This article was originally published in the 2024 issue of the Wisconsin Architect Magazine
By Tracie Parent, CFO/COO, Executive Vice President, Kahler Slater DEI Committee Executive Sponsor, and Elizabeth Crowley, Director of Marketing, Senior Strategist, Kahler Slater DEI Committee Co-Chair
At Kahler Slater, we have long held the values of openness, trusting relationships, and respectful collaboration. Our goal is to have every member of our team bring their passion, creativity, and unique voice so we can continue to grow and achieve our mission to enrich life and achieve powerful results.
We were not far into the pandemic when multiple high-profile homicides put the conversation about systemic racism centerstage. Between May 25 and November 18, 2020, protests occurred in more than 4,000 cities worldwide including in all US states, territories and Washington, D.C. We all felt it, and we knew this was a defining moment in the history of our country and our firm.
During this same time, there were many changes taking place at Kahler Slater as we adapted to the world around us and focused on strategic growth. We asked questions and listened. We heard many examples of how important diversity and inclusion were - and how it was important for Kahler Slater to be aligned with and support those feelings. We understood that becoming inclusive must be an evergreen initiative at the forefront of our plans and formally added “Diversity” to our core values.
During late 2020 and early 2021, Kahler Slater crafted our DEI vision and plan together. In addition, we formed our Core DEI Team to champion the efforts to ensure we embraced DEI into our culture.
Our vision is to make impactful changes by thinking and acting with the intention of inclusivity in all we do. This means we actively work to create a workplace where diversity, equity, and inclusion are evident and multifaceted. Kahler Slater identified what this means to us:
- Creating a space where we share our unique perspectives with openness.
- Celebrating our differences because we believe they are our strengths.
- Having the courage to not know, to ask questions, and to seek answers together.
In doing this work, we established a DEI Committee and together co-created an action plan to lead us to our vision. Beyond open communication, we focus on education, processes, design, and technology to identify where there are barriers to inclusion and equity, and work to remove them. Kahler Slater has undertaken several tangible DEI initiatives over the past 4 years, including:
- Participating in the Wisco NOMA survey on an annual basis to help inform/assess progress.
- Including Martin Luther King Jr birthday as a paid holiday
- Supporting NOMA’s Project Pipeline program in all of our office locations (Wisconsin, Illinois, Virginia)
- Hosted AIA Wisconsin’s Architect Mentor Program (AMP) DEI session; 2022 thru 2024
- Providing formal DEI training opportunities to support and enhance effectiveness, leadership development, and communication across the firm.
- Monthly internal discussions and newsletters to share perspectives and ideas to encourage empathy and understanding.
We are proud of what we have accomplished in taking a proactive approach to DEI. We also recognize that like many design firms, we have an opportunity to improve each day in our journey in creating an equitable world.
Click here to learn more about our commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.