Announcements January 28, 2021

We’re a Best Place to Work for LGBTQ Equality—Again!

Our firm earns a score of 100 on the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s annual assessment of LGBTQ workplace equality

We’re proud to share that we’ve received a perfect score of 100 on Human Rights Campaign’s (HRC) 2021 Corporate Equality Index (CEI), the nation’s foremost benchmarking survey and report measuring corporate policies and practices related to LGBTQ workplace equality. Our firm joins the ranks of 767 major U.S. businesses that also earned top marks this year. This is the third year in a row that we have earned this distinction.

“Having Perkins&Will again named by the HRC as a Best Place to Work is significant not only for the firm’s LGBTQ staff but for all its employees,” says Bill Schmalz, Principal and member of our Los Angeles studio’s LGBTQ affinity group. “This tells them that our firm respects its staff as people, not just as workers. And of course it’s especially meaningful for us LGBTQ employees, since we know we don’t have to hide a major part of ourselves at work to be treated equitably.”

The results of the 2021 CEI showcase how 1,142 U.S.-based companies are not only promoting LGBTQ-friendly workplace policies in the U.S., but also for the 57% of CEI-rated companies with global operations who are helping advance the cause of LGBTQ inclusion in workplaces abroad.

The CEI rates companies on detailed criteria falling under four central pillars:

Non-discrimination policies across business entities;
Equitable benefits for LGBTQ workers and their families;
Supporting an inclusive culture; and
Corporate social responsibility.

Despite a tumultuous year defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, our firm has continued to prioritize and champion LGBTQ equality as part of our commitment furthering to justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion in the industry. This month, in partnership with the American Institute of Architects, we released a guide for creating and implementing comprehensive diversity programs at U.S. design firms.

“When different perspectives from people of various backgrounds come together in a unified vision, something incredible happens: They paint a shared canvas of ideas with bolder, brighter colors. They unleash incredible potential,” says Gabrielle Bullock, our firm’s Global Diversity Director. “As justice, equity, diversity and inclusion becomes part of the design thinking, it shapes every choice and every behavior, and will make us a better firm, a firm of belonging.”

The full HRC 2021 Coroprate Equality Index is available online at www.hrc.org/cei.

We’re a Best Place to Work for LGBTQ Equality—Again!

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