5 Questions We’re Bringing to the Table at ‘Humanity First’

A preview of the conversations we need to be having about social health and equity in the materials industry.

The conversation around sustainability has grown louder in recent years—but it hasn’t always grown deeper. In a field often dominated by carbon metrics, compliance checklists, and performance targets, the human side of impact is still too often left off the agenda.

That’s why we’re hosting Humanity First: Putting Social Health and Equity at the Heart of Building—a conversation with friends grounded in one of the most urgent and complex challenges we face: how to center social health and equity in the materials industry.

This isn’t a “solutions showcase.” It’s an open, honest conversation with leaders across the value chain who are asking harder questions—and pushing for better answers. Together, we’ll explore what it really means to put people first in a space built on systems.

Here are five questions we’re bringing to the table:

1. When did this get personal for you?

Social health and equity aren’t abstract concepts. They’re lived experiences. We’ll open with personal reflections on the moments, relationships, or realizations that made this work impossible to ignore—and how our panelists’ lived experiences continue to shape the way they lead.

2. What does it look like to actually operationalize equity?

The Common Materials Framework includes Social Health and Equity as one of its five core impact areas. And we’re not starting from scratch—there’s meaningful work already happening across the industry. Design for Freedom is driving critical conversations around forced labor in the building materials supply chain. Living Future’s Living Building Challenge and Declare are setting expectations for product transparency and prioritizing human and ecosystem health. USGBC’s LEED v5 includes social equity pilot credits that push teams to consider who benefits from and who is burdened by material decisions.

But how do we move from intention to action? Panelists will share how they’ve embedded these priorities into their organizations and projects—and the tension of doing so in a world still wired for “business as usual.”

3. What blind spots are we still not addressing?

Even with growing awareness, significant gaps remain. What are we still missing? Where are we still silent? We’ll explore the barriers—systemic, structural, and cultural—that continue to make equity work feel siloed, slow, or optional.

4. How do we keep showing up when it gets hard?

This work is emotionally demanding and often under-resourced. We'll talk about what keeps these leaders grounded and committed—even when the work feels heavy or the wins feel far off.

5. What would real progress look like—five years from now?

We’ll close by looking forward: What could the future of our industry look like if social health and equity were no longer add-ons, but core values? What kinds of collaboration could get us there? What signs of hope are already emerging? What if buildings were considered more financially valuable based on their ability to demonstrate reduced embodied social health and equity impacts within the supply chain? And how could data like this help mitigate risk for owners and investors?

This isn’t just a conversation. It’s a call to keep humanity at the center of how we build, source, and shape the future. We hope you’ll join us.

Register now for Humanity First—June 17 at 1:00 p.m. ET. Featuring: Nora Rizzo (Grace Farms Foundation), Kibibi Springs, Ph.D. (Hightower), and Lindsay Baker (Living Future), moderated by Annie Bevan (Parallel Sustainability).