Bring community ownership to your neighborhood.
WELCOME TO BASE: BUILDING ASSETS, STEWARDSHIP AND ECONOMIC DEMOCRACY
Join a national cohort of place-based organizations to launch a Community Stewardship Trust in your city.
The Community Stewardship Trust (CST) is a model for neighborhood-scale community ownership of commercial and mixed-use real estate.
It gives residents a way to collectively invest in neighborhood assets, participate in governing them, and share in the wealth those assets generate—keeping land, decision-making power, and wealth rooted in community.
Click through the interactive slideshow to learn more about the CST.
BASE is not just a course on community ownership. The cohort is designed to help participating organizations apply the CST model to a real project in their community—working through the ownership, governance, capital, and development decisions required to move it forward.
01
Understand the Model
Learn how the CST combines community ownership, democratic governance, and shared wealth-building—and explore how the model can be adapted to different places and contexts.
02
Develop a Real Project
Apply the model to a specific commercial or mixed-use property, from site assessment and project feasibility to pro forma development and capital strategy.
03
Learn in Community
Work alongside a national cohort of practitioners navigating similar questions, challenges, and opportunities—and learn from experts across the community ownership field.
04
Get Hands-On Support
Receive tailored technical assistance from The Guild and program partners to address the specific legal, financial, governance, development, and organizational questions facing your project.
Key Dates
PROGRAM FEE
We offer a sliding-scale fee of $5,000–$18,000 to cover program costs. Limited scholarships are available for organizations with demonstrated need. Limited travel expenses included for the in-person gathering in Atlanta.
IS THIS COHORT RIGHT FOR YOU?
If you answer yes to at least 5 of 6, we encourage you to apply. If you’re somewhere in the middle, talk with us first.
1. Do you have a specific commercial or mixed-use project or site in mind?
2. Can at least two people from your organization participate throughout the program?
3. Is your organization place-based in the U.S. and aligned with community governance, shared ownership, and local wealth-building?
4. Can your team travel to Atlanta for the in-person convening?
5. Is your project at the idea, site identification, or pre-development stage?
6. Do you have a relationship with a local funder you could invite into this work?
BASE will bring together teams from 10-12 different cities. If multiple organizations in your city are interested, we encourage you to join forces and apply as a coalition with one shared project.
“Working with The Guild on the replication of their Community Stewardship Trust model has been fantastic! The team is so knowledgable, deeply organized, and have made this process smooth and painless. They have supported all aspects from legal to financial modeling to governance and education. We couldn’t ask for a better group of folks to work with as we expand our practice of community ownership at the Kensington Corridor Trust.”
ADRIANA ABIZADEH-BARBOUR,
Executive Director,
KENSINGTON CORRIDOR TRUST, Philadelphia, PA
“The Guild has been a vital partner to 4theVille, guiding the design of governance workshops that introduced residents, city government, community partners, and elected officials to community governance as we begin implementing a formal structure.
Through focused curriculum development, they’ve equipped our community with practical and culturally grounded tools.”
AARON WILLIAMS,
Executive Director,
4THEVILLE, St. Louis, MO
RESOURCES AND APPLICATION
Review the Program Deck
See the full curriculum, technical assistance model, partners, fees, success metrics, and timeline.
Apply to the Cohort
Applications open October 2026.
Deadline: November 30, 2026.
Partner or Fund
We welcome expert consultants and funders to support this program and the organizations within it.
Have Questions?
Questions about applying, partnering, funding—or whether the cohort is right for your organization?