Boston University School of Hospitality Administration Bestows Icon Award to Niki Leondakis, CEO of CorePower Yoga, at 2023 Hospitality Leadership Summit
(March 16, 2023) Boston, MA – Boston University School of Hospitality Administration (BU SHA) is proud to announce that the fourth annual ICON award will be presented to Niki Leondakis, CEO of CorePower Yoga, the largest yoga studio chain in the United States with over 200 studios. The ICON award ceremony and reception will conclude the School’s Hospitality Leadership Summit, Friday, March 24, 2023 at Hotel Commonwealth in Kenmore Square, Boston.
The ICON award recognizes innovators who create new and transformative paradigms in hospitality. Niki Leondakis will accept the award to conclude the school’s 2023 Hospitality Leadership Summit which features inspirational leaders sharing their vision for the future of the business. To learn more and register to attend the Summit, visit: www.bu.edu/hospitality/events/summit/
As one of the leading women executives in hospitality, Leondakis has spent more than 30 years of experience in leadership roles, building lifestyle brands, creating award-winning workplace cultures, driving innovation, and building customer loyalty at hospitality companies that include The Wolff Company, a multifamily-focused real estate private equity firm, Equinox Fitness Clubs, Two Roads Hospitality, and Commune Hotels & Resorts. Previous to Commune, Leondakis led Kimpton Hotels and Restaurants as their President and COO, where she started in 1993 and for nearly 20 years was a key member of the executive team that led the growth of the company from 15 hotels to 50. Under her leadership, Kimpton was named one of Fortune Magazine’s 100 Best Companies to Work For. Leondakis has received several industry awards on behalf of the companies that she has led in the “Best Places to Work For” category. Individually, she has been cited by the San Francisco Business Times as one of the Bay Area’s Most Admired CEOs in 2015. A recipient of the Leadership Excellence award by HR.com and LEAD2016, Leondakis was named one of the “100 Most Influential Women” by the San Francisco Business Times for 15 consecutive years. Read full Niki Leondakis’s full bio here.
“We are proud to recognize Niki Leondakis with our most prestigious ICON Award,” states Arun Upneja, Ph.D., Dean of Boston University School of Hospitality Administration. “Niki has been an exemplary leader in C-suite/CEO roles who invests in workplace culture and garners positive results for customers and all stakeholders. She inspires the highest values in hospitality and business practices. She is a role model for making an enduring, meaningful impact in corporate cultures where employees and guests can flourish.”
“I am honored to be recognized by the School of Hospitality Administration with the ICON Award,” said Niki Leondakis, CEO of CorePower Yoga. “I appreciate BU School of Hospitality Administration’s focus on the importance of human interactions and creating memorable experiences that incorporate mental, physical, and spiritual wellbeing. This award opens the door to connecting with future hospitality leaders who embrace new ideas and expansive views of hospitality. These views go beyond attentive service and fulfill our human need for belonging, connection, and the opportunity to create transformative experiences for everyone involved.”
The BU SHA ICON award, established in 2020, is presented to a pioneering leader whose accomplishments have paved the way for enduring, transformative contributions of deep value in the world of hospitality and in our society as a whole. Past ICON awardees include in 2022 Airbnb co-founders: Brian Chesky, CEO, Nathan Blecharczyk, Chief Strategy Officer, and Joe Gebbia, Chairman of Airbnb.org; in 2021, restaurant pioneer Danny Meyer, Founder and CEO of Union Square Hospitality Group and Shake Shack; and in 2020, Richard L. Friedman, President and CEO of Carpenter & Company Inc., credited, among a long list of accolades, for reshaping the Boston skyline with several of the city’s premier hotels including the Four Seasons One Dalton tower. For a list of ICON awardees, visit: ICON Award Winners
2023 Hospitality Leadership Summit Sponsors*
BU SHA is grateful for the generous support from: Diamond Level: Hotel Commonwealth
Gold Level: Meet Boston, PEAK Event Services, Seaport Hotel, and
Sonesta Hotels and Resorts
Silver Level: Aramark Sports + Entertainment, Postmates, and Ruth’s Chris Steak House
Supporters: Blue Ribbon Restaurants, Boston Park Plaza, Boston Red Sox, Hyatt Regency Boston, La Colombe Coffee Roasters, and The Colonnade, Boston
Sponsor List is current as of 3/16/21
About Boston University School of Hospitality Administration: Established in 1981 and celebrating over 40 years of Innovating the Business of Hospitality, Boston University’s School of Hospitality Administration (SHA) offers students a combination of rigorous academics, business and liberal arts curriculum, and international experiences. SHA has a unique relationship with the city of Boston, where the area’s hotels, restaurants, senior living, and related businesses provide students with experience and opportunities. www.bu.edu/hospitality.