2022 Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Report: Intentionality That Drives Results
Photo Credit: Obama Foundation
Chicago is one of America’s most diverse cities. It’s also home to a booming construction scene. Yet, for far too long, the makeup of the construction industry has not reflected our city’s diverse communities.
When Lakeside Alliance was awarded the Obama Presidential Center project, we made a commitment to ensure that its construction would have a lasting impact on the community and its residents that extends far beyond the center itself. For us, that centers around creating unprecedented diverse business participation and a sustained, diverse pipeline of talent in the building trades.
Change doesn’t happen overnight, but as a result of intentionality and determination. That’s why Lakeside Alliance is proud to share our 2022 Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Report documenting our changemaking efforts. There is a long way to go before the center opens, but the report shows important progress in meeting our ambitious DEI goals set in partnership with the Obama Foundation.
As outlined in the report, $196 million of the total contracts awarded will be performed by diverse businesses, representing 55% of contracts and exceeding our goal of 50%. Of the $357 million in contracts procured, 10% will be performed by contractors from the community. 37% of our workforce is comprised of residents from the South and West sides, while 14% are from the local neighborhoods. 40% of the workforce hours have been performed by African Americans, and a total of 66% of workforce hours have been performed by African Americans, Asians, Hispanics, and Native Americans.
“I still remember what President Obama said in his farewell address to the nation when he asked Americans not to believe in his ability to bring about change, but to believe in our own,” said Kelly Powers Baria, Project Management and DEI Co-Lead. “The Lakeside Alliance team has taken that to heart. We focus on our own ability to bring about change in our industry.”
Lakeside Alliance has gone about this in various ways. We partner with the We Can Build It Consortium to diversify the talent pipeline, and we also work with numerous assist agencies and community organizations to ensure disadvantaged businesses can participate in this historic project. To date, we have held more than 300 one-on-one meetings with business owners to better match them to opportunities and organized more than 45 contractor outreach events. We launched the Learning with Lakeside Alliance initiative to directly engage students in the project, host hands-on workshops and demonstrate the breadth of opportunity in the industry. We opened a resource center at 1514 E. 63rd St., where residents can drop in and learn about construction careers, business and job opportunities, or attend special events. The Resource Center is in the community, for the community.
“I’ve been in the industry for 27 years, and I could not be more proud of the work we’ve done on this project,” said Pamyla Brown, who leads diversity and inclusion for Lakeside Alliance. “We are breaking barriers every single day and using our voice to lift up the individuals who are doing this work. I am extremely proud of our team and all of the work it took to get here.”
Just as change doesn’t happen overnight, it also doesn’t happen without teamwork and collaboration. Lakeside Alliance is grateful to each one of our partners — the Obama Foundation, the We Can Build It Consortium, union partners, assist agencies and beyond — whose contributions are helping propel this work forward, one step at a time.