The Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders at Stanford University, a series for aspiring students and founders at Stanford, interviewed Sharon Prince, CEO and Founder of Grace Farms on April 10, 2024. Ravi Belani, a lecturer in the Management Science and Engineering Department at Stanford, and the Director of Alchemist Accelerator for Enterprise Startups, kicked off the Spring quarter of the series with Prince – “a true catalyst for change.”
Since opening, Grace Farms has garnered numerous prestigious awards for contribution to architecture, environmental sustainability, and social good, including the AIA National 2017 Architecture Honor Award, and the Mies Crown Hall America’s Prize. Prince has also co-founded Grace Farms Teas & Coffee, which offers coffees and teas that demonstrate what the foundation advocates for, ethical, and sustainable supply chains. And 100% of the profits supports the Design for Freedom movement, to eliminate forced labor from the building materials supply chain, and the construction industry.
In recognition of Prince’s impactful work, Fast Company has named her to its list of the Most Creative People in Business 2022, for cleaning up construction, and the AIA New York & Center for Architecture recognized her for the New York City Visionary Award. The series is brought to the public by STVP, the Stanford Engineering Entrepreneurship Center, and BASIS, the Business Association of Stanford Entrepreneurial Students.
Below are excerpts from the full interview that was released on April 17, 2024. The video clips have been slightly edited for clarity.
Being sustainable takes more effort and it actually cost more quite often. So, people ask me, “Is this going to cost more?” “Is this going to cost more now that I have to go through this process to be ethically sourced?” And in my head, I was thinking, “That is crazy,” because I’m not going to accept subsidizing our ROIs with slavery. So that’s why I was saying, “Oh look, we’re subsidizing our ROIs with slavery.” And the response was, “Okay.”
“I’m not going to accept subsidizing our ROIs with slavery.”
So, in terms of trying to tell you, or explain how to create a movement. In this case, it is also about creating a succinct language that can help to be adopted more broadly. So instead, I converted that thinking and instead of saying “It’s going to cost more, are we willing to accept the slavery discount? I’m not willing to do that. So, I want to show you the key factor here, when we say, “Challenging really fair market value.” Fair market value is not fair, it’s not the current price if it’s subsidized with forced labor.
Another way to think about it, is that if the fair market value with fair labor is here, and the market price is here without inspection, that delta is the slavery discount.
So, that’s a term that is starting to be adopted. I proposed that more broadly about a year ago, and now the good news of the movement it is starting to be adopted.
We’re taking on the entire construction sector, and creating this radical paradigm shift, to remove forced child labor from the building materials supply chain.
You know, it takes a whole industry to become a part of that, and that’s what we did. The built environment does have a relationship to nature and people, and the question that brought people around the table, is, “Is your building ethically sourced, forced-labor free, as well as sustainably designed?” That was a question I asked at the end of 2017, beginning of 2018, to get people onboard, and the answer is, “We don’t know.” If you look around here, you don’t know where these materials are made from. Unlike even clothing, you might not know who, but you know the origin on a piece of clothing. But you don’t know, and these materials are highly fraught. So, the one thing to note is, with construction, you think about labor, but it’s mainly on the job site.
“The whole sector has been given a labor-transparency pass, on the material procurement side, and half of the cost of a building is the material procurement.”
The whole sector has been given a labor-transparency pass, on the material procurement side, and half of the cost of a building is the material procurement. So, construction is the largest industrialized industry at risk of forced and child-labor. It’s also the most egregious violator of carbon emissions at 37%, and they do go together, and we can talk about that another time.
But the size of the industry, nearly $14 trillion in spending globally. There are new numbers that just came out of estimates of the illicit profits that are being earned by subsidizing with forced labor, $236 billion, of which, that’s on modern-slavery, of which $63 billion is derived from forced labor. At that time, there was no list of materials, and this is literally only five, six years ago. At the beginning, around 2018, we issued that [list].
