Today, we released our 2020 diversity report. The report is being shared publicly in hopes that other real estate brokerages around the country adopt all or parts of the ambitious 10-point plan for wider diversity and inclusion in our industry and beyond.
In an ideal world, reports on diversity and inclusion wouldn’t be necessary. We created this report because we don’t live in an ideal world, and we want to share our successes and failures, as well as our concrete plans and hopes for the future.
Diversity and inclusion remain Ashby & Graff’s number-one priority. As matchmakers of people and homes, our efforts extend beyond the workplace and into the neighborhoods we serve. The stain of segregation and racism in housing casts a dark shadow that continues to subject people of color—Black Americans in particular—to starkly different life experiences than white Americans.
So while Ashby & Graff is especially focused on areas where we can have the greatest impact, such as our diversity, we do not shy away from the larger issues that make this work necessary. Until we fully address and tackle the larger legacy of racism in housing and other areas of public policy, it will be difficult to make significant progress on issues such as workplace diversity, inclusion, and belonging.
That’s why we’re committed to using our platform to shed more light on the unjust machinations of systems of racism. This means making the case for legislative and regulatory fixes that could create positive change.
After generations of harm caused by the real estate industry, we won’t be satisfied by being merely “not racist.” Decades of willful wrongdoing demands equal or greater energy to right these wrongs and actively working to snuff out racism at all levels.
I am personally committed to ensuring that Ashby & Graff is not part of the problem by actively working to be part of the solution. I hope you will join us on the right side of history.
~John Graff, CEO
The 2020 diversity report is available here. An esteemed group of experts contributed to the diversity report, including several artists.
