Every year at Grace Farms, hundreds of leaders of the built environment convene to reaffirm their commitments to the Design for Freedom movement and stand together to issue a call to action. Learn more about the new outcomes achieved by summits and events throughout the year.
Summits & Workshops
Now is the time for action and true market transformation to design and build more humanely
Save The Date: 2026 Design for Freedom Summit
Thursday, March 26, 2026 | Grace Farms in New Canaan, CT
Our annual Design for Freedom Summit brings together leading experts across key sectors who are working to create a more humane future. Since holding our first Summit in 2021, we have welcomed 2,000+ attendees united in the fight against forced labor in the building materials supply chain.
Save the date for next year’s summit! Registration coming soon.
For updates on registration for the 2026 Design for Freedom Summit and other events, subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram.
2025 Design for Freedom Summit
Thursday, March 27 | Grace Farms in New Canaan, CT
On March 27, 2025, over 550 leaders from the built environment and more than 75 students gathered for the sold-out fourth annual Design for Freedom Summit to advance the movement, foster collaboration, and drive meaningful change.
The day opened with live jazz by Grace Farms Music Director Marcus G. Miller & The Hummingbirds, followed by an inspiring welcome address from Grace Farms CEO and Founder, Sharon Prince. A powerful conversation between Grace Forrest, Founding Director of Walk Free, and Amar Lal, a child rights lawyer with lived experience in debt bondage in stone quarries, underscored the urgency of eliminating forced labor from our supply chains.
Adam Thatcher, CEO and Co-Founder of Grace Farms Tea & Coffee, a Certified B Corp, shared how ethical sourcing can drive positive change. He highlighted the impact of our ethically and sustainably sourced teas and coffees, which support the Design for Freedom movement.
Throughout the Summit, plenary panels explored critical topics, including supply chain accountability, generational forest stewardship in Haida Gwaii, and expanding the movement internationally. Breakout sessions examined ethical decarbonization with mass timber, the University of Virginia’s Karsh Institute of Democracy (an in-process pilot project), the role of investors, social entrepreneurship, and insights from the designers behind With Every Fiber.
The Summit closed with a moving presentation from Hugh Evans, Co-Founder & CEO of Global Citizen, highlighting the power of collective action to create a more just and equitable world.
2024 Design for Freedom Summit
Tuesday, March 26 | Grace Farms in New Canaan, CT
Over 550 attendees, including leaders from the built environment and over 75 students from 30 universities, joined us for the third annual Design for Freedom Summit to reaffirm a commitment to the movement while fostering connections, sharing ideas, and working together towards a common goal.
We were thrilled to announce five new pilot projects (for a total of 12 globally), four completed pilot project case studies, as well as the highly-anticipated opening of With Every Fiber, a new Design for Freedom exhibit coming to Grace Farms on May 4.
Humanitarian photographer and founder of Human Thread Foundation Lisa Kristine and author, founder of Empowerment Collective and modern slavery survivor Nasreen Sheikh each shared their perspectives from the forefront of the movement to eradicate modern slavery.
Let’s stand together to advance a more humane future by eliminating forced and child labor from the built environment.
Forbes | Design For Freedom Summit Shares Strategies For Removing Modern-Day Slavery From Building And Construction Supply Chain
Architectural Record | Design for Freedom Hosts Third Iteration of Annual Summit at Grace Farms
The Architect’s Newspaper | How can forced labor be eliminated from the global construction sector? Design for Freedom holds its third annual summit.
Ethical Supply Chain Workshop
Tuesday, November 14 | Grace Farms in New Canaan, CT
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.
2023 Design for Freedom Summit
Thursday, March 30 | Grace Farms in New Canaan, CT
Building on the momentum of our first Summit, Grace Farms welcomed more than 500 leaders of the built environment, and more than 50 students from 21 leading universities. We announced of a new slate of Pilot Projects and partnerships around the world, including ones with Diana Kellogg Architects and MASS Design, two members of our Design for Freedom Working Group who are collectively working to design and build humanely.
2022 Design for Freedom Summit
Thursday, March 31, 2022 | Grace Farms in New Canaan, CT
“All good revolutions begin like this,” said Prince Zeid Ra’ad al Hussein, President and CEO of the International Peace Institute, during his keynote at the inaugural Design for Freedom Summit. This first-ever summit brought together 300 leaders from the ecosystem of the built environment for in-depth discussions, stimulating round tables, and presentations that explored solutions to remove forced labor from the global materials supply chain.
About Grace Farms Foundation
Supporting initiatives in the areas of nature, arts, justice, community, and faith, The Grace Farms Foundation carries out its work through the 80-acre property owned and operated by the Foundation. Grace Farms was established as an essential platform for the Foundation, serving as a welcoming place where individuals, not-for-profit organizations, and government entities come together to collaborate for the common good.