Community First. Always.

Building Community and Partnerships (BCAP) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit committed to strengthening individuals, grassroots leaders, and nonprofit organizations through capacity building, resource sharing, direct giving, and cross-sector collaboration.

About BCAP

Built to share, not compete.

Building Community and Partnerships (BCAP) was founded on a simple belief: communities already hold the knowledge, leadership, and resilience needed to solve their greatest challenges. Our role is to help build the infrastructure, partnerships, and resources that allow those solutions to grow.

Our journey began in 2022, in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. During our incubation period, we worked alongside mutual aid groups and grassroots leaders across Boston to strengthen collaboration, increase organizational capacity, and better coordinate community-led responses to urgent needs. Those early lessons revealed both the incredible power of neighbors helping neighbors and the limitations of systems that rely solely on emergency relief.

Rather than simply responding to crises, BCAP began building the infrastructure needed for long-term community resilience. We developed systems for direct cash assistance, established a community resource hub, strengthened partnerships across sectors, and designed rapid-response models that connect families with financial support, resource navigation, and trusted community networks. Every initiative has been informed by the lived experiences of the people we serve and the belief that communities should help shape the solutions that affect their lives.

Today, BCAP has evolved into an innovation lab for community-driven change. We design, test, and scale practical solutions that address the root causes of poverty while breaking down the systemic barriers that prevent families from achieving economic mobility. Our first BCAP Innovation Initiative reimagines housing as a salary benefit for family childcare providers, creating new pathways to support working families while expanding access to quality early childhood education and building long-term financial stability for women entrepreneurs.

    • We Respond. Through the BCAP Care Circle, we are building the infrastructure to effectively respond to financial hardship by combining direct assistance, resource navigation, community partnerships, and sustainable giving systems. We are not simply giving—we are building the capacity to give.

    • We Innovate. We develop and test community-led solutions that transform the way systems work, creating scalable models that expand opportunity and strengthen economic mobility.

    • We Partner. Lasting change requires collaboration. We bring together residents, nonprofits, businesses, philanthropy, and government to leverage resources, influence policy, and remove barriers that keep communities from thriving.

    • We Build. We invest in community infrastructure that creates lasting impact. Through initiatives like our planned BCAP Community Hub, we are creating spaces where neighbors can access resources, receive support, build relationships, organize collectively, and develop solutions together.

At BCAP, we believe lasting change happens when we invest in people, strengthen community infrastructure, and redesign systems to create opportunity. Every program, partnership, and innovation is driven by one vision: building stronger communities where every family has the opportunity not just to survive, but to thrive.

Our Team

The People Behind BCAP

Julia Mejia

  • Julia Mejia is the Founder and Executive Director of Building Community and Partnerships (BCAP), a nonprofit organization dedicated to strengthening communities through collaboration, innovation, and economic opportunity. Her commitment to service began at just nine years old, when she helped her mother navigate public systems and advocate for the resources their family and neighbors needed to survive. From standing in food pantry lines as a child to standing up for families in need today, Julia's lived experience has shaped a lifelong mission to create systems that are more equitable, accessible, and responsive to community needs.

    For more than two decades, Julia has organized alongside residents, led nonprofit organizations, and built grassroots movements that empower people to advocate for themselves and their communities. She has dedicated her career to addressing the root causes of poverty by connecting people with resources, strengthening local leadership, and advancing policies that create lasting change. Her work has consistently centered the voices of those most impacted by systemic inequities, transforming community experience into meaningful action.

    Julia holds a bachelor's degree from Mount Ida College and is widely recognized as one of Boston's strongest voices for systemic change. As Founder and Executive Director of BCAP, she is leading the organization's vision to build community-driven solutions that expand economic mobility, strengthen families, and create sustainable pathways to opportunity. Through BCAP, Julia continues to demonstrate that lasting change begins by investing in people, trusting community wisdom, and building systems that work for everyone.

Shirley Carrington, Esq.

