Impact Timeline | 2017-2025

January

Grace Farms Announces Partner Status with Alliance 8.7

Grace Farms has been accepted as a partner with Alliance 8.7, a global partnership that is taking immediate and effective measures to eradicate forced labor in accordance with UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Target 8.7. Target 8.7 calls for “immediate and effective measures to eradicate forced labor, end modern slavery and human trafficking and secure the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labor.” This strategic alignment reinforces Grace Farms’ commitment to advancing human rights and ethical business practices worldwide.

March

Design for Freedom Summit Welcomes Global Leaders for Fourth Annual Summit

December

The UN Global Compact is a voluntary initiative that provides a robust framework for organizations that want to take responsibility for implementing universal sustainability principles on human rights, labor, environment, and anti-corruption work. Grace Farms’ Design for Freedom joins over 25,000 participants from 167 countries, all of whom have made a commitment to work on the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The goals range from ending poverty to achieving decent work and economic growth to addressing climate change.

August

The renovation of the Bigfork Library in Montana’s Flathead Valley was chosen as a Design for Freedom Pilot Project to show the industry that with dedication and stakeholder buy-in, responsible sourcing is possible on a modest budget. The project focused on interiors, which is a natural entry point to integrate Design for Freedom principles into design and construction. Further, the committed project team, led by Cushing Terrell, prioritized ethical supply chains throughout the length of the project.

“The Bigfork Library exemplifies how equitable choices can create a significant difference, even with a small budget and in a rural community,” said Jessica Murray, Interior Designer, Cushing Terrell.

Cushing Terrell is a near century old, 450–person architectural–engineering firm based in Billings, Montana that was responsible for the architecture, civil, electrical, mechanical, structural, landscape, lighting, and interior design on the Bigfork Library.

Design for Freedom worked with the interior design team across its multiple U.S.–based offices to realize the project.

The project was a full renovation of an existing 6,000 sq. ft. church hall. Grace Farms worked with the project team to trace eight materials including carpet, laminate flooring, door hardware, gypsum wallboard, lighting, paint, solid surface countertops, and furniture.

March

The 3rd annual Design for Freedom Summit is a momentous day of action and awareness, featuring leading experts across sectors who are working to eradicate forced and child labor from the built environment.

Since holding the first annual summit in 2021, Grace Farms has welcomed more than 800 attendees representing industry professionals and university students united in the fight against forced labor in the building materials supply chain.

Turner Construction Company, Grace Farms Foundation, and the U.S. State Department Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations hosted a Design for Freedom Ethical Supply Chain Workshop to discuss and promote human rights in the construction industry.

The workshop brought together industry experts from the public and private sectors to discuss important topics including increasing transparency in the supply chain, the impact of building material choices on the climate, and financial considerations for building and maintaining responsible supply chains.

On Thursday, March 30, Design for Freedom by Grace Farms held its second annual Design for Freedom Summit, which brought together more than 500 leaders of the built environment, including more than 50 students from 21 universities, for a day of action and awareness. Uniting with the shared goal to accelerate the movement to eliminate forced labor from the building materials supply chain, attendees joined panel discussions and breakout sessions focused on creating change in the building industry and were welcomed with music by Marcus G. Miller and The Hummingbirds.

Additional pilot projects are announced:

– The Grain Market, Jodhpur, India, currently in design, is a special collaboration with Design for Freedom. Diana Kellogg, founder of her award-winning firm, is working with JDH Urban Regeneration Project, which is restoring the historic walled city of Jodhpur.

– Unshattered’s Project Possibilities, Wappingers Falls, NY, will provide new spaces to support Unshattered’s community. Unshattered is a non-profit social enterprise which paves the road between recovery and long-term sobriety by creating opportunities for women overcoming addiction and trauma to develop economic independence. The building will be designed by MASS.

– A new building project designed by Page will incorporate the Design for Freedom process and is the recipient of the firm’s 2022 Blue Oceans Grant, an internal competition. The three projects being considered are a federal building, a mixed-use development project, and a hospital.

Shadow of a Face, by artist and architect Nina Cooke John, opens in Newark, NJ. The monument to Harriet Tubman is a Design for Freedom Pilot Project.

