Clayco Launches Comprehensive Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Program
Encompassing 25 years of evolving diversity and inclusion programming, Clayco Rising compiles initiatives together to enhance commitment to drive lasting, equitable change and challenge industry standards.
CHICAGO – Clayco, a national leader in commercial real estate and construction, announces today the official launch of Clayco Rising, the company’s all-encompassing diversity, equity, and inclusion program. As a corporate diversity and inclusion pioneer, Clayco brings together a robust variety of barrier-breaking measures enhanced within the organization over the past 25 years to drive a more equitable future in design and construction.
“Clayco Rising is an initiative to drive structural and enduring change within the industry at large by creating pathways through our organization for everyone to have an opportunity to learn, grow, and succeed,” said Clayco Founder Bob Clark. “Our success over the last 25 years is directly connected to our efforts to embrace and encourage diversity. We are committed to recruiting and retaining the best talent, partnering with the best, and challenging ourselves to set new expectations. Clayco Rising brings this commitment to the next level.”
“Diversity, equity, and inclusion have been and always will be one of our highest priorities at Clayco,” said Sandra Marks, Clayco Senior Vice-President. “Pulling together all our efforts into one comprehensive program within Clayco Rising is integral in ensuring we are creating an equitable future within our organization, our partnerships, and beyond Clayco. We have a responsibility to make an impact within the communities we live and work in, and we intend to create enduring, boundless change with these initiatives, and the initiatives we continue to build upon.”
Clayco Rising, comprised of over a dozen ongoing diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, focuses on driving positive change through three key pillars: opportunities, relationships, and accountability.
- Opportunities: Clayco drives opportunity building by engaging youth in underserved communities and setting requirements to maximize MBE and WBE participation, helping create a more equitable playing field for both individuals and organizations. Focusing on building a long-term pipeline of increasing African American and Hispanic entrepreneurship within construction, Clayco recently partnered with African American-owned Bowa Construction to provide construction services for the O’Hare 21 Project, the largest expansion in the airport’s history.
- Relationships: Clayco creates a pipeline of relationships by providing mentorship opportunities through bringing Clayco corporate leaders and minority construction firms together and providing women and minority employees throughout Clayco with empowering, likeminded support groups. The Clayco Black Resource Group and Clayco Network of Women are two exemplary programs through which Clayco creates community.
- Accountability: Clayco holds their programs accountable by setting objectives and measuring their success through data analysis, an incredibly valuable tracker in determining performance in the area of diversity and inclusion on projects with capacity building opportunities.
“’It’s incredibly empowering to see the company you work for invested in being a leader in lasting change,’ said Kori Jamison, an Assistant Superintendent at Clayco. “Coming from an impoverished background, I know that I am paving the way for other men and women who have witnessed my journey. I am proud to be a tradeswoman at Clayco because of the organization’s commitment to creating opportunities for people like myself through community outreach and investment in individuals with different backgrounds.”
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Clayco is a full-service, turnkey real estate development, master planning, architecture, engineering, and construction firm that safely delivers clients across North America the highest quality solutions on time, on budget, and above and beyond expectations. With $3.25 billion in revenue for 2019, Clayco specializes in the “art and science of building,” providing fast track, efficient solutions for industrial, commercial, institutional and residential related building projects. For more information visit www.claycorp.com.