  • Shirley Marie Carrington, Esq. is a transactional attorney born and raised in  Boston, Massachusetts. Throughout her legal career, she has advised on complex commercial transactions and large-scale infrastructure projects, including work with a Fortune 500 company. Her experience spans real estate, corporate transactions, and the development of critical infrastructure.

    Currently, Shirley practices in the renewable energy industry, supporting the development of projects that advance clean and sustainable energy. She is passionate about using her legal expertise to facilitate impactful projects while balancing business objectives with practical legal solutions. 

    Beyond her legal career, Shirley is an active member of the Boston Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., where she is committed to service, leadership, and advocacy. As the granddaughter of Minister Don Muhammad, Shirley is proud to continue her family's legacy of public service and community leadership in the City of Boston. She is honored and excited to serve on the Board of Building Community and Partnership (BCAP), inspired by the organization's mission to empower underrepresented communities throughout Boston. Shirley, a proud Dorchester native, looks forward to helping advance BCAP's vision and creating meaningful opportunities for the city she has always called home.

Amara Donovan

  • Amara Donovan is a relationship-driven strategist and community builder dedicated to advancing racial and economic equity. As Community Engagement & Relationships Manager at the Impact Collective, Amara brings together philanthropists, community organizers, and wealth-holders committed to closing the racial wealth gap. She oversees partnerships, alumni engagement, and program strategy for initiatives such as Collective Conversations and Alumni Affinity Groups, deepening the organization’s reach and impact across the country.

    Amara brings a deeply relational and equity-centered perspective to her leadership. The daughter of educators and activists, she is a biracial Puerto Rican woman and was a teen parent whose experiences have shaped her lifelong commitment to anti-racism, relationship building, and community trust. Her lived experience informs her approach to designing spaces that center healing, accountability, and shared power, and to ensuring that equity is embedded in every aspect of organizational and community practice.

    Amara also Co-Founded the Cambridge Families of Color Coalition in 2020, a caregiver-led network working to increase equitable family engagement, build antiracist systems, and culturally relevant opportunities for students and families of color. She is also a board member with Cambridge HEART, which builds local capacity to disrupt cycles of harm. Her earlier work includes working with Black and Latinx business owners, non-profit leaders, and elected officials to strengthen and expand their work and platforms. 

    Amara is known for her ability to move between strategy and connection, designing spaces that foster trust, collaboration, and action. She holds dual Bachelor’s degrees in Public Health and Sociology from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where she received the Jane Addams Sociology in Practice Award for her leadership and research on housing equity, unjust carceral systems, and community health.

Lina Maria Cañon

  • Lina Maria Cañon is a dynamic leader and social entrepreneur serving as the Chief Executive Officer of Smarter Good, a global social impact services firm that partners with nonprofits, social enterprises, foundations, and funders to scale their mission and strengthen the social sector as a whole. Smarter Good’s professionals provide strategic solutions in fundraising, finance, communications, research, and people management to more than 60 mission-driven organizations worldwide.

    A passionate advocate for the value created by social impact organizations, Lina’s work has centered on civic engagement, education, and economic mobility. She brings expertise in finance, development, grantmaking, and program design.

    Born and raised in Bogotá, Colombia, Lina is a tireless champion for equity and access across all sectors. She holds an MBA in Social Impact from Boston University’s Questrom School of Business and is currently pursuing her CPA. Her leadership has been recognized by Amplify Latinx, El Mundo Boston’s 30 Under 30, and with the prestigious 2024 Jefferson Award for Public Service. She serves on the Advisory Council of Union Capital Boston and is co-owner of the Dorchester Art Project Cooperative.

Kanessa Alexander

  • Kanessa Alexander has been an entrepreneur and owner of Perfect 10 Unisex Salon since 1998. A multiple-time Best of Boston award recipient, she has built a career rooted in excellence, mentorship, and community impact. She proudly serves on the West Roxbury Main Streets Board of Directors, where she has been a board member for five years, including serving on the Executive Board and previously on the Economic Vitality Committee, helping to strengthen local businesses and foster a more vibrant, inclusive business district.

