B Corp Month Highlight: Four Ways Design Firms Can Implement a JEDI Focus
While it’s true that a B Corp business values focus on three main facets: People, Planet and Profit; B Corps can come from a wide range of industries, and each have their own nuances. As an architecture firm and B Corp, RFM has found ways to address every facet of being a B Corp but over the last three years, Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (JEDI) work has risen to the top.
After the murder of George Floyd, we along with many others, recognized a need for change within our society; workplace being a component of that society. The A&D industry is not known for being a diverse field and according to the AIA, 66% of architects identify as white/Caucasian while just 17% percent identify as belonging to an underrepresented racial or ethnic group. These statistics have remained consistent over the last 10 years. When we have a mostly homogenous design workforce, it limits the range of perspectives that imagine spaces for diverse populations. Those practicing architecture and interior design need more diversity of thought and expertise to successfully serve our diverse clients.
Our solution requires a multi-pronged approach. In a field that has not been welcoming to the world majority, it takes more than surface efforts to change. While RFM is no expert on JEDI work, below are some current efforts to tip the needle for us and the design profession.
Doing The Work
To start, our firm developed a JEDI committee in June of 2020 that has been working to hold ourselves and our industry accountable to enact much needed change. Additionally, we signed onto NOMA Northwest’s Call-To-Action, a multilevel initiative to hold architecture firms accountable to their JEDI work. Over the past three years through internal dialogue, external education and employee feedback, we explore ways in which we can help shift our slice of the design industry to be more inclusive and diverse.
1.) FIRM-WIDE SURVEY:
Before we could enact JEDI change externally, we needed to understand where we were internally. With the help of NOMA’s Call-to-Action requirements and our foundational B Corp commitments, our JEDI committee conducted firmwide surveys to grasp our JEDI understanding. We wanted to first understand ourselves and what work needed to happen internally before hoping to enact change to the profession as a whole. Taking the temperature of where our firm was at a moment in time laid the groundwork for our actions moving forward.
2.) DIVERSIFYING OUR TEAM:
Once we had a grasp on where we were as a firm, an effort that became clear was ensuring we have a diverse staff with diverse leadership. Along with informed hiring practices, an important component of developing diverse leadership is mentorship and our firm provides this to all our staff. We empower our emerging professionals to tailor their mentorship experience based on the skills they want to develop and identify which leaders within the firm can provide that mentorship.
Additionally, we provide our staff with clear pathways to leadership that are diverse in their very nature. We foster a culture of diversity that welcomes all voices to provide input, from our newest team member to our most seasoned.
3.) COLLABORATION WITH Women and Minority Business Enterprises (WMBE):
To provide a diverse team in the A&E industry it’s important not only to have a diverse staff but a diverse multi-disciplinary team as well. RFM has developed targeted outreach initiatives to WMBE partners. We seek out relationships with AEC firms with diverse teams so that our projects have diversity of thought and experience. Forming relationships with tribally-owned, minority-owned and women-owned businesses make our teams and therefore our work stronger.
4.) INVESTING IN THE PIPELINE:
According to AIA and NCARB, just 2.4% of licensed architects identify as black, 1% as indigenous native, 3.4% as Latiné and 7.4% as Asian. This is in stark contract of the reality of US population by race. When you have such inequity in who designers are, there will continue to be a world filled with inequities. A major component of reversing this inequity is through the career pipeline.
Diversify Architecture, a non-profit whose mission is as it sounds: “to diversify the field of architecture,” has categorized these barriers as “awareness of the profession, admittance into university programs, and follow through on licensure.” At RFM we are committed to supporting efforts being made to invite and support BIPOC youth into the architecture and design profession. We participate in and sponsor NOMA’s Project Pipeline, a summer camp for BIPOC youth that provides middle school students an opportunity to explore the profession of architecture.
Just the Beginning
While there is more work to be done within our own firm and the profession as a whole, these steps are helping move the needle in the right direction. As Washington State’s only Certified B Corp architectural practice, it’s critical that we manage our business in alignment with our company values and those of our B Corp certification. JEDI work is at the forefront, and we don’t plan to change that anytime soon.