This panel session explores how leading organizations and manufacturers are beginning to address labor equity and supply chain transparency through new, practical frameworks designed for the built environment. The session opens with Liveable introducing an evidence-based procurement lens that helps teams move from values statements to verifiable requirements, clarifying what designers, owners, and manufacturers can control, influence, and realistically ask for. Living Future will introduce the Declare Equity framework, which evaluates labor practices across ten indicators spanning workforce equity, supply chain visibility, and systemic change. Attendees will learn how Declare Equity fits within Living Future’s expanded vision for its Declare program focused on material transparency and optimization, and how it was developed in alignment with the Common Materials Framework and informed by international labor research. A representative from Design for Freedom will share insights into modern slavery and forced labor risks embedded in construction supply chains, highlighting how Design for Freedom and Declare Equity can work together as complementary tools for risk identity. The heart of the session features Hightower, a pilot manufacturing partner participating in both the Declare Equity and the Design for Freedom pilot programs. Her candid reflections will cover why Hightower joined the pilots, what they have learned by examining labor conditions, how they engaged suppliers, and what challenges and opportunities exist for scaling equitable practices. Learnings and testimonials from other pilot partners will also be shared. The session concludes with a facilitated discussion and audience Q&A focused on accountability mechanisms, actions specifiers and policymakers can take today, and a call to action for engaging in the next phase of Declare Equity, Design for Freedom, and allied initiatives.
