Shaken by blatant racism, the relentless weight of this world and the injustice that it supports I was re-inspired to move the mission forward, leveraging the work I've done over the past few years.

Since our inception in January 2017, we have elevated and proclaimed the greatness of 250 diverse designers through our 15 SAY IT LOUD Exhibitions. The goal initially was to reach 500 featured designers in 5 years. The urgency for this content is NOW. As we discuss the books that must be removed from the curriculum (who are replacing the word "slavery" with "unpaid laborer") the BBE team is looking to make a meaningful addition, a textbook for schools of designs.

We are working towards publishing a Great Diverse Designers textbook and create an online directory for business opportunities for the featured designers leveraging the profiles that we've gathered.

https://www.beyondthebuilt.com/great-designer-library-state

United States map of featured designers as of Juneteenth, 2020

• Deadline for submissions is September 1, 2020. We hope to double the number of profiles and reach the goal of 500.

• When we launched the Dismantling Injustice initiative we were representing 34% of the US in the library, we want to reach a full 100%.

• In addition to representing the United States, we are aiming to represent a global community of designers. Therefore in these new 250 submissions, we are seeking:

• 5 Caribbean islands presented

• 10 submissions from each inhabitable continent.

Number of Total Submission

Number of Total Submission

Number of Total Submission

Number of Submissions from Africa

Number of Submissions from Asia

Number of Submissions from Australia

Number of Submissions from Europe

Number of Submissions from South America

Who we are looking to elevate.

Diverse

Black

Indigenous

People of Color

Women of any ethnicity

Designers

Architects

Interiors

Landscape

Planners

Environmental

Engineers

Students

Artist

World map of progress as of August 17, 2020

United States progress as of August 17, 2020

Based on your incredible contributions to our profession, we would really like to encourage you to submit for the exhibition. We would also ask that you please encourage the women and diverse designers of your network to submit for the exhibition as well.

Submit here:

https://www.beyondthebuilt.com/say-it-now

See our virtual exhibition progress:

https://www.beyondthebuilt.com/say-it-loud-now

If you are wondering why I chose to send you this email, please know your support means everything to me. You are a part of my community and someone I aspire to make proud.