We all have moments when we awaken. Mine was the murder of George Floyd (2020). 30 years after Rodney king (1991), Timothy Thomas (1997), Ahmaud Arbery, Briana Taylor, etc. The list is too long. We are not a civilized society. I saw diversity as pathway to a more civil society. I’m of the dominant culture (white, middle-class, male). I questioned how we understand ourselves and our relationship to others if we only surround ourselves with ourselves? Hub + Weber seeks diversity in our office and in our dialogue because it raises the value of the conversations of our lives, our communities, and our work.
Before we get into the why of JEDI let’s define it.
The Guides for Equitable Practice, created in a partnership between the University of Washington, the University of Minnesota, and The American Institute of Architects’ Equity and the Future of Architecture Committee (EQFA), are a part of AIA’s long-term effort to ensure the profession of architecture is as diverse as the nation it serves. It defines JEDI as follows:
Justice is Assurance of fair treatment, Equal economic, political, and social rights, Active removal of barriers to create equitable access to opportunities and outcomes for all, Accountability/ repairing past wrongs, challenging structural inequities supported by built environment.
Equity means acknowledging that many aspects of our society are built on an uneven playing field and recognizing the inherent power differentials that have resulted in disparate treatment based on identity. Why not equality? ...equity is necessary to replace our current imperfect frameworks, and equality is an ideal condition, not yet achieved, that drives our goals and efforts."
Diversity means that there is a mix of kinds of people present, these people are often categorized by "identity markers" like gender, age, race, religion, etc. Diversity extends beyond race to include gender, sexuality, neurology, education, class, language, politics, upbringing, technology, age, personality. It is not inherently positive or negative. While it is likely that a group of people with the same identity markers will be limited in their perspectives, they can bring to finding creative solutions and how well they can work with and serve others outside their group, diversity alone will not solve this issue.
Inclusion means creating an environment in which everyone is welcomed, respected, supported, and valued. Inclusion can be tricky- people who are different from the 'norm' may minimize these differences and try to assimilate into the workplace culture, and by doing so lose the potential value of these differences.
STATISTICS
The Port’s Vice President of Economic Equity, Jilson Daniels, shared a report from New York Times Journalist Colette Coleman published in March 2023 citing a staggering statistic: out of 112,000 real estate companies in the U.S., 111,000 of them are white-owned. Of 383 top-tier developers generating fifty million in annual revenue, one is Latino, and none are Black.
In 2022 the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Reported on the gender and racial makeup of the profession which showed architects are significantly white and male.
The National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB), a nonprofit that helps establish state guidelines for exams and licensure, reported that as of 2022 there were 121,603 licensed architects working in the U.S. and only 2% — 2,492 — are Black. Of those, only 566 are Black women. That's under one half of one percent. Over 50 percent of all candidates who took an Architecture Registration Exams in 2019 were white and male. Of the remaining candidates, 15 percent were Asian, 13 percent were Latino, 4 percent were African American, and less than one percent were Native American or Pacific Islander. In addition, genders were represented nearly equally, with men making up a slight majority of active testers in 2019 at 51 percent. While almost half of ARE candidates were in the 30-39 age group, candidates aged 18-29 and 40-54 made up 32 and 19 percent of 2019 test takers, respectively. Only 3 percent of active testers were 55 or older. NCARB, which has been tracking demographic changes for years, reports that the number of Black architects who have passed the Architect Registration Examination, ARE, has remained between 2% and 3% since 2010. The demographics haven’t changed much since 1968 (56 years ago), Whitney M. Young, Jr., who was executive director of the National Urban League at the time, addressed the absence of racial diversity in its ranks at the National AIA Conference. While we’ve been talking about the issue for a number of years, we haven’t made a lot of progress in addressing it.
NCARB Baseline on Belonging Report studied the current barriers to the profession (and at every check point) that included stuff as simple as considering English may not be a first language, making education, exams, and licensure difficult. Understanding ongoing incidents of violence toward people of color, and many other economic, social, and political challenges have impacted the larger landscape that candidates must navigate as they pursue their personal and career goals. Many people that consider a career in architecture leave due to lack of support and mentorship in academic and professional environments. Financially, with average tuition costs from an accredited institution are between 30 and 40,000 per year for 5-to-6-year programs, architecture simply isn’t attainable for many.
VALUE
The AIA Guide to Equitable Practice established the case for JEDI.
· The Moral Case
· The Business Case. Powerful driver for firm leaders. Diversity is becoming more prevalent inside and outside the workplace. Competitive advantage for marketing and quality of service. Proven economic growth related to increased effectiveness, performance and innovation. Research has shown that well managed diverse teams outperform well managed homogeneous or poorly managed diverse teams.
· Ethical Case. Presumes that most people value fairness and justice. Everyone should have the opportunity to enter and work in the profession. The profession should serve society fairly. Employees who value fairness will care about their company’s commitment.
· Professional Case. The belief that we should and can make our profession better through diversity, equity and inclusion. Inclusive policies will result in a more diverse pool of talent and support more creativity. Clarify the perception and value of the profession. Spur economic growth.
· Client Demand. More and more, clients have been asking for data on firm demographics and efforts made towards increasing diversity.
