Commitment to a Just Society:

As citizens and practicing architects, we are compelled to respond to the pervasive racism in our society that justifies this moment of upheaval in our country. We hear the pain and outrage of our Black and Brown colleagues and stand in solidarity with them.  We commit ourselves, within our practice and within our communities, to affect the necessary change to create a just society that, consistent with our professional duty, upholds the rights and dignity of Black and Brown people.  We pledge to listen and learn, to be effective allies, to amplify Black and Brown voices and to take the following actions:

We will redouble our efforts for equity, diversity and inclusion within MBB and our profession through mentorship, outreach, recruitment and promotion to increase the number of Black and Brown architects at all levels of the profession, and particularly in MBB’s leadership.

We will broaden our current financial support of institutions by giving to architecture and design programs at Historically Black Colleges and Universities and to organizations working toward immediate social justice, particularly those with Black and Brown leadership.

We will shift our practice to better serve communities of color through the commissions we pursue, and the pro bono work we engage in. This includes fostering deliberate design processes that celebrate community members as experts in determining their community’s future built environment.

We will increase our civic engagement by actively working for political change that prioritizes investment in buildings and services that benefit Black and Brown communities.

We will support our staff’s choices to engage their communities whether through voting, peaceful protest or involvement in civic organizations working for change.

We will provide racial bias training to our team in order to work toward a fully equitable office and contribute to a fully equitable built environment.

This is a pivotal and defining moment for our society and we recognize that making this pledge is step one.  We will hold ourselves accountable through regularly re-evaluating our progress on these initiatives. Our goal is to create a just profession, a just built environment and a just society.