Towards an inclusive, equitable and sustainable world

The Guild was born out of a need to serve changemakers and help maximize their impact in the world. These changemakers work on the front lines of pressing issues such as racial justice, climate change, food insecurity, education, public health, and gender equality. They come from all walks of life, exist in every community, and are doing some of the most important work of our time. The Guild's mission was clear and two-fold from the beginning: First, what can we do to ensure that these changemakers thrive so they can sustain their impact? And second, how can we strengthen the ecosystem they operate in to truly move the needle on these issues?

With this mission in mind, we developed two programs. Our flagship Guild Co-living program focuses on holistic (personal and venture-focused) development, while Guild Labs focuses on redesigning the broader “impact ecosystem.” Such comprehensive, sustainable development on both the individual and systemic level requires more than demographic diversity. It requires an ecosystem founded on real inclusion. Each changemaker must feel able and empowered to impact the issues they are passionate about regardless of their race, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, skin color, socioeconomic status, or their physical ability.

With this core value of inclusion, The Guild officially launched in 2016—a tumultuous year to say the least. The rise of demagogues around the world threatens to subvert all of our changemakers’ great work and achievements, demanding a renewed sense of urgency and coalition-building from us all. So, at The Guild, we are doubling down on our core values going forward. We seek to look at every issue, every solution, and every opportunity through a lens of intersectionality. We affirm our interdependence on each other. We believe that black lives matter; that queer rights and lives matter. We believe that women’s rights are inseparable from human rights, that no person is illegal, and that an injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. Inclusion is our bedrock — it is our springboard to success. Being intentional and uncompromising about inclusion is how we will build resilient communities, economies, and cities. I believe we need it now more than ever.

Onward, upward, and in community,