Intentional Futures was founded upon the belief that the world’s most complex challenges require collaborative approaches coupled with rigorous and imaginative thinking. Through our work, we strive to bring people together to generate stakeholder-centered solutions which center equity and sustainability in our communities, and create positive impact for as many as possible. 

Our mission:

We hold ourselves, the work we produce, and the approaches we take to high standards. We believe that being collaborative and open is the best way to drive impact that matters, scales and endures. We each play a part of a larger ecosystem where the ripple effect of our individual actions can either create or destroy value for our people, communities, and planet. We adopt a mindset of abundance as we strive to understand that, confront our shortcomings, and do our best to create shared value.

Our story is unfinished. We have much to learn and so many new challenges to tackle. This impact report is an open reflection of our shared commitments and progress in 2022, as well as the gaps and goals we’re working towards for 2023. Through this effort, we hope to look back each year with pride at what we have accomplished, rather than regret at what we failed to do.

1. People

Goal 1.1: Clarify What We Stand For
In order to create a positive impact in the world, it starts with being crystal clear on who you are, what you believe in, and what you’re committed to.
Over the past year, iF has engaged our employees, clients, and partners to sharpen our collective vision and mission, as well as guided many of our clients on their own journey of self reflection.
Impact Story / People:

IEI: Redesigning an organization to bridge a cultural divide

iF partnered with native-led nonprofit, Indigenized Energy, to reimagine an organizational structure to achieve their mission of energy sovereignty for tribal nations. Facilitated discussions surfaced truths and tensions which prevented the team from moving forward.

This was an emotional process that was not easy at times, however the team’s ability to engage in open dialogue led to some transformative breakthroughs – from greater role clarity to goal definition to strategic prioritization to effective collaboration. The impact of this work is still felt today and has created new opportunities for IEI to support native communities at scale.

“What I learned from iF informs everything I do now. We were searching for a quick fix solution but the real epiphanies were in the gaps that were revealed.”
Chéri Smith, Founder & CEO, IEI
Goal 1.2: co-create with diverse stakeholders
Realizing a shared vision for change requires having diverse people and perspectives at the table. Over the past year, we’ve helped many organizations engage their stakeholders to co-design solutions which center on lived experience and unmet needs in the community.
In parallel, we’re actively engaging our own stakeholder ecosystem for continuous feedback on where we’re headed and the impact our work has in the world.
Impact Story / People:

ASN: Co-designing equitable advising with & for students

iF joined forces with the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA) to design and stand up their Fellows Program. This student fellowship met a critical need for the Advising Success Network: positioning Black, Latino/a, Indigenous, Asian, and Pacific Islander students and poverty-affected students as experts on their experiences.

iF helped ensure a commitment to a student- and equity-centered approach every step of the way. The broader impact of this work has just begun – from equipping students with resources and opportunities, creating a platform which centers the student voice, and building a feedback loop to ensure students are supported equitably and holistically in the future. 

“This program allowed us to shift power dynamics between the teacher and learner, compensate students for their time, provide continuous feedback, and implement lessons learned from the community.”
Elise Newkirk-Kotfila, Assistant Vice President for Strategy and Partnerships, NASPA
Goal 1.3: Build internal DEI awareness.
Embarking on a DEI journey should strengthen your culture rather than strain and fragment it.
Over the past year, iF has undergone a series of in-depth, hands-on training sessions designed to create a more cohesive culture and embed DEI more directly in the way we work. In addition, we stood up our Cultural Awareness & Integration practice to support our clients at any point in their DEI journey. 
Impact Story / People:

iF: DEI Journey at iF

At the start of 2022, iF set out to increase our collective awareness and understanding of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, led by Jackie St. Louis, Director of Cultural Awareness & Integration. The intent of this internal work was to evaluate the current state of iF’s policies, practices, and culture through a DEI lens, but also to celebrate the unique stories, backgrounds and expertise of our team.

This ongoing learning journey is not meant to lead to a final destination, but rather guide each individual along the path of self discovery and critical thinking to better equip them with the knowledge and tools they need to question how and when equity is present in their work.

“The rigor and honesty that we took to look at ourselves was refreshing – most organizations don't look in the mirror as directly as we did."
iFster
PROGRESS IN 2022 / PEOPLE:  A focus on growth from the inside-out 

We moved the needle last year around clarifying our organizational purpose, engaging diverse stakeholders, and building our internal DEI awareness last year. We have made significant progress but also realize that there is more work to be done if we are to truly enable our people, clients and partners to be agents of change and realize the desired impacts they hope to create. In 2023, our hope is to positively impact the lives of people beyond the walls of iF by amplifying our mission externally, empowering diverse stakeholders, and centering equity across our work.

