The first ever Global Wellness Award winners were announced at the Global Spa & Wellness Summit (GSWS) in Marrakech, Morocco, earlier this month.

The Global Wellness Awards were given to individuals in three categories: Wellness Innovator, Leader in Sustainability and Leading Woman in Wellness. The GSWS board of directors determined the winners.

Don Ardell PhD and John Travis MD, two wellness experts considered to be founding fathers of the wellness movement – shaping the way people think and talk about wellness since the 1970s – shared the Wellness Innovator award.

Sarah Livia Brightwood, president of Rancho La Puerta, was named Leader in Sustainability for implementing green initiatives at the resort. Brightwood, a landscape designer, has taken on the presidency of the company after her mother Deborah Szekely – founder of the resort with her late husband Edmond – stepped down in 2010, but remains on the board of directors.

Magatte Wade, a prominent Senegalese entrepreneur and founder of Tiossan – a high-end skincare line using indigenous Senegalese recipes – was awarded the Leading Woman in Wellness honour due to her on-going advocacy of African entrepreneurialism and the development of Africa in the global business community.

In addition to the inaugural Global Wellness Awards, the best original infographic/videographic created to reflect the 2014 Summit theme of “Fast Forward to the Future of Spa and Wellness” was announced. The video for Global Wellness Day, introduced by Belgin Aksoy from Richmond Nua Wellness Spa in Turkey, won top honours. The Global Wellness Day is set for 13 June 2015 and spa industry leaders are being encouraged by GSWS organisers to become ambassadors for the day, where they would take responsibility for advising a community to join the initiative.

The second place winner was Leanne Nicholls’ infographic entitled “The Future House of Wellness.”

The winner of the sixth Annual Student Challenge was also announced at GSWS. Four universities took part in the competition to design a spa for the future, encompassing North African culture. Mohammed V University Rabat, Agdal, Morocco was the winning institution. Business students worked with architect Luciano Mazza, vice president of HKS Architects, to conceive the spa.