Building Good

Community engagement is often a requirement in industrial projects and as part of the formal RFP process. Over the last decade, if we traced back all the social impact initiatives that successful proponents committed to on paper and asked them to present the results, what do you think we’d find? Not a whole lot. Today many organizations claim to prioritize ESG and CSR, but how do you know whether...

What do you do when your passions are in an industry that is traditionally held by people who don’t look like you? Our guest in this episode of Building Good, Kathy Tuccaro , was faced with a decision: take a leap of faith and train to be a heavy equipment operator or risk falling back into a life of uncertainty and pain. Kathy's story and the outcome of her choices will inspire you. Today, Kathy...

In the last year we’ve seen sustainable and purpose driven financing policy skyrocket. In 2018, Larry Fink signaled a shift to balancing purpose and profit at BlackRock, the world’s largest investment firm. In January of this year, David Solomon of Goldman Sachs announced that the company would no longer help companies go public unless they had at least one diverse board member. Vancity Community...

The construction industry has a massive impact on the Canadian economy and yet we are facing a significant labour shortage. At the same time, there are people in Canada struggling to find their place and overcome socially structured barriers to employment. What if construction companies hired and trained these people – it’s a win/win and it takes tremendous pressure off the Canadian social system....

Construction is an industry that has a significant environmental footprint and at the same time, lags other industries in technology adoption. But there are some significant advancements that have been made (think LEED Certification) which have fundamentally changed the way we build and renovate. Today, leading green building thinkers are now focusing their attention on the opportunities to drive...

The data on diversity is clear - firms with diverse talent and inclusive cultures come out ahead. Yet, the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) industry lags on key performance indicators around diversity and inclusion. In this episode, Jen Hancock talks with Renee Cheng , the Dean of the College of Built Environments at the University of Washington. Renee was the lead researcher on t...

Brightside and its CEO, William Azaroff , build communities for those who need it most, and we mean that quite literally. Brightside is a private-sector, non-profit organization that owns and manages 26 buildings with almost 1000 units across Vancouver. The organization supports those who struggle to meet market housing demands while demonstrating corporate leadership in diversity, inclusion, sust...

In 2019, Maple Leaf Foods announced it was the first global protein producer to be carbon neutral – an incredible achievement that took the dedication and input of its entire organization. With a focus on environmental protection, animal welfare, employee engagement and digital transformation, the team at Maple Leaf Foods set out to redefine the way protein is produced and become the most sustaina...

The world is changing faster than ever before. Leaders can and should use existing business models to make a difference and solve the world’s greatest challenges. Welcome to the Building Good Podcast where you will find out who’s doing what and take away valuable lessons that you can apply to your own work. In this episode, you’re going to meet the podcast co-hosts, Jen Hancock and Tim Coldwell. J...