KAI founder and chairman Michael E. Kennedy, Sr. was honored Oct. 18 with a Lifetime Achievement Award during Construction Inclusion Week held Oct. 16-20 at Harris Stowe University in St. Louis.

Founded by McCarthy Building Companies in 2020, Construction Inclusion Week is an annual week-long, industry-wide effort to champion change and cultivate a more inclusive construction industry. Now in its third year, the event has grown exponentially with over 5,000 firms registered to participate nationwide.

The event’s Lifetime Achievement Award celebrates the exceptional standards of construction excellence, dedication and accomplishment in the St. Louis region over a sustained period of time. Surrounded by family, Kennedy and Karl Grice of Grice Group Architects were honored with the award on Oct. 18 at Harris Stowe University’s Emerson Performance Center in front of a crowd of minority AEC industry organizations and businesses.

“Kennedy has played an integral role in the creative, technical and professional progress as a minority business development owner over the course of his professional life,” according to an email from McCarthy announcing the award recipients.

Kennedy wanted to be an architect since age nine and became fascinated with construction watching homes being built in his Richmond Heights neighborhood designed by African American architect Charles Flemming. Despite a high school guidance counselor advising him in 1963 that Washington University’s schools of architecture “only took the cream of the crop and no negroes,” the university reached out to Kennedy in 1969 as the Civil Rights movement gained recognition and invited him to enter the School of Architecture as a graduate student with a degree in another subject. He then went on to study architecture at Washington University for an additional four years before finally became the first African American architect registered in the State of Missouri.

He founded KAI in 1980 from his home office and grew the business alongside his oldest son Michael Kennedy, Jr., CEO, into one of the largest minority-owned AEC firms in the country with a diverse workforce of over 150 employees at its St. Louis headquarters and offices in Kansas City, KS; Atlanta, GA; and Dallas-Fort Worth, TX.

“Today is so appreciated, I am humbled by it,” said Kennedy. “I didn’t forget what my high school guidance counselor told me. As a 17-year-old, that went all the way to my marrow. Ever since then, I had two ambitions motivating me daily. One was to prove that he was wrong and the most important one was to demonstrate to my people that you can do it too. I couldn’t find a room with this many African American businesses in the construction industry here in the City of St. Louis when I started my career.”

Over the course of his career, Kennedy and the KAI team have designed several notable St. Louis-area landmarks, including the St. Louis City Justice Center, St. Louis Metro Light Rail Stations, Clyde C. Miller Career Academy, Harris-Stowe’s William L. Clay Early Childhood Center, and the Downtown Gateway Transportation Center, among many others.

Kennedy has also pursued numerous civic commitments to the St. Louis area, having served on the Board of Directors for the Downtown St. Louis Partnership, Forest Park Hospital, United Way of Greater St. Louis, St. Louis Regional Commerce and Growth Association, American Red Cross and others.

KAI Enterprises

KAI Enterprises is a national design and build firm providing delivery-oriented building solutions with a diverse portfolio of experience, in-house multi-discipline professionals, and expertise in both design and construction delivery. Founded in 1980, KAI has grown into one of the largest minority-owned firms in the AEC industry. For more than 40 years, KAI has been instrumental in transforming communities through its expertise in residential, commercial, K-12, higher education, healthcare, science and technology, aviation, mobility, sports and entertainment, government, water and community-focused projects. KAI Enterprises is comprised of four distinct business units—KAI Design, KAI Engineering, KAI Build and KAI 360 Construction Services. To learn more about KAI, visit www.kai-db.com.