    Beyond the salon, Kanessa is the founder of Perfect 10 Transformative Coaching, where she serves as a coach, mentor, and advocate for women and aspiring entrepreneurs. She is also a mentor with Modern Mentors, a mentoring program dedicated to empowering and supporting young women. Known as a modern-day mentor, she is passionate about helping others grow personally, professionally, and financially while creating opportunities for future generations.

    Kanessa is a dedicated community activist and the creator of West Roxbury’s inaugural Juneteenth Festival, bringing together residents, businesses, artists, and elected officials to celebrate freedom, culture, and unity. Above all, she is the proud mother of four daughters, whose lives continue to inspire her commitment to leadership, service, and building stronger communities.

Marina Seevak

  • Marina Seevak is the force and heart behind the Shlomo Fund, a philanthropic initiative she created with inherited wealth from her father, Sheldon (Shlomo) Seevak. Rooted in equitable wealth redistribution and direct, person-to-person giving, Marina focuses on standing behind Black and Brown leaders, grassroots organizations, and non-traditional visionaries. Her work centers on creating space for community leaders to innovate, solve problems, and make meaningful change happen.

    For over a decade, Marina has been creating "good trouble" alongside BCAP founder Julia Mejia, combining their deep community connections, financial bandwidth, and heart-led leadership. The Shlomo Fund is proud to be the seed funder of BCAP, as well as other powerful organizations such as We Will All Rise and Love Your Magic.

    Before launching the Shlomo Fund, Marina was a public school teacher and college instructor. She has been active in the Early Childhood Education community for close to 40 years. In 2012, she founded The Beautiful Stuff Project, a non-profit dedicated to increasing access to play and the arts through creative reuse—an organization she continues to run today with deep commitment and joy.

    Marina holds a BA from Tufts University and an MAT from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, along with postgraduate certificates in Trauma Studies from the Justice Resource Institute and Non-Profit Management from the Institute for Nonprofit Practice at Tufts University's Tisch College.

    She is the proud single mom of a son who is an artist living in Lake Tahoe with his wife.

Ricardo O. Neal

  • Ricardo Neal was born in St. Catherine, Jamaica, and raised in Lawrence, Massachusetts, and currently lives in Baltimore, MD, with his wife and two children. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and a Master’s degree in Social Work from the Boston University School of Social Work.

    Ricardo Neal is Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer of We Will All Rise and Principal and Managing Director for The Propel Agency, LLC., a management and leadership consulting firm.  For nearly 30 years, Ricardo has served in various leadership and governance roles within the education, philanthropic, and advocacy sectors, leading community-change work both nationally and internationally. His expertise in management, fundraising, policy and advocacy, and community activism has been utilized in leadership roles across public institutions and community-based organizations. He has focused his work on representing and advocating for people living in under-resourced communities. Ricardo is widely respected for his management approach and has held various roles throughout his two-and-a-half-decade career. 

    Ricardo has won numerous awards, including the Boston University School of Social Work's Hubie Jones Service Alumni Award (2005), the University of Massachusetts Amherst Alumni Association's Distinguished Alumni Service Award (2008), and the District of Columbia Public Education Fund's Rubenstein Award for Highly Effective School Staff (2017). He is a contributing author to the book, We Be Lovin’ Black Children: Learning to Be Literate About the African Diaspora (Myers Education Press, March 2021). Ricardo served as the commencement speaker for Boston University School of Social Work in 2025.

    In his spare time, Ricardo enjoys a healthy early morning run or walk, which affords him time to quiet his mind while also allowing for reflection. Ricardo enjoys spending quality time with his wife and children. When he is not with his family and friends, he actively carves out time for his role as a mentor to the young people with whom he has developed long-lasting relationships over the past 25 years. Ricardo splits his time between Baltimore, MD and Lawrence, MA.