The New Canaan Library, our first Design for Freedom building Pilot Project, opens. Turner Construction worked with the Design for Freedom team to place nearly two dozen materials used in the construction.

The 21st Serpentine Pavilion, designed by Theaster Gates, with architectural support by David Adjaye and Associates, opens in London. The Pavilion is the first completed international Design for Freedom Pilot Project.

May

First Landscapes Forum Held at Grace Farms

Design for Freedom and Earth Equity convene the first ever Landscapes Forum. This full-day event featuring panels, tours, guided walks, lunch and breakout discussions with tools to create biodiversity positive, nature-based solutions in our landscapes, installed with sustainable materials free of forced labor.

March

First Design for Freedom Summit Held at Grace Farms

Grace Farms convenes the first-ever Design for Freedom Summit to bring together a committed community of leaders from the ecosystem of the built environment to remove forced labor from the global materials supply chain. Featuring keynotes by Prince Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein and Sharon Prince, the Summit raises awareness and creates institutional responses by exploring corporate ethical responsibility and the government policies that impact forced labor in the global building materials supply chain and innovative approaches to addressing this issue.

Five Design for Freedom Pilot Projects are announced in the U.S., U.K., and India, including the 21st Serpentine Pavilion in London, a new center for arts and culture with Serendipity Arts in New Delhi, India, the Harriet Tubman Monument in Newark, NJ, the New Canaan Library in CT, and Alyson Shotz’s Temporal Shift which was on view at Grace Farms. Each of these projects is open and accessible to the public.

The Movement Accelerates

The Design for Freedom movement continues to accelerate. In London, Sharon Prince presents Design for Freedom at Arup, a world leader in the design industry. More than 100 people from Arup and other companies joins the meeting, which focuses on ethical and sustainable practices in materials selection within supply chains. This new Design for Freedom Working Group initiative is a new outcome of our work.

To continue to raise awareness internationally, Design for Freedom holds Ethical Action meetings in New Delhi (India) and in London, convening members of the community around the Design for Freedom movement. Sharon Prince presents to hundreds at Theaster Gates’ Black Chapel in London, as well as in New Delhi.

Sharon Prince (virtually) attends the UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP27) held in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, with Anna Dyson, a member of Grace Farms’ Design for Freedom Working Group and the Hines Professor of Architecture at the Yale Schools of Architecture and Environment. On November 11, they participate on a panel discussion on the potential of the buildings and building materials for a climate neutral world.

The Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction (GlobalABC), a leading global platform for governments, the private sector, civil society, and intergovernmental and international organizations, release highlights from its flagship materials report during COP27. Both Dyson and Prince are Advisors on GlobalABC’s Advisory Group that is comprised of more than 250 leaders from 37 countries. The organization’s goal is to increase action towards a zero-emission, efficient and resilient buildings and construction sector.

Sharon Prince participates and presents in two Turner Construction Company Summits. Turner, a member of the Design for Freedom Working Group, has long been recognized as a leader in the delivery of green building projects that achieve environmental sustainability goals across multiple rating systems. These presentations to industry leaders expands Design for Freedom’s reach.

Design for Freedom is represented at Greenbuild International Conference + Expo, in San Francisco, which brings together global AEC leaders to reimagine what is means to build green and advance sustainable solutions.

Welcomed Grace Farms’ first-ever Sustainable Materials Director Nora Rizzo, one of the first Ambassadors in the world to be accredited by the International Living Future Institute.

In October, we began hosting a Design for Freedom & Sustainable Materials Tour of the River building led by Nora Rizzo.

Grace Farms worked with City Bench to design ethically produced trophies made from felled urban trees as the Trophy Sponsor for this year’s Connecticut Green Building Council awards.

Design for Freedom

The Design for Freedom Face Mask, designed by Design for Freedom Working Group Members Shohei Yoshida and Peter Miller, was longlisted in the wearable design category of the Dezeen Awards 2021.

Sharon Prince and Working Group members present to a range of industry professionals and organizations locally and nationally: including the Construction Specifier Institute, the Northeast Summit for a Sustainable Built Environment, and the Center for Innovation in Design and Construction.

We also presented at conferences nationwide such as the American Institute of Architects A’21 Conference and USGBC’s Greenbuild.