The most important thing is people, not the numbers: there’s an estimated 28 million people in forced-labor conditions around the world, and likely more. And it’s been escalating. The last estimate that was revealed was 25 million five years ago. It’s not decreasing, even with more knowledge about supply chains and forced labor.
Here’s that list of [at-risk] materials. Some of them have longstanding histories of forced labor: rubber, glass, fiber, textiles, steel, electronics, bricks. Think about it. It’s crazy. Timber, copper, stone, iron, minerals, and polysilicon. And we’re not inspecting our supply chain. Now, solar panels, it’s fraught.
Solar panels are not sustainable, if they’re subsidized with forced labor, and made with that. So, I know you’re working on projects, this is a very important concept, because 35-45% of all the polysilicon in the world is being sourced from the [Uygur Autonomous Region] of China, but that’s not the only at-risk material. You have steel, copper, aluminum, glass. Glass, which I described before, there are no third-party audited certifications for glass that include fair labor. There are for many others that we put in our [Design for Freedom] Toolkit. So now, we also see some low-hanging fruit, right? I said first food is called to be accountable, then clothing, next is shelter. Clothing has already been accountable, and there are certain transparency certifications that’ve been put into play.
There’s more transparency in that sector. So, now we’re looking to take that sector, and that accountability, and convert that into interiors. So, curtains, chairs, carpet, right? Just in textiles alone, from the garment industry we can convert, and we’re doing that.
From the very get-go, the urgency of this situation really made me think about having the full ecosystem to come together. It’s not just one sector that’s responsible.
So, these you’ll see in blue: these are the pressure points. You do have agency, so whether it be owners and developers, there’s an owner’s project requirement. And the media’s important, in terms of awareness, government agencies on contracts, and extractives, and manufacturers obviously, documenting. As a university, being able to initialize research, which I’ll tell you about what is happening at Stanford right now. And then the public demand, right? That’s a very important part of the equation.
So, bringing people around the table, and the idea from the get-go, is that we need CEOs and industry leaders to be a part of the [Design for Freedom] Working Group, because we want them to make immediate decisions. How does that happen?
University Engagement
You ask them. It sounds like, oh, you have connections. I asked those who built Grace Farms, and then I asked them “Who else do you know? Let’s ask them.” We’re going to have gender parity on this, making sure that’s part of our concept of how we want to create that team. And we did so.
The next part that’s important is to have you as university students. This is a gift to be here because you as university students are able to imagine the future without being tethered.
We are now engaged at probably 25 universities, and I think it’s a very important part of being able to carry the baton.
“We are now engaged at probably 25 universities, and I think it’s a very important part of being able to carry the baton.”
So, our first industry report, we formally launched the movement in 2020. And those Working Group members, 30 of them, were part of that. And then people asked, “Okay, just tell me which one of those materials are made without forced labor?” Well, we’re at the beginning of the movement, we need the transparency, so we did start to say, “Okay, you have to use a toolkit.”
Design for Freedom Pilot Projects
There’s no certification out there. We have to create it. So, we developed a [Design for Freedom] Toolkit for the industry to start using. And then, our Creative Director, Chelsea Thatcher, one of the co-authors on the [Design for Freedom] report, along with former ambassador on modern slavery, said, “What are we going do next? We kept asking the question, “What’s next?” Now we need to have Pilot Projects.
They are in locations on three different continents. This is it in three years.
That means you have to get the whole team, like an owner, the architect, engineer, construction manager to agree to do this. So, we have 12 projects, and one really beautiful project that aligns is Shadow of a Face with Nina Cooke John, which is the Harriet Tubman Monument that replaced the Christopher Columbus Monument. See that Shadow of a Face? It’s extraordinary.
And Black Chapel, again, limited materials in London at the beginning.
And then we had a full-scale project in New Canaan Library. Turner Construction’s on this project, and you’ll see how now they have adopted, Design for Freedom, and are committed, as well as MillerKnoll, a top firm, too.
And then The Brij in India. This is now a bigger project, a million-square feet. And it’s with one of the key industrialists there, Sunil [Kant] Munja, in India, where there is the highest number of those enslaved conditions. That’s pretty bold to do that, too.
