ABOUT

Canfield Consortium

Canfield Consortium is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit community development organization committed to restoring the neighborhood community experience in East Canfield Village.

MEET OUR

Board Members

KIM Theus

President

Kim’s work advances culture through community, advocacy, and art; and she continues to shape her neighborhood’s revitalization through beautification projects, vacant lot activation, and community park enhancements.

Rhonda Theus

Vice President

Raised in Detroit, particularly the Eastside, Rhonda’s work ethic, compassion, and love for her city drive her pursuit of excellence. Her focus lies in community engagement and rejuvenating underserved neighborhoods. Rhonda’s mission is clear: to improve lives economically, and socially, and to advocate for racial equality by revitalizing overlooked neighborhoods.

Dina Pearson

Secretary

With deep roots in East Canfield Village, Dina has been a dedicated board member since day one. As a mother of five and the owner and lead designer of Life of the Party, an event planning firm known for its flair and precision, Dina brings a wealth of experience and a passion for excellence to everything she does.

Alexzandria Poole

Board Member

Alexz has spent her career serving as a public defender in New York City and Detroit. During her time as a public defender, she also played an integral role in several projects outside of the courtroom—including Know Your Rights training for immigrant communities and Detroit youth, advocating for discovery reform in Albany, New York, and promoting data integrity in public defender office settings.

Shania Richardson

Board Member

Shania’s long-standing involvement and immense support has been invaluable to the Canfield community’s growth. It’s fitting and timely that she joins our core team, where she will continue to be a pivotal part of our future development.  

Our

Founding

After watching their Detroit neighborhood shift from a thriving community to an area of blight, Rhonda and Kim Theus, sisters who grew up in East Canfield Village, founded Canfield Consortium to eradicate issues associated with blight, such as substandard infrastructure, rundown buildings, and idle space.

By initiating an outreach effort to connect residents, schools, churches and businesses, Canfield Consortium is restoring the East Canfield Village community that holds tremendous promise for current residents, residents to come, visitors and businesses.

Our

History

In August 2018, Canfield Consortium completed its first community project, the East Canfield Community Flower Garden.

In October 2019, Canfield Consortium had its first East Canfield Village Fall Festival and the Grand Opening of the second community Flower Garden (Canfield-Lemay Community Flower Garden).

In August 2021, Canfield Consortium had its first art installation in the East Canfield Art Park, the Boy Holds Flower statue done by Austen Brantley.

Our

Contributors

Canfield Consortium gratefully acknowledges the contributions of the corporations, foundations, and government agencies listed above.

We also wish to thank individual donors and the many volunteers who support our work; you are an immeasurable part of our progress.

Finally, thank you to our community partners for collaborating with us to transform communities:

  • ​Barack Obama Leadership Academy
  • Detroit Collaborative Design Center
  • Detroit Future City
  • Detroit Land Bank Authority
  • Eastside Community Network
  • Keep Growing Detroit
  • MACC Development
  • Motor City Grounds Crew
  • Community Development Advocates of Detroit
  • JIMA Studio​
  • Partners’ Design Build
  • Sidewalk Detroit
  • Brightview
  • Design Core
  • Detroit Parks Coalition
  • Ecology Center
  • Modish Creative Co.
  • SeeYouMovmnt

Let’s work together