The World Is Short on Love. Let’s Build More.

A conversation about what happens when we design not just for performance, but for people.

tl;dr: Our latest Conversations With Friends brought together Living Future’s Lindsay Baker, Hightower’s Kibibi Springs, and Grace Farms Foundation’s Nora Rizzo for a powerful, personal discussion on bringing equity and empathy to the heart of the building industry. From supply chains to certifications, workplace policies to product labels, the conversation covered where progress is happening, what’s still in the way, and how love, radical empathy, and shared accountability can move us forward—together.

How do you design for dignity? Build with intention? Specify with empathy?

These were the questions at the heart of our recent Conversations with Friends featuring Living Future’s Lindsay Baker, Hightower’s Kibibi Springs, and Grace Farms Foundation’s Nora Rizzo, hosted by our very own Annie Bevan. What unfolded was a personal, hopeful, and refreshingly honest dialogue about bringing social health and equity to the heart of the building industry.

Here’s my take on the conversation—full of nuance, humanity, and the reminder that love and labor are not mutually exclusive.

Love as a Leadership Principle

The conversation began, as many of the best ones do, with a grandmother’s wisdom. Annie shared the final words spoken to her by her grandmother before she passed: “The world is short on love. I need you to spread as much as you possibly can.”

That set the tone. This wasn’t a panel of industry talking points—it was a call to lead with empathy and act with purpose. Each speaker brought their own moment of awakening—when social health and equity became impossible to ignore in their work.

For Annie, it was meeting a young woman working in a countertop factory in China—a brief connection that revealed the isolating, inhumane conditions behind seemingly mundane material specs.

For Nora, it began with a desire to be a more conscious consumer and evolved into advocacy for eliminating forced and child labor in the material supply chain.

For Kibibi, it was a red thread woven through her life and career—from her grandmother’s gift of a nutrition book to witnessing unhealthy workplace dynamics that left people, especially women, burned out and unseen.

For Lindsay, it was the realization that we can’t solve climate change or health disparities in silos. That social and environmental impact must move forward—together.

Designing for Human Thriving

Each speaker shared examples of how their work is putting people back at the center of design, manufacturing, and certification.

At Hightower, Kibibi spoke to how workplace experience is a sustainability strategy. From offering healthcare options with zero-dollar premiums, to opting employees into a 401(k) by default, to ensuring production teams receive steady pay regardless of project flow—it’s about removing barriers and building a foundation for well-being.

Their commitment goes beyond benefits. Hightower has said no to prison labor and yes to piloting a Design for Freedom project at their new manufacturing facility. It’s a bold move for a smaller manufacturer—and one driven by values, not checklists.

At Grace Farms, Nora emphasized the importance of refusing false choices between price and people. The Design for Freedom Toolkit helps project teams take meaningful action—identifying high-risk materials, offering sample specs and supplier outreach templates, and advocating for the elimination of forced labor (including within the U.S. prison system). Her favorite proof point? Suppliers are now coming to them, asking how to get ahead and do better.

And from Living Future, Lindsay announced the expansion of the Declare label family—adding new "equity" and "environment" labels alongside the existing health transparency work. These new labels aim to bring structure and recognition to social impact at the product level—creating a clearer path toward full Living Product certification and setting a higher bar for systemic change.

Barriers to Progress—and How to Break Them

Of course, no conversation on equity would be complete without an honest look at what’s still standing in the way. The panelists named three recurring barriers:

• Overwhelm: The complexity of systems change often leads to inaction. People want to do better, but don’t know where to start.

• Lack of awareness: Especially around how frontline communities and vulnerable populations are disproportionately affected by the materials used in buildings.

• Misaligned incentives: The pressure for market differentiation can inadvertently create silos and stunt collective progress.

The antidotes? Radical empathy. Shared resources. More transparent tools. And perhaps most importantly—community. As Kibibi put it: “We need more cross-sector collaboration. Agriculture, manufacturing, design—these worlds are interconnected. The solutions have to be, too.”

A Shared Vision for the Next Five Years

The conversation closed with each speaker casting a vision for the future:

• Nora hopes for a world where child labor is no longer a reality and where poverty rates decline in tandem with forced labor numbers.

• Kibibi wants to see radical empathy become the norm—a world where perspective-taking is standard practice, not an emotional luxury.

• Lindsay sees the industry embracing its dual identity—not just building buildings, but building jobs, purpose, and dignity into every decision.

• And as Annie reminded us, hope plus action is a formula for revolution. And this community is more than capable of leading it.

Let's Keep Building

This conversation was a reminder that the work we do isn’t just about buildings or materials—it’s about people. It’s about listening more closely, asking better questions, and making decisions that reflect the kind of world we want to live in.

Manufacturers, as social health and equity rise to the forefront of sustainability, you don’t have to navigate these new requirements alone. At Parallel, we’re proud to be part of a growing movement to humanize materials decisions and bring equity to the center of the sustainability conversation. If you’re not sure where to start, we’d love to help. Because this isn’t just a professional conversation—it’s a personal one. And the world is short on love. Let’s build more of it.