Measuring the Impact of Social Justice Initiatives

Setting KPIs is a key part of any sustainability initiative. But tracking and measuring the impact of social justice initiatives can be much more complex. It extends way beyond simply tracking the number of minority workers a business employs or how many affordable housing units are built in a community.

We asked our subject matter experts about the ways they define social justice “success” within their businesses and work.

"We measure success externally by where and how our project work improves the most urgent social and economic concerns in our communities.”

Carl Elefante, Principal Emeritus, Quinn Evans

"We measure impact through a variety of metrics and internal standards we are currently evolving -- carbon footprint, water usage, nutritional density of food, access to food via food banking programs, renewable energy produced, renewable energy donated, diversity and inclusion programming participation, community education programs, etc.”

Jessa Robuck, CEO, VidaLuz Development

"We follow the AIA's newly formed Framework for Design Excellence (F4DE), which has ten principles. The concept for the F4DE is that excellent design is not just about making aesthetically pleasing designs, but designs that respond to sustainability, health, resilience and social justice. A key principle is Design for Equitable Communities, which has as its main part 'social justice'. Our firm has been involved with five distinct programs for affordable housing. Four of these programs incorporated sustainable design into them."

Nathan Kipnis, FAIA, Principal, Kipnis Architecture + Planning

"We are currently co-designing our impact metrics with our advisors and partners drawing from best practices and impact standards from around the globe.”

Tony Cho, CEO and Founder, Future of Cities