ANGEL JONES, CPSM: Tell us a little bit about yourself and your role with P&W.
CHRIS MORRISON, FAIA, NCARB, LEED AP BD+C: I’m 58, an architect and lead the DC studio of Perkins&Will. In 2016, after 30 years of marriage and raising 2 kids, my wife and I split up and I came out as a gay man. Already in a leadership position, I realized that I couldn’t slip this under the carpet, so decided to be transparent with my team, as well as my family and friends. I never anticipated that this bit of vulnerability would lead to so many people connecting and letting me know how my story touched or impacted them. By simply being my authentic self, I have encouraged others to do the same and as a result cultivated trust and connect more effectively with my team and clients.
ANGEL: Can you tell us about the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Corporate Equality Index? What is it and how did P&W become aware of it?
CHRIS: The Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s Corporate Equality Index (CEI) is the national benchmarking tool on corporate policies, practices and benefits pertinent to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer employees. The program was initiated 20 years ago and at some point early on, someone filled out the survey on behalf of Perkins&Will. We don’t know who this person is, and they only completed the survey that one time. Therefore, over the years our score dropped to a low of 5 out of 100, primarily for lack of participation. The Perkins&Will leadership was unaware of the HRC’s CEI program until sometime around 2015 when a reporter from Crain’s in Chicago contacted Meg Brown, our chief talent officer, asking why Perkins&Will didn’t support gay people and had such a low CEI score! Seeing that none of our peers were participating, we initially attempted to simply be removed from the survey, but despite repeated efforts, the HRC maintained that once in, a firm could not opt out.
Meanwhile shortly after coming out to my partners in the firm, we had an opportunity with a large law firm in Chicago. We had been invited to an interview, however, their leadership let us know that the HRC’s program was important to them and that they would not work with an architect that did not align with their values. He indicated the first question we needed to answer was how we were going to address this severe deficit in the CEI. My partners in Chicago and DC who were pursuing the project together ask me, “since I was gay,” to help them respond. I asked them if they wanted me to come in waving the pride flag and wearing a pink feather boa and we laughed. I said I would look into the situation and come to the interview.
At the interview, I was direct and transparent. I said as a recently out member of the LGBTQ community, I had found my firm and colleagues to be broadly supportive and affirming. Clearly our CEI score did not reflect this. I suggested that Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) represented a broad group of initiatives and that success could be viewed through many different lenses. At the same time I was defending the values of our DEI initiatives, Forbes magazine had just published an article on Gabrielle Bullock for her leadership and championing the firm’s outstanding and innovative JEDI (Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion) programs. Honestly, we believed that the umbrella of our JEDI programs covered us for LGBTQ issues, but we were not specific. I said that in hindsight, we had probably been more explicit about gender and racial equity issues. I thanked him for the opportunity to address our LGBTQ community more explicitly and pledged to take on the CEI program myself. I outlined a plan to reengage with the HRC, benchmark where we were currently, and propose initiatives to close any gaps that we found. I committed to follow up with our client after completing the upcoming survey and reporting on our performance, as well as our new initiatives moving forward. I asked him if he had any additional questions for me and he replied, “No, you have given me the exact response I had hoped for.” We were successful in the interview and were selected for the project.
ANGEL: I see that P&W was able to go from a score of 5 to a perfect score of 100 on this index and keep that score for the last 4 years in a row. Can you share some of the specific ways that the firm was able to increase their score and maintain it? (https://perkinswill.com/news/were-named-a-best-place-to-work-for-lgbtq-equality-for-fourth-year-in-a-row/)
CHRIS: Over the next months, Meg and I worked together on the survey responses. Initially, we had a great deal of anxiety that no matter what we did, there were too many barriers to our ability to be successful and gain a high score. We looked at the other participants in the survey and did not see any of our peers. Most were large Fortune 500 companies, financial services, law firms and retailers. However, we persevered and gradually discovered that many of our fears and biases were unfounded.
With the enthusiastic support of the firm executive leadership, we were able to not only identify, but close all the gaps in our existing initiatives. That year we scored a perfect 100 and were named one of the HRC’s Best Places to Work. As the bar has continued to rise each year, we have been able to maintain this score for 4 years in a row. We are actively working toward the newly revamped survey due to be released in 2023, that promises to reestablish the bar even higher.
How did we do this? Largely, we became more direct and explicit in stating our support for our LGBTQ community. We illustrated through our public messaging, our pro-bono work, affinity groups and studio activities, how we not only supported, but shone a light and amplified the voice of the LGBTQ community. As a relatively small, self-insured organization, we were very concerned that offering specific medical coverage for gender affirming procedures would outrageously expensive and simply out of reach. However, we learned that what was being asked for was not unlimited, elective coverage for anything any individual might want. Gender dysmorphia has very specific diagnostic criteria that take years to complete before surgery can be prescribed as a medical treatment. Furthermore, increasingly these are provisions that are being requested by organizations, and when we investigated options, we found that our carrier had a rider that affordably provided the coverage we were seeking.
ANGEL: How can other AEC firms get involved in the HRC’s Corporate Equality Index? And why should they?
CHRIS: Any organization can complete the survey. Because of the major revision, the next survey won’t be issued until spring of 2023. The HRC is currently conducting free seminars to review and clarify questions regarding the proposed criteria. (https://www.hrc.org/resources/2023-cei-criteria-evolution-toolkit-and-faq)
We enthusiastically encourage other AEC firms to participate for the same reasons we have. We believe that a diverse and inclusive culture promotes innovation and better design.
ANGEL: I read the article recently published in the Washington Business Journal about your personal coming out story and your involvement with amplifying the voice of the LGBTQ+ community at P&W. Is there anything you would like to add about coming out while in a leadership role in an AEC firm?
CHRIS: When I came out, it was an act of self-acceptance. I did that for myself. What I did not anticipate was the impact I would have and could have by simply being myself. By being transparent, authentic and vulnerable, I’ve found people reach out, trust, and engage in a more meaningful, productive way. Being established in a leadership role, my example has been an important outward sign to others about our values and commitment to JEDI. I am most humbled by the realization that my story gives others the encouragement to be their true, authentic selves.
ANGEL: Please add anything you would like that we missed in the earlier questions.
CHRIS: As a champion for the LGBTQ community at Perkins&Will, I get to sit on our firm’s Diversity Council. I have observed and learned some very important lessons since joining. First, JEDI does not homogenize and claim that we are all the same. However, there is a common thread. JEDI acknowledges and celebrates our humanity. It also acknowledges our differences, including disparity in access to power, influence, education, and wealth. JEDI gives us a common vocabulary to connect and engage in a culture of mutual curiosity, trust, and respect. We don’t all bear the same biases or challenges, but we all have them. Acknowledging this fact and being proactive to mitigate them is the first and a profound step toward more effective communication and engagement.