Sharon Prince and the Design for Freedom movement was featured in publications including Forbes, Fast Company, The Architect’s Newspaper, Metropolis, Brick & Wonder, Common Edge, Madame Architect, and the US Modernist podcast.

Partnerships with major colleges and universities continue with presentations to Cornell University, the University of Pennsylvania, the Illinois Institute for Technology, Yale University and the University of Michigan.

Common Good Through Crisis Exhibit Opens at Grace Farms

A fall exhibition created by Design for Freedom Working Group members at MASS Design Group and Pentagram, spotlights the stories behind Grace Farms’ humanitarian impact during the COVID-19 pandemic. Responding to the soaring need for PPE and food, hundred of thousands of wholesome meals were donated to communities and the Foundation sourced and donated 2.1 million PPE to frontline workers closing a state-wide gap, with the help of local and global partners. Our CEO and Founder also partnered with artist Carrie Mae Weems on her national artist-driven public awareness campaign to respond to the urgent need for PPE in Native communities

Grace Farms Reopens

Grace Farms reopens in September with Temporal Shift, a sculpture by artist Alyson Shotz, as part of the Arts Initiative’s interdisciplinary study of time. Forced labor-free steel and concrete were used in this project, providing an opportunity to explore the complexity of material sourcing.

Created new daily programming for visitors at Grace Farms to educate the public about Design for Freedom and the ongoing humanitarian work of the Foundation.

Partnerships with Colleges and Universities Continue

with presentations to Cornell University and the University of Pennsylvania.

Sharon Prince and Working Group Member Presentations to a range of industry professionals and organizations locally and nationally

Sharon Prince and Working Group members present to a range of industry professionals and organizations, locally and nationally, including the Construction Specifier Institute, the Northeast Summit for a Sustainable Built Environment and the Center for Innovation in Design and Construction.

Awareness Campaign Begins

“Once You Know” campaign begins, a 12-month Design for Freedom digital campaign to spread awareness.

designforfreedom.org is launched to formalize the movement, designed pro bono by GoodFolk.

Collaboration Leads to Face Mask

Ethically-produced face masks are designed pro bono by Grace Farms project architects Shohei Yoshida and Peter Miller. Herman Miller retails the masks with proceeds supporting the Design for Freedom movement through Design Within Reach.

First Full-Semester Class and Visiting Lecture Series

Design for Freedom Working Group members who are als faculty initiate a class at Yale School of Architecture and visiting lecture series at Cooper Union, Pratt Institute, Parsons, and more.

Working Group Inspires Their Firms

• Design for Freedom Working Group meetings formalize action groups, and members begin to propose changes in their own firms and a means to build awareness.
• SHoP hosts a working group meeting in January
• Executive presentation at COOKFOX Architects

Media Recognition of the issue and the leaders addressing it are shortly followed by first-of-its-kind presentations and events:

01/08

• International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering Congress (IABSE)
• Top1000Funds Fiduciary Investors Symposium
• Urban Thinkers Campus, an initiative of the UN-Habitat’s World Urban Campaign
• Grace Farms, first U.S. public program discussing forced labor in building materials supply chains

Generating Awareness with Next Generation of Influencers

01/08

Design for Freedom Working Group members that are also faculty and administrators from leading undergraduate and graduate programs are an integral part of the solution. We are seeing universities working to incorporate anti-slavery education into the curriculum and hope to drive the research agenda for the coming years.

Recognizing that lasting change will be driven by generations to come, Sharon Prince and members of the Working Group have organized a series of symposia, lectures, and classes at prominent architecture schools, colleges, and universities. Since 2019 and continuing over the course of the next year, members of the Working Group will speak with students at Cooper Union, IE (Madrid), Illinois Institute of Technology, Parsons, Pratt Institute, Princeton, and Yale.

Expanding Awareness Locally and Globally

01/08

The Design for Freedom Working Group is announced in The Architect’s Newspaper, Architectural Record, and other industry media.

New York AIA and Center for Architecture leadership raise the building materials supply chain flag, making space for Working Group meetings and spotlight for 1,000 members.

Notable meetings are held at the AIA New York Center for Architecture as well as hosted by Silman. Grace Farms continues to serve as a meeting place for the working group.