Welcome to our first CADRE Conversation, where we delve into our organization’s exciting leadership transition where Dr. Deborah Wingler will be taking the reins as Executive Director. In conversation with Dr. Upali Nanda, who served as Executive Director for the past decade, Dr. Deborah Wingler discusses CADRE’s transformative journey, bridging academia, industry, and practice to redefine the design industry. Listen in to this conversation about CADRE’s legacy and Dr. Wingler’s vision for the future.
Listen to the audio above or follow along to an edited transcript of the conversation between Dr. Deborah Wingler and Dr. Upali Nanda.
Dr. Upali Nanda
Hi, everyone. My name is Upali Nanda. I am the Global Sector Director for Innovation at HKS, and I've had the proud privilege of being Executive Director of CADRE since 2013—up until last year. I'm so excited to have this conversation with our new Executive Director—but not at all new to CADRE—Dr. Deborah Wingler. Deborah, please tell us a little about yourself and what you're excited about coming into this role.
Dr. Deborah Wingler
Thank you, Upali. It’s wonderful to be here. I am the Global Practice Director for Applied Research at HKS. I've had quite a long background in healthcare innovation for over two decades, starting with patient and family advocacy, and thinking about how to design spaces and elevate the human spirit so that true healing can take place. That all kind of catapulted me into a a whole new direction in life where I've had the opportunity to be at the forefront of some of the most meaningful changes in terms of thinking about how we could reimagine healthcare. I started my research in the nonprofit world, thinking about how we might change the safety net for this country, so transitioning into this work has been amazing. We’ve worked with forward-thinking manufacturers and industry partners to help them reimagine their product lines—and even how they think about well-being and what their products mean. With the opportunity to work at HKS, I've had the privilege to bring health and well-being at multiple scales into different projects, across the globe.
Dr. Upali Nanda
That's amazing.
Dr. Deborah Wingler
I think one of the things that I'm most excited about stepping into the Executive Directorship at CADRE is the opportunity to make a meaningful impact. I think CADRE is incredibly unique in the way it's positioned. We’re able to convene the brightest minds and some of the greatest individuals who are thinking very deeply and meaningfully about very big topics. And that for me gets exciting because I think we have an opportunity to create a bridge between academia and practice and industry—where all voices can be heard and can contribute to solving meaningful problems from around the world every day. I think CADRE is uniquely positioned to speak to that, moving important conversations forward across our industry about how design can impact the world around us in many, many different ways.
Dr. Upali Nanda
Awesome. And what are you most looking forward to, Deborah?
Dr. Deborah Wingler
I'm most looking forward to continuing the amazing legacy of CADRE, while being able to grow and work alongside thoughtful individuals. Our projects span Nurse Burnout, which is a global project, all the way to brain health, which impacts us all. There are just so many broad and different projects that CADRE has already done. What I'm most excited about is leveraging the platform to bring multiple voices together, while engaging those individuals who are out there already doing the amazing work.
Dr. Upali Nanda
So well said, Deborah. Tom Harvey started this all in 2006 with Dr. Debajyoti Pati, and we look back at this now after more than a decade has passed and see the amount of work that has happened and the number of institutions and companies and academic institutions we have worked alongside. The number of students that we've had a chance to support through the coalition model, the kind of topics we've been able to take from healthcare through education to housing, all with a very clear mission and vision to improve health and well-being for all. Through design, we are at an incredible inflection point with a very robust board with Ana Pinto-Alexander as the President and with you as the Executive Director. We’re opening a new chapter. In the legacy that Tom and Dr. Pati established, and I've had the privilege of taking forward. I'm so excited to hear your vision and excited about where we're going next. I would like to wish you the very, very best of luck. For where you take us and continued partnership from everything that we've done in the past, it is going to be a whole lot of fun in a very new, incredible way.
