RICS accept award from BuildOUT California for contributions to DE&I across the world
The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) was today honored at BuildOUT California’s Founder’s Day Gala on June 1, 2022 for its efforts and contributions on behalf of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) to the construction industry across the globe.
RICS President-Elect Ann Gray was thrilled to accept the award at the Gala on behalf of RICS.
“Now, more than ever, there is a moral and an economic imperative to embrace and embed equity in society, and, therefore, the workplace. The construction industry has a critical role in delivering environmental and social justice and as indicated by the UN, these two themes are interlinked. There is a real opportunity for this sector to deliver a sustainable future, and for RICS, this means doing it in an equitable and inclusive way.”
“Surveyors are the only profession that works across every element of the building lifecycle, and our ethos is to seize every opportunity to be bold, challenge traditional assumptions and thinking around diversity, equity and inclusion to create a modern vision of what this means, not just for today, but for tomorrow.”
As part of RICS’ commitment to improving the diversity of the construction industry some of the measures they’ve already taken include:
- Embedding diversity and inclusion considerations in the RICS Rules of Conduct – the ethical code that all 135,000 members adhere to and included mandatory competence in the qualification for RICS membership
- Diversifying the organization’s strategic boards to be more representative of the countries they operate in and actively monitoring the data of the boards to ensure they truly reflect the profession
- Advancing the profession through endorsing networking groups and actively recruiting ambassadors from under-represented groups
- Internally, have created an inclusion group and report annually on gender pay gap
- Continually working to improve data capture
The event was held at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in downtown San Francisco and convened over 500 LGBTQ/Allied businesses and professionals in the Built Community across California and beyond.
BuildOUT, the world’s first association dedicated to the sustainable development of LGBT/Allied businesses in the Built Community.
Regarding collaborating with RICS, BuildOUT California President Paul Pendergast said: “Without your voices our work would have gone unnoticed around the globe. Instead, at each opportunity, RICS continued to engage with BuildOUT California making it possible for our message to be heard in nineteen different languages across the seven continents.”
About RICS
We are RICS. Everything we do is designed to effect positive change in the built and natural environments. Through our respected global standards, leading professional progression and our trusted data and insight, we promote and enforce the highest professional standards in the development and management of land, real estate, construction and infrastructure.
Our work with others provides a foundation for confident markets, pioneers better places to live and work and is a force for positive social impact.
