who we are
Creators, Conveners, Catalysts, Community
The Guild is a multi-sited social enterprise and development ecosystem — owned and led by people of color (“POC”).
Our direct action work began in Boston, Massachusetts, in 2012.
thousands of hands hold this work.
everything that we do at the guild is the result of collective community voice, talent, interest, and action.
About The Guild: Overview
The Guild was founded in 2012 with the absolute belief that our communities are filled with the talent, strength, beauty and power to create new models of wholeness and prosperity — right here, right now. We shift traditionally limiting power dynamics and support community-owned transformation, leadership and systems change.
The Guild believes that people of color own the means of our own transmutation.
Our work has a proven track record of success through scalable, replicable, public-private partnerships.
ABOUT THE GUILD: OUR STORY
The Guild is a community-driven social enterprise owned and led by people of color that facilitates collaborative alchemy through a process of venue, presence and connection in some of the historically neglected neighborhoods of the Greater Boston Area.
A dynamic cross-sector network whose presence and stewardship in Dorchester, Roxbury and Mattapan evokes the beauty, strength and talent within culturally diverse urban communities of color, The Guild transforms blighted sites into enriching centers of cultural exchange, commerce, artistry and wellness that are then programmed for and by the community. By healing generations’ worth of energetic and emotional scars and embodying a solutions-based spirit toward entrenched disparities imprinted upon the lives of the residents of its community, The Guild is transforming stories of neglect and perceptions of deficiency into a thriving ecosystem of collaborative action and positive impact.
Through open co-creation of the communal “We” space, The Guild believes that resurfacing generations’ worth of shared knowledge and cultural strength will usher transmutation and high vibrational change within, and beyond, urban neighborhoods. The Guild starts with an absolute belief that, despite the inequities and perceptions, the community is filled with talent, strength, beauty and power — right here, right now. Through collaborative vision-in-action, the community undertakes and owns the strategy and means of its own transformation. The ecosystem enters into aligned and equal partnerships that have not only shifted quality of life and created shared assets but has also created systems and policy change.
Where so many see deficiency, The Guild sees power and beauty.
The Guild draws a circle of intention within the public realm that invites their neighbors to bear witness to and engage in co-creation. The connections made within these spaces transform personal and communal experience and expands horizons of possibility. Once bonds of trust are established through shared experiences of healing, cultural expression and dreaming, a dynamic community and business ecosystem emerges.
The energetic impact is both immediate and profound: since 2012, over 20,000 community residents have participated, partnered, and taken ownership of its initiatives.
As a hybrid network who pairs public-private partnership with grassroots community work, The Guild is a proud, living example of a new and replicable community development model that is comprised of both resident-led nonprofit and for-profit initiatives and robust partnerships with The City of Boston and other public and quasi-public entities. The Guild has been featured in The Boston Globe, TEDx, and the Venture Development Center at UMASS Boston and has partnered with the City of Boston, the Mayor’s Office of Community Resilience and Racial Equity, Office of Food Access, Imagine Boston 2030, and multiple city departments including the Department of Neighborhood Development (DND), Transportation Department, the Inspectional Services Division (ISD), the Office of Neighborhood Services (ONS) and Parks and Recreation.
The Guild is founded and led by Jhana Senxian, a Harvard-trained social anthropologist from the Grove Hall neighborhood of Dorchester who brings over 20 years of international experience in research, direct action and cross-sector collaboration. Like Jhana herself, members of The Guild are all expatriates of old systems and outdated sectors who each felt called to pursue new, innovative applications of social change by working within community — as community.
Whether you’d like to sponsor the growth and success of this transformational ecosystem and development model, bring a group to volunteer in a communal food and healing herb garden, learn about our wellness classes and trainings for people of color, provide skill-based swaps, or work on sabbatical for our organization’s technological development, your involvement in our latest and ongoing projects is welcomed at www.theguild.works.
ABOUT THE FOUNDER, JHANA SENXIAN
Jhana Senxian is a Harvard-trained social anthropologist and the founder and CEO of The Guild.
She brings over 20 years of experience in quantitative and qualitative research, direct action, and cross-sector collaboration in the United States, Europe, and Africa. Jhana has both developed and directed strategic partnerships with the United Nations, and has served as an advisor to the U.N. Secretary General’s Office.
More than anything, Jhana has a passion for connection, urban transformation, wholeness, and co-creation with local and global neighbors.
Recognized for her research, publishing, and grassroots action around resilience, sustainability, corporate responsibility, and community transformation, Jhana is currently happiest being, and co-creating, with her personal and Guild family.
IN THE MEDIA
Bay State Banner: ‘Be the Artist’ Festival Debuts at Bartlett Station
Boston Globe: Street Corner Market Revitalizes Bowdoin-Geneva Area