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DIVERSITY Our commitment to diversity in the workforce is demonstrated through: • Members of Progressive AE’s leadership team and Board of Directors have completed the Institute for Healing Racism, a workshop designed to “promote action to eliminate institutional and individual racist behaviors and practices within business and community.” In addition, senior leadership personnel have served on the Institute for Healing Racism Committee, Rotary Healing Racism, and Woodrick Institute for Healing Racism. • Progressive AE is an annual sponsor and participant of the Grand Rapids Summit on Racism, a local organization dedicated to combating racism in Grand Rapids. • Progressive AE invites leaders from local organizations to speak at company-wide informational meetings regarding diversity, combating racism, and ways to promote an inclusive work environment and community • When appropriate, Progressive AE partners with minority-owned and women-owned businesses for internal business needs (e.g., caterers, florists, etc.) and works with minority- and women-owned subcontractors • Each year, Progressive AE employees participate in the Habitat for Humanity Women Build Program, an international program that promotes the involvement of women in the construction of Habitat houses. • Progressive has had a 12-year partnership with Jefferson Elementary School, an inner-city Grand Rapids Public school largely comprised of at-risk African American and Hispanic students. • Progressive supports and sponsors the Multiracial Association of Professionals (MAP) and served as underwriter for the 2005 map for the Hispanic Festival in Grand Rapids • Progressive donates time, money, and resources to the following organizations that support our commitment to inner-city and diversity programs: YWCA, Girl Scouts, Racial Justice Institute, Grand Valley State University Minority Scholarships, Michigan Women’s Foundation, Women in Transition, Inner City Christian Foundation, National Association of Women in Construction, and the Delta Strategy; to name a few • Progressive supports the West Michigan Center for Arts and Technology (WMCAT) – a program designed to help at-risk students and under- or unemployed adults realize their full employment potential by providing access to technology training and arts education. Together, with other West Michigan enterprises, Progressive AE is committed to promoting economic self-sufficiency and educational inspiration across racial and economic lines. PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND LEADERSHIP • Progressive AE is currently serving as a business incubator for a minority-owned architecture firm, Bravo & Associates. The firm’s principal, Genaro Bravo, is partnering with Progressive AE on several key projects and currently occupies offices at Progressive AE. • Progressive AE has partnered with several minority architecture and engineering firms* and continues to have ongoing relationships with the following firms: SKO & Associates (Samuel Ojo) and HH Engineering Ltd. (Helen M. Himes). *Recent research by The Freelon Group indicates that “only about one percent of the architects in the United States are African-American” (as cited in the Marketer, volume 24, issue 3, June 2005) • Currently, 30% of Progressive AE’s Board of Directors is comprised of women. • Female Vice Presidents lead the Civil Engineering, Marketing, and Accounting teams at Progressive AE. In addition, the Human Resources and Recruiting initiatives are currently led by women. • Progressive AE employees enjoy a family-friendly work environment that offers and encourages flexible work schedules, including: compressed work weeks, modified summer schedules, part-time schedules, job-sharing, and work-at-home arrangements when requested AWARDS AND RECOGNITION Progressive AE women have recently been nominated for, and won, the following awards: |
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