A growing global movement will take center stage in New Canaan on March 27 as Grace Farms hosts the 2025 Design for Freedom Summit, bringing together industry leaders determined to eliminate modern slavery from construction supply chains. The summit, now in its fourth year, is expected to draw over 600 professionals from architecture, engineering, construction, government, technology, and real estate.
The focus is clear: dismantling the widespread but often unseen reliance on forced labor in the materials that make up our buildings. The annual summit builds on momentum from previous years, advancing practical solutions for ethical decarbonization, circularity, and supply chain accountability.
“This is the moment for shelter to be called to account,” said Sharon Prince, CEO and founder of Grace Farms. “The food and fashion industries have already taken steps to expose and eliminate forced labor. Now, we must confront the fact that many of our homes, offices, schools, and hospitals are built on human exploitation.”
Confronting an Invisible Crisis
The day will begin with a keynote conversation featuring Grace Forrest, founding director of Walk Free, and Amar Lal, a child rights lawyer and activist who escaped forced labor in India and now fights for others trapped in the system. Their stories will serve as a sobering reminder of the real people behind supply chain statistics and set the tone for the urgent discussions that follow.
The numbers are staggering. An estimated 28 million people worldwide are trapped in forced labor, generating over $150 billion in illicit profits annually. This includes children working in mines to extract cobalt for batteries, laborers manufacturing steel under abusive conditions, and quarry workers breaking stone in extreme heat without pay.
“Our sisters and brothers would not be enslaved if we refuse to touch that mammoth amount of tainted goods,” Prince has said in past summits.
This year, attendees will engage in deep-dive panels and strategy sessions that go beyond awareness-raising to provide tangible solutions.
From Awareness to Action
A key morning panel, “Innovation in Supply Chain Accountability,” will examine how companies can identify and remove forced labor from their supply chains. Moderated by Nora Rizzo, Ethical Materials Director at Grace Farms, the panel will include industry leaders such as Myrrh Caplan, SVP of Sustainability at Skanska, Neil Jacobs, CEO of Six Senses, and Dave Lemont, Executive Chairman of Acelab. Discussions will center on new technologies, such as AI-driven material tracking and blockchain verification, that help businesses ensure ethical sourcing.
Another session, “Generational Forest Stewardship in Haida Gwaii,” will showcase the Haida Nation’s commitment to sustainable forestry. Leticia Hill, CEO of HaiCo, and Jeff Mosher, Chief Forester of Taan Forest, will highlight how traditional land stewardship can be a model for the building industry.
At the same time, the summit will address one of the industry’s most pressing challenges: the intersection of forced labor and climate impact. As Fiona Cousins, Americas Chair of global engineering firm Arup, pointed out at last year’s event, 8% of global carbon emissions come from concrete cement manufacturing, with another 8% from steel production—two industries notorious for exploitative labor practices.
This year’s “Scaling Up Circularity” panel, featuring Sarah Billington from Stanford University and Heather Henriksen from Harvard University, will explore how using recycled and low-carbon materials can help phase out both unethical labor and high-emission materials.
Committing to Change
Perhaps the most impactful moments of the summit will come in the afternoon, when organizations will announce their commitment to new Design for Freedom pilot projects—real-world construction initiatives that adhere to ethical sourcing principles. One such case study, the University of Virginia’s Karsh Institute of Democracy, will be presented by a team including Mike Castle, VP of Operations at Hourigan, and Alice Raucher, University Architect at UVA.
The session “Accelerating Design for Freedom Internationally”, moderated by Elaine Mitchel-Hill, Design for Freedom’s International Lead, will examine how governments and organizations worldwide can align around ethical sourcing standards. Speakers include Baroness Young of Hornsey from the UK Parliament, John Morrison, CEO of the Institute for Human Rights and Business, and Alan Ricks, Co-Executive Director of MASS Design Group.
As industry leaders reflect on the path forward, Hugh Evans, CEO of Global Citizen, will close the summit with a call to action, tying the fight against forced labor to the broader movement for human rights and sustainability.
Building a Just Future
True to Grace Farms’ ethos, the summit will not be all statistics and strategy. Attendees will also experience the “With Every Fiber” exhibit, led by Anna Dyson of the Yale Center for Ecosystems + Architecture, which explores bio-based materials as alternatives to labor-intensive supply chains. Tours of Grace Farms’ award-winning SANAA-designed campus will illustrate how architecture can be both sustainable and ethically sourced.
The day will conclude with a cocktail reception, where professionals from across sectors can forge new collaborations to drive change beyond the summit.
“None of us are truly free until all of us are finally free,” Prince has said, quoting Archbishop Desmond Tutu. “This is our moment to transform the way we build—to create a future that upholds dignity at every level.”
With the world watching, New Canaan’s Grace Farms is poised to once again serve as a beacon for global change.
Registration for the 2025 Design for Freedom Summit is open at gracefarms.org online.
