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Technology Today Bureau
Knoll, a
constellation of design-driven brands for the workplace and home, today
announced two social impact initiatives to help build more inclusive
communities. The new initiatives include the Knoll Diversity Advancement Design
Scholarships for Black Students and a corporate partnership with Habitat for
Humanity.
Additionally,
Knoll Chairman and CEO, Andrew Cogan has joined more than 1,300 CEOs who have
pledged to take action to advance diversity and inclusion in the workplace
through the CEO Action for Diversity and Inclusion™ Pledge.
“We all
have the opportunity to recommit ourselves to the pressing issues of the
day, setting the stage for change in the years ahead. Taking the CEO Action for
Diversity and Inclusion Pledge aligns fully with the Knoll commitment to help
build a fairer and more equitable society. Supporting accessibility and
inclusion through design education and affordable housing extends our
design-driven mission and shows how we can play a tangible role in making
progress toward a fairer world,” said Andrew Cogan, Knoll Chairman and CEO.
The CEO
Action Pledge focuses on four commitments: cultivating trusting workplaces that
can have complex, and sometimes difficult, conversations; implementing and/or
expanding unconscious bias education; sharing best – and unsuccessful –
practices; and creating and sharing strategic inclusion and diversity plans
with the board of directors (or equivalent governing bodies.) The coalition is
the largest CEO-driven business commitment to advance diversity and inclusion
within the workplace.
Knoll
Diversity Advancement Design Scholarships for Black Students
Knoll
has created Knoll Diversity Advancement Design Scholarships for Black
Students to develop the next generation of architects, graphic
designers, industrial and architectural engineers, interior designers and
industrial designers.
The
program will provide individual tuition awards of $10,000, renewable annually,
to a total of five Black 2021 high school graduates in the United States and
Canada who will be pursuing studies at two or four-year institutions. The
program will be administered by Scholarship America, a not-for-profit
organization that works directly with students, parents, colleges,
businesses and communities. Since its founding more than 60 years ago,
Scholarship America’s mission has been focused on student success, helping
students break down barriers, open doors and access scholarships to achieve
their dreams of a college education.
Scholarship
applications will be available mid-November at scholarshipamerica.org.
This
initiative complements the Knoll Employee Scholarship program, founded in 1998,
which provides access to higher education to Knoll associates’ children
and grandchildren and focuses on reducing the burden of student debt. The
program has awarded 676 scholarships since inception.
Habitat
for Humanity + Knoll
To
expand our commitment to good design and sustainable building practices, Knoll
is joining global housing nonprofit, Habitat for Humanity, as a cause marketing
partner, effective December 2020. Last year, Habitat helped over 7 million
people build or improve a place to call home. The organization frequently uses
sustainable building practices and follows energy-efficient construction
standards that prioritize safety, health and materials conservation.
The
Habitat + Knoll partnership consists of three components:
- Consumer Participation. In December 2020,
Knoll will offer a $5.00 donate option for online sales at the Shop at
knoll.com at checkout and for orders placed at retail Knoll Home Design
Shops in New York and Los Angeles.
- Financial Support. From December 2020, Knoll
will match consumer donations for a collective total of $100,000.
- Volunteer Activity. Knoll associates will
volunteer in four to-be-announced North America Habitat 2021 projects when
Covid-19 restrictions have lifted.
“Giving
back to the communities where we live and work has been part of the Knoll
culture since our founding. The Diversity Advancement Design Scholarships for
Black Students and Habitat partnership are exciting new ways we can build on
that history and provide our associates, who champion a range of charitable
passions, with a new way to make impact,” Cogan added.
Following
are some main features of this campaign –
- Company launches Knoll Diversity Advancement
Design Scholarships for Black Students
- Habitat for Humanity partnership supports
affordable housing
- Knoll chief executive joins more than 1,300
CEOs in commitment to advance inclusion and diversity in the workplace
World
Monuments Fund/Knoll Modernism Prize
In
addition, Knoll is the founding sponsor of the World Monuments Fund Modernism
at Risk program. Modernism at Risk includes programs dedicated to preservation
and public advocacy, with the intention of attracting international resources
to the dangers faced by Modernist buildings across the globe. A cornerstone of
Modernism at Risk is the World Monuments Fund/Knoll Modernism Prize, which
is awarded biennially to a designer or design firm whose work enhances the
public’s awareness of the seminal role that Modernism plays in the built
environment.
Diversity
and Inclusion at Knoll
At
Knoll, our differences contribute to our success. We are committed to
diversity, equity and inclusion and creating opportunities for people who come
from diverse cultural and ethnic backgrounds, gender identities, people with
disabilities, and building on our leadership in LGBTQ+ equality. We
recognize that our policies and practices will evolve as we continue to focus
on creating a more diverse and inclusive workplace.
Modernism
in design was born as a means toward social good, and Knoll was founded on the
principle that modern design can make a difference in improving the quality of
the way we live and work. By extension, good design is agnostic about the color
of one’s skin, their abilities or disabilities, sexual orientation or gender
identity, responding to the universal desire for utility, joy and beauty.
We
believe that embracing diverse perspectives contributes to an inclusive
workplace and strengthens the communities where we live and work. Knoll
supports a continuous dialogue that promotes teamwork and differences.
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