Category: Community Engagement

Our 2025 Community Engagement Report

A Letter From the Executive Director

When I think about the purpose of the MG2 Foundation, I come back to a simple belief: progress is measured by how we care for one another. The foundation exists to turn that mindset into action. We aim to use our collective experience, resources, and relationships to create opportunities—supporting education, strengthening communities, and advancing equity in meaningful ways. Real impact doesn’t come from grand gestures alone; it comes from consistent engagement and a willingness to listen and learn. 

A leader is not a pillar standing alone, but the root that nourishes the entire forest.

None of this work happens in isolation. Lasting change grows through partnership, shared responsibility, and mutual respect. My hope is that our efforts encourage others to participate, contribute what they can, and recognize that meaningful change often begins with simply showing up.

Jerry Quinn Lee

Jerry Lee
Executive Director, MG2 Foundation

Raised

$250K

to benefit Fred Hutch Cancer Center through Swing for the Cure charity golf tournament

Donated

$75,400

to charitable organizations

Supported

37

community organizations

Art and the City: MG2 Foundation Celebrates Community at Bellevue City Hall

In celebration of Black History Month in February and Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (AANHP) Heritage Month in May, the MG2 Foundation partnered with the City of Bellevue to host two art exhibits showcasing the work of local multimedia artists in both of those communities. 

Each event kicked off with an opening reception that included local artists, the City of Bellevue, and the MG2 Foundation, as well as the public. The monthlong exhibits were free and open to the public. 2025 was the second year of this partnership, spearheaded by MG2 Foundation Chair Jerry Lee. 

“Artists around the city have begun to look forward to the opportunity to share their work and their perspectives with the community,” said Jerry Lee. “Our kick-off receptions feature live music and light bites, and they’re an opportunity for the public to meet the artists and celebrate their work.”

One Morning in May: Beat the Bridge for Breakthrough T1D Raises Funds and Awareness to Beat Type 1 Diabetes

Seattle’s University District streets were at a crawl on the morning of Beat the Bridge for Breakthrough T1D, Saturday, May 10th, the day when hundreds came together for a walk/run to support research for type 1 diabetes. Now in its 43rdyear, this event is a fun-filled extravaganza, with a brass band performing at Seattle’s University Bridge to entertain runners stranded when the drawbridge goes up, and a party at the finish line on the field of Husky Stadium. 

This year the MG2 Foundation sponsored a team of 24, both walkers and runners, raising a total of $1400.

“Our team tee shirts were designed by our very own Ryan Lascano,” says MG2 Foundation’s Beat the Bridge team lead Cathy Clark. “’Type One? More like Type Done!’  We want to make this a reality.” 

Christmas in July? Swing for the Cure 2025 Raises an Unprecedented $250,000

We were on the greens in the early morning for the MG2 Foundation’s annual Swing for the Cure. 144 players joined an army of volunteers to create a day of celebration and support with our colleagues, clients, and partners. The event raised $250,000 for Seattle’s Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, totaling more than $2.5 million to date.

This 23rd annual Swing for the Cure dates back to 2003, when Jerry Lee and MG2 leadership held the inaugural Swing for the Cure Charity Golf Tournament to raise money for education, detection, and treatment for women in need battling breast cancer, driven by the loss of his first wife, Patricia, to this cruel disease.

“This event is one of the highlights of my year,” says MG2 Foundation Board member Russ Hazzard. “I look forward spending time with industry colleagues I rarely see, or who I see but once a year. It’s so much more than a day on the greens. It’s a mini-reunion–and all for an important cause.”

Funds raised this year will support the research of a Fred Hutch radiation oncologist, whose upcoming trials will improve how physicians deliver concurrent treatments for high-risk patients.

Rotisserie Chicken Delivery Takes Wing for the 17th Consecutive Year

A small army of volunteers, including several from the MG2 Foundation, took part in the 2025 Annual Rotisserie Chicken Delivery, donating Costco chickens and serving holiday meals on several occasions to the Asian Counseling and Referral Service (ACRS) locations in November and December.

This tradition began 18 years ago, when Jerry Lee and a friend noticed a block-long line of people waiting in 20-degree temperatures outside the food bank. During lunch that day they made some calls, asking for donations to buy roasted chickens for the people in the line. By the end of the meal, they had commitments for more than 300.

