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Responsibility

Our Engagement

At KPF, we embrace our obligation to positively
and proactively impact the world around us,
serving as global citizens to make our community
more equitable and inclusive.

Through education, outreach, charity and mission-driven work, KPF and its employees leverage a combination of talent, expertise and influence to create lasting change in the profession, built environment and world-at-large. Some of our efforts include:

ACE Mentoring

Through the ACE Mentor Program of America, KPF staff advise high school students
with aspirations to pursue careers in design and construction.

The program’s mission is to inform and excite students about the opportunities available in these industries and support their continued advancement throughout their schooling and career. Over the school year, KPF hosts 20 to 30 high school students for weekly sessions. Together with Extell, Arup, Thornton Tomasetti and other developers and engineers, KPF offers short lessons and studio exercises that help guide students in the development of a hypothetical architectural proposal.

Publicolor

With Publicolor, KPF staff mentor middle through high school students
while volunteering to paint the interiors of New York City schools.

The after-school program encourages students from underserved neighborhoods to stay in school by teaching teamwork skills and creating lasting relationships with mentors, preparing participants for success in college and beyond. Past surveys have shown that 100% of Publicolor students graduate from high school and go through at least their first year of college. KPF chairman and co-founder Gene Kohn is a longtime member and the current chair of Publicolor’s Board of Directors.

Habitat for Humanity

As part of the Global Village program initiative, a group of KPF volunteers from New York, London, and Shanghai travel together each year to build a house for a family in need.

Alongside homeowners and members of the community, the volunteers construct a home from the ground up within a week. Since 1976, Habitat for Humanity has helped over 5 million people, working with over 1,400 communities in the United States and in more than 70 countries worldwide.

Paul Katz Fellowship

The KPF Paul Katz Fellowship is an international award established in honor
of the life and work of former KPF Principal Paul Katz.

Each year, two international students are supported in their study of issues pertaining to global urbanism upon graduation from an M.Arch program at any of the five design schools at which Paul studied or participated as a teacher. The Fellowship is supported through the generosity of people who worked closely with Paul Katz, including friends, clients, colleagues, and KPF.

Bursary at The Bartlett

Based on excellence and financial needs, the KPF Bursary at The Bartlett, University College London is awarded each year to an M.Arch student entering his/her fourth year of study.

The Bursary enables recipients to invest in their research and design outputs (including model fabrication, prototyping, and publications) and offsets the high cost of living and studying in London. The efforts support UCL’s commitment to wider social inclusion and reflect KPF’s ethos of openness and diversity.

KPF Traveling Fellowship

Each year, KPF presents three awards to students in their penultimate year at one of the twenty-seven design schools with whom the firm has chosen to partner.

The goal of the award is to allow students to broaden their education through a summer of travel and exploration before their final year at school. Recipients are awarded cash prizes to fund summer research on far-reaching topics that push the boundaries of critical thinking and architectural design, with winners determined by a jury of KPF Principals and industry leaders.