ACEC Research Institute Expands Giving Program
Six years ago, the ACEC Research Institute was launched as the go-to source for knowledge, original research, and thought leadership about the size, impact, and future of the engineering industry. Tradition holds that the sixth anniversary is marked by iron, a fitting symbol for an organization that has spent more than half a decade forging connections and building something durable. As the Institute celebrates its sixth year, we recently announced an expanded giving program to reach further and to reinforce the foundation that makes our Council, firms, and industry stronger.
At the top is the Visionary Circle, a new leadership giving tier created for firms ready to make an extraordinary investment in the future of engineering. The Visionary Circle is about more than just recognition; it’s an invitation into the rooms where the direction of our Council and our industry take shape. Visionary Circle donors gain exclusive access to the Institute’s annual Visionary Leadership CEO Summit, a private forum where participants help develop research strategies and engage directly with industry CEOs, economists, and analysts. They also receive a dedicated Executive Intelligence Briefing, an annual gathering in which the Institute’s leadership and research team sit down with the firm’s leaders to share emerging insights and research priorities on the horizon.
Because meaningful engagement shouldn’t be reserved for the largest firms, the Institute also has established the Keystone Circle, designed exclusively for small and midsized firms of 100 or fewer fulltime employees. We were intentional about the name; a keystone locks all other stones into place, symbolizing how essential smaller firms are to ACEC. Keystone Circle donors earn a seat on the Keystone Leadership Team, a dedicated advisory group that connects small firm leaders to both the Institute’s research agenda and to one another, building a community of peers across the industry.
Together, these two new tiers reflect the single commitment that runs through everything the Institute does: expanding access and deepening engagement to ensure firms of every size have both a stake and a say in where our industry is headed. For six years, the ACEC Research Institute has helped chart that course. Through rigorous economic and industry analysis and deep dives into topics that keep firm leaders awake at night (think AI and workforce), it has built a body of thought leadership that firms and other stakeholders can return to again and again. Along the way, the Institute has become not just a source of understanding the engineering industry, but the source. These new expanded giving tiers are a natural next chapter in that story. They’re a way to bring more firms into the work, deepen the conversations that drive the Institute’s research, and ensure that the insights shaping the future remain both rigorous and relevant.
Want to learn more? Drop me a line at dbryant@acec.org.
