We facilitate a path forward.
#CommunityEngagement #DesignResearch #InsightsDevelopment #ServiceDesign #GroupProcess #Facilitation #SystemicDesign #StrategyDevelopment #CoDesign #StrategicForesight #InnovationConsulting
Organizations and teams with social or ecological purpose face tremendous pressure in today's world. At the same time you seek to meet real need, you’re asked to deliver value on a shoestring, facilitate and demonstrate deep impact, and attract the attention of funders.
At Unless, we believe thoughtful, intentional processes and facilitation rooted in empathy and presence are a key to success. We’re told over and again that our work brings clarity, purpose, and structure to the kinds of change happening in organizations and across systems today.
Whether it's developing a functional strategy, articulating a vision for the future, mapping a system to identify leverage points, articulating theories of change, redesigning services around evolving needs, helping groups get unstuck, or illuminating insights grounded in deep community engagement—we bring our experience with design, systems, and facilitation to help get to better.
Our Services
We offer a range of services that we deliver in partnership with you. We’re not outsiders looking in, but rather, work best when we’re embedded as members of your team—learning from you and understanding the important context of your organization and the systems it exists within.
Understand Complexity
Identify pain points and diagnose problems.
Lead community engagement.
Frame insights and opportunities.
Map problems and identify levers of change.
Envision and Create
Design new programs and services.
Visioning.
Create the conditions for new solutions to emerge.
Prototype solutions to learn what works.
Facilitate strategy development.
Navigate Change
Plan, manage and deliver projects.
Navigate change.
Evaluate the effectiveness of an intervention.
Facilitate Innovation Labs.
Facilitate groups and process.
What our clients say about us.
-
#ServiceDesign #Visioning
“Unless supported Carizon’s Pathways program to rethink our services. Their skillful facilitation turned a potentially difficult change into an opportunity to maximize our team members’ insights and experiences, leading to the co-creation of many potential solutions. The team's approach fostered a safe space where people felt engaged, motivated, and inspired to engage in out-of-the-box thinking and dreaming. Unless provided timely coaching, intentional project design, and meaningful (FUN!) brainstorming activities. Beyond service design, our work with Unless positioned us as innovative, solution-focused collaborators with our funders.”
Debbie Engel, Director Community Services
Carizon Family & Community Services -
#DesignLab #DesignThinking #CapacityBuilding
“Our Place has had the chance to work with Patrick and Glen on a number of different projects for the organization. They immerse themselves in the work at hand. With their design toolkit and experience, they help to frame the intersectional challenges real people face in helpful ways. They also build the capacity of the teams they work alongside—sharing their knowledge and tools and supporting teams to follow their curiosities, try new things, and learn along the way.”
Our Place Family Resource and Early Years Centre
-
#CommunityEngagement #Strategy #Visioning
“The team at Unless Design Partners were instrumental in helping make our Community Climate Action strategy project a success. Not only did they lead the community consultation process, they helped to develop our community's vision for the future and then played a key role in the development of the final strategy. Most importantly, Patrick and Glen really committed to helping our work excel. Their commitment to the project, the impact of the work, and our team was exceptional. There are few consulting groups that really become part of the team and commit like Patrick and Glen. Could not recommend them highly enough.”
Tova Davidson, Executive Director
Sustainable Waterloo Region