And then, we are starting to get RFPs for new projects. One of the five new ones that we just announced at our [Design for Freedom] Summit is the Karsh Institute of Democracy for the University of Virginia. You can imagine the capacity we’re going have to accelerate the movement.
What is so surprising, fascinating, and under-realized is the power, the enormous power of architecture, to drive new outcomes, and even humanitarian outcomes.
As a fellow entrepreneur, I think of architecture as a three-dimensional expression of a vision. The other thing about architecture is that space, and I do believe, does communicate. So, you start to wrestle with this idea, what does space communicate? Can you embed values into space? Can it be generative over 100 years? What can it do?
The concepts that I want you to really think about, again, is that architecture, space is a 3D expression of a vision.
Even if you’re unconsciously doing so, it still expresses a vision. And, we now have this opportunity to reimagine architecture as a driver of humanitarian outcomes, and even to be this entrepreneurial platform. All right, so here’s the first expression of Grace Farms.
It won an AIA New York Merit Award for Un-built Work. My role as the entrepreneur is to mark to market the vision, and how it’s being expressed. So, I had a 35-page program that was highly aspirational, with also utilitarian needs. So, after two years of development, I had to abandon the project, because it did not achieve the goal. It’s very tough to do. However, knowing that this is going to be a long-term project, I went on a whole search to find the right architect now, that we could get paired with. This is an image of [Kazuyo] Sejima and [Ryue] Nishizawa of SANAA. The reason why they were so perfect – and it was just another process in just selecting them – they were never tethered to existing models. We were creating a new kind of public place, there’s not a place like this, not only in terms of form, but in terms of concept.
And so, they could think in that abstract way. It was an iterative process: I am proposing concepts like, “We want to create an environment where you are experiencing nature, where nature is in the foreground, and the buildings recedes.” They took that further. You can see here that the building becomes part of the landscape.
“We also wanted to create a place to invoke curiosity, new perspectives, create an individual experience, and a collective experience.”
We also wanted to create a place to invoke curiosity, new perspectives, create an individual experience, and a collective experience. And it just goes on, a peaceful respite, in an active community, diametrically opposed. And there were many of those. So now, here we are, it’s a former equestrian site, and we start to develop it.
Sharon Prince and Kazuyo Sejima walk along the meadows at Grace Farms, which have been restored over the years with the installation of thousands of native pollinating plants. In the background is the award-winning River building that is naturally embedded in the landscape.
We retained two of the barns, so in terms of reuse, and remodeling, very effective in terms of Design for Freedom.
You start to truncate the supply chain of the extractives, reducing the risk of exploitation, and it ends up being the only opaque spaces that we had, which were very advantageous as well. Grace Farms is the only site in Connecticut that is both LEED certified for how we built and how we operate.
So, demonstrating is always in our mind. We of course decide to have a garden so we could have the produce, that we would also have on site, but also be able to donate.
So, as a place. Here we are again, immersed in nature, the arts, all these aspects that I was describing, one is to experience nature, two, encounter the arts, meaning visual, performing, culinary, and so forth.
To pursue justice. This is Dr. [Denis] Mukwege, Nobel Peace Prize Winner (2018) on the right, and [Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist] Nicholas Kristof on the left.
And to foster community, this is the Sanctuary at the top of the River. You can see has no stairs because it makes it become part of the landscape. Each chair is individually designed, the height of the stage is determined, so it becomes a more egalitarian space, and that you can see into landscape.
Foster community, here is the Commons, the center of the five glass-enclosed volumes. You can see that people now have to sit with each other. No other options.
And you can see these tables were made from wood that was felled on site. That was part of the sustainable endeavor.
But also, by doing so, it also reduces human exploitation. We know our supply chain and using locally fabricated materials in the United States. If you know where they are, it’s advantageous.
Hopeful Space of Grace Farms
And then, in terms of being able to advance good in the world, explore faith, because all faith backgrounds, you can start to examine how we can all do this together from a faith perspective.
