Our Story

11A Collaborative was founded in New York City, a city of paradox. It is at once a place of great possibilities and also incredible hardship. On the same corner there can be an exclusive Michelin-starred restaurant and a pizza place selling two-dollar slices—both delicious. Home to an extraordinary array of people spanning race, culture, ethnicity, language, class, and country of origin, New York offers limitless opportunities for creating caring connection across differences. 

11A Collaborative is inspired by Selda Chender, the grandmother of our founder, Julian Chender. A refugee escaping Mussolini and Hitler, she arrived alone and penniless in New York City in 1941 at the age of 17. Her curiosity, strength, will to survive, and endless pursuit of personal and professional growth embodies our purpose: to build human connection.

11A was Selda’s apartment number, a place where she artfully hosted gatherings, salons, and family engagements, leaving a rich and lasting legacy. It is this intimate heritage that we bring to our work in purpose and strategy, organization design, change activation, and executive coaching. We facilitate generative conversations that are crafted specifically for the unique needs of our clients. We look holistically at the full system, taking into consideration the needs of the individual and the organization. We use our deep expertise in human behavior to understand the past, define our present, and build for the future.

As we expand globally, we look back at apartment 11A to remember that healthy society is ultimately defined by the quality of our connections, no matter what city.