Dr. Deborah Wingler
Well said. I'm looking forward to being able to continue this work together. And I'd love to hear from your perspective. What are some of the things that you are most proud of over your tenure over the last 10 years? What are some things you feel have been amazing to be a part of?
Dr. Upali Nanda
I could talk about the projects, but I'm proudest of the people we've touched. We've been very, very lucky. You’re no stranger to CADRE, Deborah, too. You and I have worked on many CADRE projects together. Everyone on the HKS Research team who has volunteered time. Through it, all of the students and CADRE scholars that we have had the opportunity to work with. We’ve pushed a lot of new thinking out into the world. From something like Clinic 20XX, which was based on Market Research, to the work with UC San Diego Torrey Pines, which was more about measuring outcomes of the built environment to what we're doing right now—the work you’re leading with Nurse Burnout, which is a completely novel methodology. So over time, the scale, the complexity, the thinking, and the methods have improved. But the proudest achievement is the kind of community that we have built both through the founding partners at HKS and our teams, but also the different organizations we've had a chance to work with. UTA, UC San Diego, and MillerKnoll. I think that is probably the thing that I'm the proudest of. When Tom had started this with Dr. Pati years ago, he envisioned a think tank that would be a trusted place for the entire design and allied communities. I think we're only unpacking the potential of it all, and we are so well poised to unpack that potential with the new leadership.
Dr. Deborah Wingler
It’s so exciting to think about what's ahead! I agree with you, I think the ability to support scholars through CADRE is one of the things that makes us unique and special in terms of building that bridge between academia and practice and giving everyone a place to grow and flourish. With each scholar we've had, we've had the ability for them to grow and we’ve watched their careers unfold—and we’ve watched how just one project helps each person move forward. That's so exciting to see when you can see a project’s impact on an individual's career trajectory.
Dr. Upali Nanda
Couldn't agree more. Deborah, is that part of what you're most excited about as well?
Dr. Deborah Wingler
It’s the bridge between academia and practice, right? We talk about it a lot. Over the years it's been difficult to navigate the right balance. But I think CADRE has done an excellent job of showing the power of uniting the two—from scholars to partners and thinking through these very large ideas. There's such a power that comes from this synergy. Having a place where these two worlds can convene—on neutral territory, so to speak—right where everyone gets to operate to their fullest potential. So that’s exactly it for me. Such an incredible opportunity that CADRE has to offer.
Dr. Upali Nanda
That is very well said. I honestly couldn't be more excited. Deborah. I couldn't be more excited about this era that you and Ana are going to take forward. I think the legacy with Tom Harvey then Dr. Pati and then me having a chance to work with the non-profit. With you coming on board, it feels like an evolution.
Dr. Deborah Wingler
I 100% agree. We have an amazing board with a variety of expertise that will help CADRE grow over the next few years. We have expertise in marketing and grants, in addition to academic researchers who have put forward great work. This will not only challenge but truly catapult CADRE forward. This will make a huge difference in what we're able to achieve. And I think also who were able to touch right, they each bring with them this vast network of individuals, all of which really can begin to contribute be part of CADRE. We’re grateful for our board and we’re grateful for their engagement and commitment to CADRE.
Dr. Upali Nanda
Well said. I share your excitement, and to your point, having Maggie Calkins, Sarah Marberry, Jenny Roe, Jason Schroer—you're getting an industry perspective, you're getting a communications perspective and an academic perspective and a non-profit perspective. This is such a well-rounded group of people guiding the organization. We’re at an inflection point of a really strong few years to follow, and I really want to thank you, Deborah, for taking this mantle on and leading us into this new chapter.
Dr. Deborah Wingler
Thank you, Upali. And I do recognize that I have very, very big shoes to fill, and I am so grateful for the legacy that Tom, Dr. Pati, and you have left—because without that we would not be here today.
Dr. Upali Nanda
And before me and before both of us. So, we will continue together to till the soil for even more amazing individuals to come. Thank you so, so much.