Research & Publications

Columbia's Construction Administration M.S. program benefits from a distinguished faculty of scholar-practitioners and industry leaders who frequently publish research and advance thought leadership in the field. 

Columbia University and Diversity Agenda Host the Launch of Columbia’s Construction Diversity Initiative

Francisco Pineda, Tanya Pope, and Renee Sacks, Ph.D.

Diversity Agenda - Fall 2019

The Fall 2019 issue of Diversity Agenda magazine features the launch of the Construction Diversity Initiative (CDI), co-hosted by Columbia’s Construction Administration M.S. program in August. The CDI is a first of its kind interdisciplinary research, policy, and training initiative within Columbia University that aims to deploy and transfer knowledge related to improving diversity and inclusion in the region’s building industries. Working together, Francisco Pineda, Faculty & Academic Director of the Construction Administration M.S., Tanya Pope, Columbia’s Assistant Vice President for Supplier Diversity, and Dr. Renee Sacks Diversity Agenda Publisher, designed a new framework for creating positive change and growth for small and medium-sized businesses in construction.

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New Research Initiative Aims to Diversify New York's Building Industries

Francisco Pineda, Tanya Pope, and Renee Sacks, Ph.D. 

The new Construction Diversity Initiative (CDI) is an interdisciplinary research, policy, and training initiative that will produce, deploy, and transfer knowledge to advance efforts to diversify the development, design, and construction process in the building industries. With $20 billion worth of projects are scheduled for the next five years, the New York City metropolitan area is ushering in one of the largest construction expansions in the region’s history. This is an ideal time to produce robust scholarship, data, and evidence-based analysis to expand contract and workforce opportunities for veteran, minority, and women-owned businesses and for populations traditionally underrepresented in the construction industry. 

The CDI’s work will help to bolster the efforts of well-intentioned stakeholders, while also providing a counter-weight to legislative and legal opposition to diversification efforts. It will also help to make Columbia, New York City, and New York State — all leaders in expanding economic opportunities for M/WBE — national examples for making construction industries more representative of the market populations they serve and of the broader universe of stakeholders.

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