Equity Statement

Commitment

We design our dynamic programming and internal operations to welcome and celebrate the perspectives and lived experiences of all individuals. We recognize that our historic legacy in the state of Oregon, and the city of Portland, has oftentimes perpetuated the inequities that continue to exist in the built environment. In an effort to recognize our role in these inequities and work to truly fulfill our mission of inclusion for all Oregonians, we commit to the following.

In our programming, we commit to:

• Remove systemic barriers to participation in AEC professions for people from diverse backgrounds
• Raise awareness within those professions about the need to elevate the voices of those who have been historically under-represented
• Work in partnership with other nonprofit, corporate, and government organizations to align our community-building work with that being done in other sectors

In our internal policies and operations, we commit to:

• Ensure that our staff, board, and volunteer base are representative of our community
• Continuously evaluate our policies and operations with the most recent equitable practices and tools to ensure that the organizational systems are equitable

Background

AFO was founded in 1983, by a group of Oregonians who believed that if more people recognized the importance of architecture and design in their lives, it would improve the quality of life for everyone in our state. Over the years, we’ve pursued this aim, and the AFO community has come to understand that if we want our state to be a place where everyone can thrive (and not just those in the majority), the inclusion of more diverse experiences is needed to inform the architecture and design conversations taking place.

AFO has worked toward mission fulfillment through our programs and initiatives centered on education, inspiration, and engagement. Specific programs include Architects in Schools (AiS), the Oregon Student Opportunities Hub, multiple Scholarships and Fellowships, the Formation Mentorship program, and our Inspired event series for professionals in the AEC (architecture, engineering, and construction) industry and beyond.

In 2024, AFO embarked on a new three-year strategic plan with the assistance of strategic consultant Stephanie Gioia of Future Work Design. In addition to our previous strategic plan expiring, the impetus for entering this process was the extraordinary change in the AEC, nonprofit, and Oregon landscape post-pandemic. AFO understands that the needs of the community are changing and that we must listen extensively to guide our work to meet those needs.

To design our strategic direction, we conducted listening sessions with our audiences, including AFO members and non-members, emerging to late-stage AEC career professionals, educators, students, and community members throughout the state. Listening included one-on-one meetings, group discussions, surveys, and workshops. We aggregated our learnings and worked with our Board to identify six key strategic goals:

• Focused Advocacy: Convene conversations where our built environment intersects with timely local issues. Amplify efforts of values-aligned advocacy organizations.
• Sustained and Equitable Fundraising: Diversify funding streams by pursuing sustained and mission-aligned sources using Community-Centric Fundraising principles.
• Statewide Involvement: Explore engagement strategies that increase our volunteer base statewide, which is foundational to program accessibility and impact.
• Strong and Sustainable Architects in Schools: Continue to deepen and scale our flagship AiS programming as volunteer base grows.
• From Sparks to Pathways: Build partnerships to support closing gaps in the design education continuum from kindergarten to post-secondary.
• Realign Professional Programs: Grow AFO community and increase benefit of membership by redesigning programs to meet community feedback

In addition to our six strategic goals, our strategic planning consultant assisted us in creating a graphic that describes the healthy and robust ecosystem that we envision. One of AFO’s greatest strengths is the value of extensive programming that we bring forth to populations of all ages and backgrounds. As a result, one of our greatest challenges is harmonizing all these programs for our community to navigate and engage in. The graphic serves as a visual communication tool for our existing and prospective audiences to better understand how our many individual programs serve our greater mission. No matter the entry point, anyone can find a place to thrive and engage in the built environment with AFO’s continued impactful work.

By design, AFO is equipped with an extensive community to assist in our execution. In addition to our robust Board, AFO staff manage fourteen committees which focus on specific areas of programming or target audiences. These strong relationships with individuals who bring diverse perspectives of professional and lived experiences will ensure that we move into our listening directives with trust and inclusivity at the forefront.

As we establish our work plan for each of the six strategic goals, four main investments of time and resources arose that we seek support for. Each of these is applicable to every strategic goal and will allow us to push our work further and deeper than we have been able to before. The four investments are as follows:

• Identify our target populations. While we ideally envision our work impacting all Oregonians, it is essential that we work within our capacity to engage the most marginalized communities, build strong and genuine partnerships with them, and include their needs in our programming.
• Design and implement our listening. Engaging with audiences will look different for each of the six strategic goals, as some programs are well-established while others are still in their infancy stages. Once we conduct our listening, we will take our findings and integrate them into our work plan throughout the three-year period.
• Develop a comprehensive communication strategy. We have determined how crucial transparency is as we build trust with our established and targeted audiences. We have also discovered areas where we can explore new ways of communicating what we are offering, and to do so will require expertise beyond our current staff capacity.
• Undergo staff and board development in trauma-informed facilitation and ethical storytelling. As we identify target populations and design listening opportunities with those who have been historically silenced, we must approach our work with care and with applicable training.

Updated July 2025