Many of those early volunteers still help distribute food and contribute to the fund. This year more than 500 chickens along with all the fixings were served.

Our Recently Published Community Engagement Report Highlights Our Commitment to Positive Change

Mitch Smith
Posted in:

Community outreach combined with charitable giving has always been an imperative at MG2. It is fundamental to who we are as a firm. This year’s report is focused on four areas where we strive to make a difference—our projects, the AEC profession, our company culture, and the communities we serve—and it highlights some of the people who work diligently on MG2’s community engagement initiatives. 

“Our commitment to community engagement is not just an initiative; it’s an essential part of our identity,”shared Mitch Smith, MG2 CEO. 

Introducing Our Community Engagement Report for 2023

Mitch Smith
Posted in:

MG2 is excited to share our Community Engagement Report for 2023. This report highlights our commitment to creating positive change in our communities locally and globally. Firmwide, we encourage our employees to suggest initiatives that address a newly discovered need. MG2 is always willing to give back to the community in ways that are measurable and meaningful.

Our engagement at a glance includes how we weave Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion within the foundation of our firm, how our efforts in Education and Endowments establish our dedication to supporting HBCUs at a higher level, how our sponsorship of Architecture Art & Design demonstrates our support of the arts, and how our emphasis on Health and Wellness points to our holistic approach to designing and creating spaces where everyone can thrive.

Community engagement and giving back have always been an important part of MG2’s core values. Serving our communities is a key component toward making the world a better place for all. 

MG2 Publishes Inaugural Community Impact Report

Mitch Smith
Posted in:

For decades, MG2 has been deeply committed to fostering and growing authentic connections with the societies we live in, and design for. Proudly driven by and shaped by the dedicated employees of our firm, each philanthropic undertaking is a direct representation of the social issues, community challenges, and personal passions held as high priorities by individuals and teams throughout our practice. This personalized approach doesn’t just set us apart from others in our industry: it fundamentally defines who we are and what we stand for as a company.

2022 was truly a remarkable year for MG2. It was a year that tested our agility, perseverance, and character, with exemplary results documented not just through our projects and partnerships, but across the impact we’ve made together in—and on—our communities.

It was a year that empowered our firm to double down on commitments to institutions like Howard University, the University of Oregon, the University of Washington, Washington State University, Lake Washington Tech, and Florida A&M University—with whom we’ve established vocational scholarships to help foster career paths in design for those in underrepresented communities—and forge new relationships with organizations like Seattle-based Fred Hutch, whose strides in cancer research are transforming lives around the globe.

It was a year that finally allowed our staff to reengage in many of the physical initiatives, activities, and events that have always invigorated us to our core. From Day of Giving volunteer missions organized by teams across the globe, to group builds for BLOCK Project and NAIOP Community Enhancement Projects, to celebrating our 20th Swing for the Cure golf tournament in person with our partners once again—the emotion? Palpable. The energy? Visceral.

But perhaps most importantly, 2022 was a year that encouraged us to reenvision and recraft our roadmap for the future of the MG2 Foundation. Armed with deeper intention and meaning behind what we invest in (and why), we look forward to 2023 where we’ll seek to elevate the representation of the Foundation in underwriting all of our community engagements, investments, and initiatives, resulting in even greater impact than ever before.

This is where you, our community, come in. MG2 Foundation initiatives represent an investment not only in what our company stands for but also in our core identity. 

To truly succeed, we need employees at all levels to bring their passions, energy, and ideas to the forefront. We need managers and leaders to help us educate teams about MG2’s impact efforts and to set a positive example by engaging with those with whom you resonate the most. And we need our friends, family, and partners to continue to bring their passions and support to the table. We would not succeed without you.

But most of all, we need everyone to lean in and take advantage of the virtually limitless opportunities at hand. With each new year, it’s our honor and pleasure to grant each of our employees the chance to support the organizations and causes they’re passionate about. To make a genuine difference in our communities, industry, and future. All you have to do is rise to the challenge. 

Here’s to taking our impact even further together, in 2023 and beyond.

Yours in service and gratitude,

Mitch Smith