Deja's Why: Amplifying DEI by Design

The architecture industry and related design professions has long had real challenges around diversity. 

Recent data from the National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA) and National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB) shows that only 3% of architects are black, while 15% identify as Asian and less than 1% as Hispanic or Latino. Just .3% of architects in the United States are black women. This quite simply is unacceptable and limits our collective ability to deliver meaningful solutions for these minority populations.

Deja the Dynamo can't solve all of these diversity challenges, but we believe she can make a difference. The more we connect with young children to show them that people of every color, gender, race, etc. can be architects and designers - the more likely they'll be to pursue these career fields moving forward. Plus, we'll donate a portion of proceeds from our total book sales to the ACE Mentor Program of America, an organization that works to get high school students more interested in architecture, engineering and construction.

Also, Deja the Dynamo is just one of many actions CannonDesign is taking to grow DEI across the architecture profession in the short- and long-term. From partnering with NOMA, to internal employee-resource groups, executing a DEI framework and more, we're committed to change. Learn more at Cannon Design's website.

The images embedded above depict CannonDesigners working with area high school students in Chicago and Baltimore to educate them on the opportunities the design profession can offer.