Health Visitor, Midwife and community nurse in the UK and founder of Nurture2sleep. Julie has also trained as a Certified Sleep Consultant with Kim West and The International Maternity Institute.

Here in the Middle East, Julie has been working as an educator in the field of maternal support services, delivering classes on antenatal and postnatal care, baby and child development and behaviour and parenting.

Julie has also been working with Adults to restore their sleep hygiene and their positive relationship with sleep. She has been working to educate clients on why they actions are needed to achieve their sleep goals. This has resulted in maintaining an ongoing proper sleep health. She has also been motivating and coaching her clients throughout a process with a customized plan and support to see them through to sleep success.

Brad Tipper

CEO & Brand Founder, Prospect Farms, United States

Brad Tipper is the CEO & Brand Founder of Prospect Farms, a leading CPG wellness platform offering benefit-focused botanical products designed to help promote better Sleep, support Mood & Anxiety and aid in Muscle Pain Relief & Inflammation. Brad joins the Global Wellness Institute’s Sleep Initiative following the company’s landmark sleep study profiling their Prospect Farms Dream product, the first full spectrum CBD sleep product to generate significant improvements in sleep quality, well-being, anxiety and pain amongst participants. The study was a 4-week open-label, 2-arm clinical trial of 207 individuals and highlighted by 74% of participants experiencing a “Clinically meaningful improvement” in sleep disturbance. Prospect Farms partnered with Radicle Science on this study which consists of doctors, researchers, biostatisticians, and data scientists at institutions including UCLA, UC San Diego, Scripps Sleep Center, Johns Hopkins and University of Washington. Prior to Prospect Farms, Brad was a Founding Partner at Maximalist Ventures and has served in senior roles at MidOcean Partners and Och-Ziff Capital Management Group. 

JD Velilla

Head of Sleep Experience, Serta Simmons Bedding, United States

JD Velilla is the Head of Sleep Experience for Serta Simmons Bedding (SSB), which includes the Serta, Beautyrest, Simmons, and Tuft & Needle portfolio of brands.In his role, JD advocates and educates about the importance of sleep as part of a self-care and wellness regimen. He helps connect the dots between sleep science, product development and the habit changes required to achieve transformative rest. JD’s intention is to ensure everyone is better equipped to make smarter sleep wellness choices by providing hands-on experience, great information, and expert feedback. From the mattress and linen you sleep on to your sleep habits and routines, he hopes to empower you to wake up every day feeling focused, rested, and fully human.