And this image I love, because it shows you the hopeful space, where in the space we can address pressing humanitarian issues.
So, we wanted to create a light-filled space that had both spiritual potential and social potential.
So, you can see there are many divine interventions that happen along the way.
What is a process in terms of the creating you can apply to the many of the creations you’re involved in or will be?
It starts with not knowing. Also, it starts with creating many, many options. So, this is in their studio in Japan. What I love about this, the answer was always, “We study, we will study.” Not a linear answer, and it was a fun process to be going back and forth with them iteratively. But also, they adopt.
They have the same way of being in terms of being immersed. So, after we selected the River building, it wasn’t called the River building; it was actually the solution to a set of requirements, architecture directive.
Immersion in the Design of Grace Farms
We selected the River building, and I thought, “Okay, it’s done.” And no, it was like literally, many, many years, all the way up to the finish line while you’re still iterating back and forth.
That image of Teshima is in Japan. They then said, “Okay now, let’s go back out, and see some of our other projects.” I’m now probably seeing 15, so that I can understand how they were interpreting that architecture. Again, being immersed. So, this is the interior. You can see how it was situated on the hill. This is a mind-blowing project: one art installation, and it was just opening when I took that picture.
And then, some other elements, so you start to think about materiality. This is intentional; it’s not a very clear. It’s more of a blurred reflective space here, so everyone has their own entry way, their own entre in.
And then, this is an important part of selecting them. You could see on the left, as if you’re walking out in nature, and you also can be having this experience altogether.
That long bench, I loved.
And then, on the right, the use of glass, super fascinating. But what I saw here is that the grass was green, and I did not quite love that, but I still liked the clarity.
And now the process. So, this is a moment where I had to let Sejima and Nishizawa know the order of operations: we’d already been two years now into development and about to go into construction documents. As we’re examining, I did not see a rendering for two years.
I highly encourage something along the way where you’re not tethered to existing materials. Like here, you can see what we’re doing is I’m determining whether proximities are right, the atmospheric elements. Not really concerned about that material. Sure, that comes later, but first, is the order of operations, right. At first, I thought, “When are we going see a rendering?” And now I realize, that was elemental to producing the outcome. And then, you’ll see here too, that there are many iterations. I could see this as an art piece at Grace Farms that helps you see all the variations of all decision-making along the way. I had to tell them that the order was out. It was not achieving the goal, because the tonality was intended to be both peaceful and active.
But the way the volumes ended up being positioned, it was peaceful, then active, peaceful, active. It achieved many other goals, but it did not achieve that. So, we had to switch those, and it was a huge deal to do that. When you are in construction, that’s not good. We had to re-engineer the whole roof. It took about six months to make that change, of just changing the order of the volumes. But again, you really need to know, and be confident in your vision of what you’re trying to create. You have to articulate beforehand, articulate the values you want to also embed, the team members that you want to be part of your team.
“… you really need to know and be confident in your vision of what you’re trying to create.”
I want to show you this, too. There’s rarely a form of building like this, where again it becomes part of the landscape. This elevation change afforded many of those aspirational ideas.
Just the elevation change. So, that you have these site lines all along the River, you’re also even curious. Now if it’s glass, you’re like, “What’s happening here?” “What’s happening over there?” Verses opacity. And I asked for an ambient experience because when you’re moving, you’re creating, you’re creating new perspectives.
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About Grace Farms
Grace Farms is a center for culture and collaboration in New Canaan, Connecticut. We bring together people across sectors to explore nature, arts, justice, community, and faith at the SANAA-designed River building and Barns on 80 acres of publicly accessible, preserved natural landscape. Our humanitarian work to end modern slavery and foster more grace and peace in our local and global community includes leading the Design for Freedom movement to eliminate forced labor in the building materials supply chain.
The SANAA-designed River building is embedded in 80 acres of natural landscape. Grace Farms is free and open to the public six days a week, other than Monday. Photo by Kyle Norton
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