News + Inspiration
The Just Label: Transparency in Action
We are proud to share that Altura Architects has earned a Just Label.
Our Firm is guided by the belief that a sustainable future is about much more than just the physical buildings we design. It is deeply rooted in human equity and community health. A truly sustainable world cannot exist without social justice at its foundation. To ensure our internal culture matches our external design philosophy, we turned the lens inward.
We underwent a rigorous evaluation of our own organizational practices. This process was an honest, deep dive into how we operate as employers, colleagues, and community members. We committed to this demanding review process because we wanted to ensure we are “walking our talk.”
Earning the Just Label is a milestone in our journey. It proves that our active commitment to fostering social justice and equity, both within our firm and the broader community, is backed by visible action rather than just good intentions.
What is the Just Label?
Managed by the International Living Future Institute (ILFI), the Just program functions as a “nutritional label” for socially responsible organizations. It is a voluntary disclosure and transparency platform, helping organizations measure, evaluate, and publicly disclose their performance across 21 specific social justice and equity indicators.
These 21 metrics are divided across six impact categories:
Diversity & Inclusion: Examining representation and belonging.
Compensation: Ensuring fair pay structures and a living wage.
Health & Benefits: Assessing physical wellness and supportive workplace policies.
Stewardship: Evaluating how an organization gives back and interacts with the broader community.
The Just program is built for evolution. Each of the 21 indicators on our label features a four-box scoring system. As an organization satisfies the criteria for higher benchmarks, those boxes fill in with blue, giving a picture of exactly where we stand.
The four performance levels are explicitly designed to move a business from good intentions to measurable, industry-leading advocacy:
Level 1: Codifying the Commitment (The Foundation)
Every single indicator begins with a strict focus on policy development. To reach Level 1, an organization must formally outline and put its baseline commitments to equity in writing. This crucial first step establishes a formalized, legal, and operational starting point.
Levels 2 -4: Embodying Equity
Moving beyond Level 1 requires more than just written rules; it demands rigorous proof. To achieve these tiers, an organization must submit concrete data and supporting workplace documentation demonstrating that its policies are actively alive and functioning in daily operations. These levels measure real-world implementation, tracking metrics like pay gaps, diverse hiring ratios, and employee engagement data.
If an organization cannot meet the Level 1 policy requirement for a specific indicator, that metric remains blank on the label (Level 0). This ensures absolute transparency, highlighting exactly where an organization excels, and shedding light on the areas that require improvement.
Walking Our Talk
By publishing our awarded Just Label, we are committing to radical transparency. While we are incredibly proud of the progress we have made, we also recognize that the journey toward true equity is never fully completed. We don’t view this label as a final destination; we view it as a metric-driven tool for continuous, honest improvement. We will continue to use this framework to refine our systems, challenge our biases, and advocate for the rights of all human beings.
A Call to Action for Our Peers
This is our call to action to our fellow architects, engineers, and professional peers: join us in this movement.
We encourage your organization to evaluate your own commitment to social justice, and pursue a Just designation. As a community, we can turn transparency into collective action and elevate the standard for social justice across our entire industry.
Have questions or feedback?
If you would like to know more about the steps we are taking to build a more equitable design studio, we welcome the conversation. Please reach out directly to our Studio Director, Heather Hatmaker.
