Associated Builders and Contractors and the National LGBT Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC) today announced a collaborative partnership to work together to ensure construction jobsites are inclusive for every construction professional, promote careers in construction to the LGBTQ+ community and collaborate to pass legislation and policies that advance fair and open competition.
This announcement coincides with ABC’s 2022 Inclusion, Diversity and Equity Summit, “Building Bridges: Inclusion, Diversity and Equity in a Changing Construction Landscape.” Held today in downtown Washington, D.C., ABC’s IDE Summit is covering meaningful, thought-provoking discussions and solutions-based recommendations for building diverse workplaces and supplier networks.
“During Pride Month and beyond, the construction industry fully commits to the inclusion of the LGBTQ+ community,” said Tia Perry, ABC director of inclusion, diversity and equity. “Advancing inclusion, diversity and equity is consistent with ABC’s mission and is the foundation of the merit shop philosophy. We are excited to partner with NGLCC through this agreement to support strong inclusivity strategies in ABC and in the broader business community.”
“Diversity in the construction industry is such an essential priority that many of the nation’s largest firms and development companies now join over 400 corporations and government agencies to actively include NGLCC Certified LGBTBE® construction and related industry companies when seeking diverse suppliers, talent and innovative ideas to, literally, build a more inclusive economy,” said Justin Nelson, co-founder & president, National LGBT Chamber of Commerce. “Our partnership with ABC is going to help create unprecedented opportunity for LGBTQ visibility, opportunity and success throughout the construction industry, and we look forward to celebrating the shattering of countless glass ceilings ahead,”
The partnership between ABC and NGLCC will:
- Create educational resources on the destructive impacts of the Protecting the Right to Organize Act to defeat it.
- Collaborate to help pass federal, state and local infrastructure regulations and policies that include fair and open competition policy language to ensure contracts are awarded based on merit.
- Promote member-to-member business engagement opportunities.
- Share construction safety best practices.
- Collaborate and support specific organization conferences and awards, such as ABC Legislative Week, the NGLCC Annual Conference and the ABC National Inclusion, Diversity and Equity Excellence Awards.
- Partner to promote careers in construction to LGBT+ individuals.