· Societal – can’t design equitable in and inequitable practice. Architects have a responsibility for making a positive impact on society. Equitable and inclusive community engagement builds trust between designers and community members, sustains communities, undoes past damage, and helps create functional, affordable, safe spaces. Emerging metrics link design with equity, health, and resilience, offering new ways to establish the value of architecture. Diversity increases cultural competency.
Aside from just being the right thing to do, countless/vast research studies show that diversity enhances staff well-being which translates into higher productivity and profits. Research also shows stronger client relationships. We had the privilege of a staff person from Ecuador working for us. Having a native Spanish speaker on staff benefited us in many ways. We have clients and contractors whose first language is Spanish. Being able to communicate in their native language made them more comfortable in our interactions, but also reduced misunderstandings that may have been caused by language. We were also able to host a dialogue with the Latin community about pathways to the profession. In our highest attended event, we hosted well over 75 people. The presentation from 6 registered Architects in the Cincinnati area was given completely in Spanish.
TO DO - A CALL TO ACTION - A MANIFESTO
I spoke of empathy in the introduction, but empathy is not enough. Empathy can still come from the perspective of Power. It is still centered on oneself. For meaningful change to occur (in architecture and any professional or personal environment) we must:
· We must acknowledge the structures that uphold inequality.
· We must make ourselves vulnerable.
· We must learn together.
· We must share Power.
· We must be comfortable with the uncomfortable change.
· We must craft a new design language. One that values approach over solution, people over users, audience over target, co-creators over beneficiaries, historically under invested over vulnerable, marginalized, minority, poor, oppressed or disadvantaged, quality over quantity.
· We must embrace both/and over either or in our design thinking.
· “The white masculine geriatric hands of Architecture”) must acknowledge its complicity.
· We must acknowledge and speak to our biases. (But first we need to identify them).
· We need to re-evaluate the role of Architect as “form giver” as it reinforces authoritarian role, producing architecture that is subjectively preferred by the dominant culture.
· We must acknowledge that our academic training and professional execution of architecture is from a Euro-centric perspective.
· We must not allow Architecture to be a tool of oppression.
· We must acknowledge the systemic racism inherent in property development, zoning and financing that has controlled access for the history of our country.
· We can’t be performative in our approach. We must be authentic.
WHAT WE’RE DOING
There are some basic levels of JEDI engagement:
· Financial – it’s easy to write a check. This should be a minimum for everyone.
· Support and elevate under-represented cultures in our professions. Develop skill sets, promote, pay equitably, etc. Provide opportunities to expand leadership and capacity of others.
· Mentor – seek out those who may need the support of your perspective in academia and within the profession. Foster personal and communal evolution.
· Challenge professional organizations (like the AIA and NCARB) to go beyond acknowledging the problem and devoting staff and funding to solve it. Make equity as important as climate. Because it is (at least).
Things Hub + Weber is doing specifically:
· Checking our affinity bias. Looking for staff that add value and breadth to our culture instead of just fitting in. This requires us to create an atmosphere of trust and psychological safety that allows people to be their true selves and not have to adapt to fit in.
· Choosing a language of optimism and hope. Language such as “Walnut Hills is coming back” and “no one used to live in OTR” erases people and communities.
· Supporting NOMA through President’s Circle membership and supporting the local chapter.
· Leading and engaging AIA Cincinnati through its JEDI Committee.
· Offering pro bono services to underserved communities that don’t have ready access to design services.
· Hosting presentations about how to become an architect to communities that may not know or see that as a career path.
· Financially supporting local organizations such as Apocalyptic Gardens in Louisville, Brick Gardens in Cincinnati, PAR Projects in Northside, CAMP program at UC, Esperanza Latin Center in Covington.
· Supporting CAMP at DAAP/UC both financially and in mentorship.
· Dedicating a day a year to check in with our diversity goals and actions.
· Endeavoring to make our staff more diverse by reaching out to BIPOC communities, businesses and HBCU’s for coop positions.
· Supporting AIA 10 points of Challenge for Diversity (AIA LA)
· Be purposely inclusive in our events – reaching out to diverse communities.
· Providing financial support for study materials, time and exams.
· Supporting our staff’s professional development outside of the office.
CONCLUSION
Change is needed. Change comes from disruption of the circular socialization process that reinforces the norm. Raising consciousness, interrupting, challenging, educating, questioning, re-framing. We need the imaginations of a diverse profession to create new and equitable communities. I have a certain amount of power as a white, middle class male owner of an architecture firm. Power is the ability to decide who has access to resources. I’ll go a bit further and say those in my position have an obligation. Organizational and structural power must be leveraged to create equity.
In a presentation on Race, W. Kamau Bell challenged the audience – “What do you see that you want to do? You’re going to do it wrong. Be OK with that. But be authentic. Do something.” He suggested connecting your inward and outward life. Protest conditions but also evaluate what you’re doing. Identify how you’re going to improve. Do the work. Show the work. Don’t just state it. I hope people reading this will say “we do that and more”. I hope they bring that experience to a broader conversation about what we’re doing, collectively in the profession and beyond.
Our efforts at Hub+Weber are not over. And we won’t get it right. But we’ll try. We’ll continue conversations. There is no end. Every day we get to choose our path. Do we maintain the status quo or interrupt it?
Join us. Manifest the future. Imagine and design an equitable future into existence.
Written by our resident old white guy: Jim Guthrie