​In 2020, in response to the death of George Floyd, many people at Hoffmann Architects + Engineers looked to coordinate what, up to that point, had been piecemeal efforts toward inclusion and equity. We had held training programs on gender and bias, conducted a company culture study, and prioritized recruitment of diverse team members, but we lacked a cohesive strategy and the kind of substantive firm-wide conversations needed to really shift the status quo. So, we launched a Diversity and Inclusion Committee, which immediately drew members from across the company, ranging from the president, who has been at the firm for over forty years, to new hires fresh out of school. With people from all three offices and a vast reserve of energy, we were ready to ask the hard questions and launch new initiatives.
     By the start of 2021, we had conducted a firm-wide survey on inclusion and belonging, using the results to guide action items. We set up an internal blog devoted to diversity, equity, and inclusion, with resources, a discussion board, an events calendar, opportunities for service and action, and more. We reached out to the Connecticut Architecture Foundation (CAF) to take steps toward establishing a scholarship for promising students of color in architecture and engineering. We launched a book and film club on topics related to diversity and inclusion. Recognizing we had much to learn, we reached out to a DEI consultant to craft workshops for staff and the leadership team on the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion as a business imperative. 
     One piece of advice the consultant gave us – one we’ve admittedly had trouble sticking to – was not to take on too much, too soon. “Baby steps,” he advised. Trying to go in all directions at once can lead to burnout and disengagement. So, we focused first on the programs most important to us: the scholarship and our employee student loan repayment benefit. Hoffmann contributed nearly $25,000 toward helping employees pay down student debt, which disproportionately impacts people of color. We continued to develop our scholarship program, the first at CAF to offer a paid internship. Our goal was to not only assist with paying for college, but also provide valuable real-world experience. Hoffmann contributed $25,000 to fund the scholarship, and individual employees contributed several thousand dollars more. In June, we finally saw the years of planning come to fruition, as our first recipient received her award. 
     While we developed these initiatives, our committee continued to pursue varied strategies for fostering greater inclusivity at the firm and in encouraging a diverse pipeline of talent in the industry. Several Hoffmann employees joined the ACE Mentor Program, devoting hours each week to educating high school students and serving as role models. We continued to host book and film club events and DEI workshops on topics ranging from transgender identity to the underrepresentation of women and people of color in architecture. Our team-building events incorporated more service-driven elements, such as Habitat for Humanity builds, clothing/food/school supply drives, food bank volunteer days, fundraisers for people with chronic illness and disabilities, and outreach at schools serving diverse populations. These efforts not only helped build connections among staff, but also strengthened our relationship with the places where we work. 
     This sounds like a lot, and we are proud of everything we’ve accomplished. Earlier this year, we were tremendously honored to be selected by the Construction Institute for the Special Industry Recognition Award for our efforts promoting diversity and equity. However, we still have much work to do. This year, we re-issued our inclusion and belonging survey, and we found that while we’ve made progress in building work-life balance and shared purpose among our staff, there is still room to grow. That’s the biggest takeaway we’ve had so far from our DEI work: that it’s critical to pause and reflect, to listen and be open to new ideas. As we look ahead to 2024, our Diversity and Inclusion Committee is already abuzz with plans to build more community in the workplace, redouble our outreach efforts at local technical schools, expand our volunteer opportunities, and offer more employee events and shared experiences. Our DEI consultant would probably warn us to slow down, take baby steps… but if we have one shortcoming, it’s an abundance of enthusiasm. We take on too much, perhaps, but the stakes are too high to slow down. 

I want to share with you a vision for the future of the industry and the role of the Construction
Institute.
Our industry was poised for change before the pandemic. Then the pandemic changed
everything.  Jobs stopped. Supply chains were interrupted. The price of critical materials soared.
Work protocols changed dramatically, in both the field and the office. Circumstances forced us
to change the way we work. Even people who were averse to technology began to use it in ways
they never imagined they would.

What the pandemic created was a sense of urgency for change. And the industry stepped up. 
You all stepped up.
The Institute HAS EXPERIENCED a year of re-creation, adaptation, and expansion. We
recreated ourselves as an independent 501(c)(3). We moved our offices to East Hartford. Our
certificate programs, already fully online before the pandemic, attracted students from across the
US - from Arizona to Wisconsin, to Hawaii. We taught leadership classes to 60 employees at a
large infrastructure construction company in Texas.  At the beginning of the pandemic, we
created a series of free online webinars as a service to our members. We created our own online
platform to deliver the AEC Leadership Conference and redesigned the Women Who Build
Summit to a series, creating our virtual Pathway to the next Summit. The virtual world enabled
us to get a glimpse into Intel's successful construction management systems and learn about
building on Mars by including Visionaries from Seattle and California. We've covered topics
from economic development in Fairfield County to managing teams in tough time to blockchain.
And we've had fun. We held a safe in-person golf event last October and a virtual wine-tasting in
January. The virtual networking platform for May’s Women Who Build session allowed
participants to relax and talk on a virtual beach. Our programs and webinars have engaged
attendees from across the country and around the world - the UK, Australia, Sweden, and Turkey
to name a few. We have gained members across the country. We have Board members from
other regions. We have continued to publish 2 educational articles each month, written by our
member companies and our editorial team and published by our media sponsors.

When I use the word "we", I include all of us - our strong Board and Executive Committee, our
advisors, our members who volunteer as organizers, as instructors, as program designers, as
writers. We could not have achieved this success without our collaborators - fellow organizations
in the industry, like the AIA, ABC, the Connecticut Concrete Promotion Council, The
Connecticut Green Building Council and the Construction Users Round Table, to name a few. If
I acknowledged those in this room who contributed, I would likely call on everyone. Every
activity we engage in promotes our members and their expertise while working to educate and to
move the industry forward.
You are leaders in your organizations and leaders in the industry and you represent every aspect
of the industry. I know what draws you to the Institute is its mission - to promote cross-industry
collaboration. The Construction Institute is 45 years old.  We all know that improved
collaboration translates not only into projects that improve cost-effectiveness and timeliness but
also produce better buildings - better schools and hospitals, better bridges. So, we have to ask
ourselves - why aren't we there yet? I think the best way to characterize the issues the plague the industry is bad habits.
​What the pandemic showed us is how quickly the industry can adapt. What we need to do is to
capture that sense of urgency, that need for change, and that eliminating waste and disputes, will
allow us to build more, to build better, build sustainably and to have a richer experience. This is
the year to move the needle forward, while companies are still in the "change" mindset, while
they need to improve processes to survive, and before increased workflows allow them to fall
back into familiar bad habits. I invite you to take the time to get involved with our projects and
help us map the path forward!