The ability of perhaps one of the world’s most influential architectural organizations, the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), to address issues of diversity and inclusion within the industry has once again come under scrutiny after news that one of its supposedly priority projects has yet to receive additional funding to proceed.

The Architects’ Journal is reporting that RIBA’s Finding and Accessing Architecture group chair, Femi Oresanya, expressed his concerns over an overall lack of funding for a project that a RIBA executive had apparently told him was of top priority during a Council meeting held on June 28th.

According to the Journal, the project was supposed to entail a matching program that provided students with work experience opportunities as overseen by the group and Oresanya. President Simon Allford and chair Jack Pringle reiterated the known financial straits of the organization before the former proposed providing additional funding for the project via a special fund.

“Words are cheap — and I have not seen any action,” Oresanya reportedly responded.

Observers will recall the departure of Inclusion & Diversity director Marsha Ramroop this spring after just thirteen months in the post as part of the organization's restructuring and layoffs, which includes a downsizing and multi-million dollar refurbishment of its aging 66 Portland Place headquarters. 

Oresanya mentioned the changes in the context of his complaint, stating that, in his opinion, “It does look as though everyone is willing to make something happen, but there does not seem to be enough in terms of resources to move it forward to the next level.”

To that score, Pringle commented on RIBA's limited abilities, saying, “We are stuck with hands tied behind our backs because we are spending every penny we have and pennies we don’t have. And yet some of the most important things we want to do [...] need to have some funds to spend against them.”

This development may become a factor in the organization's ongoing Presidential Election, which is set to culminate on the 26th of this month. RIBA also announced a 7.5 percent membership fee increase next year in order to address some of their deepening financial issues. As of our last reporting, the organization was facing a deficit after failing to meet its 2020 expenditures by about £8 million (or $10.8 million).