1.1 Clarify what we stand for
We strengthened employee clarity and connection to iF’s purpose.
Indicators
We led the entire company in a series of collaborative activities to sharpen iF’s Vision, Mission, and Values.
1.2 Engage diverse stakeholders
We diversified our pool of iFsters and clients, while prioritizing equity in our internal practices and policies.
Read more about out equitable hiring practices here.
We increased diversity by race across the organization including at the manager level. We did not increase diversity by gender, age, or disability.
We increased the geographical diversity of our clients, as well as the % of our work with women or minority-led companies.
We assessed our approach to recruiting and implemented an equitable hiring practice, read more here.
1.3 Build internal DEI awareness
We underwent intensive and effective anti-racism/DEI training with iFsters at all levels.
We more than tripled the time we spent on DEI work as a company since 2021.
Read more about our DEI journey here.

2. Communities

Goal 2.1: Illuminate inequities
In order to fight for more equitable systems and structures, we must first shine a light on the disparities at play. Identifying the root causes of inequities is critical and usually requires an in-depth look at systemic forces, power differentials, and implicit biases.
We believe research must be designed to provide the whole picture of a person, and to elevate the real stories and lived experiences of marginalized and minoritized groups whose voices are too often minimized and tokenized. 
Impact Story / Communities:

BMGF: Centering the voices of those living in poverty

iF partnered with BMGF’s Economic Mobility and Opportunity team to deepen understanding among key audiences about the state of poverty and economic mobility nationally. We conducted research which centered the target population in a way that illuminated their challenges and shifted perceptions around what it’s like to live in poverty and economic insecurity.

By empowering people to share their stories in a real way, we hoped to empower actors and add to the resources that proximate leaders could provide. From the outset, we sought to be true partners with the target population, including offering fair compensation, respecting their expertise, and presenting them in a light that did not reduce them to their condition but rather respected and upheld their humanity for all that it entails. 

“The story of overcoming poverty is usually shared with people in poverty, but this opportunity was for that voice to go straight to the top.”
Participant
Goal 2.2: Understand our positive impact

Complex issues require cross-sector, cross-cultural collaboration in order to design solutions which drive significant and lasting change. Complex issues require cross-sector, cross-cultural collaboration in order to design solutions which drive significant and lasting change.
As a consultancy, we are increasingly brought in to help diverse stakeholders envision and shape complex initiatives which seek to reduce equity gaps and drive positive, equitable outcomes at scale. However it can be difficult to see, track, and measure the impacts of our work as it is implemented and iterated on over time.
Impact Story / Communities: 

OaaU: Uniting leaders around one vision for oxygen equity

COVID-19 highlighted the stark inequity of oxygen access between the developed world and low and middle-income countries (LMICs). With a globally recognized need for oxygen evident, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Philips commissioned PATH to take the concept of Oxygen as a Utility (OaaU) and operationalize an innovative plan to make LMICs oxygen self-sufficient.

To bring their vision to life, Phillips needed to convince a consortium of industry leaders to join the endeavor. iF was brought on to help stand up the Universal Oxygen Coalition (UOC) and led founding members of the coalition through the process of reimagining a new business model for sustainable, on-demand oxygen that saves lives. In 2022, OaaU was selected as one of five moonshots to achieve the SDGs.

PROGRESS IN 2022 / COMMUNITIES: A focus on designing for social change

Last year, we did more projects that focused on illuminating systemic, structural, and organizational inequities. We also designed strategies, models, and tools for creating equitable change. To ensure our work is driving real, positive change in marginalized communities there are gaps that need to be addressed. In 2023, our hope is to shift our focus beyond design to implementation of social change by: getting closer to the root cause, and following through from idea to impact.

2.1 Illuminate inequities
We started tracking how much of our project work prioritizes equitable outcomes.
Indicators:
33% of our projects in 2022 were directly tied to improving outcomes for minoritized and marginalized groups, a decline from 2021 where 51% of our projects were equity-centered.
2.2 Be a force for good
We started tracking how much of our work prioritizes environmental, social, and economic progress.
48% of our projects in 2022 were directly tied to improving environmental, social, and economic outcomes, a slight decline from 2021 where 61% of our projects were impact-centered.
We increased the dollars we donated in 2022 by 1.7x, as well as the time we volunteered in our local community.

3. Planet

Goal 3.1: Design for future generations.
Leaders in every sector are facing mounting pressure to take measures to combat the climate crisis.
We believe the most resilient organizations of the future are those who embrace a next-generation lens today. We are passionate about wielding strategy and design as tools to further greater climate awareness, collaboration, and action.
Recently we partnered with several like minded clients to explore regenerative business models and shared frameworks for climate accountability.
Impact Story / Planet:

gDiapers: Creating a Circular Economy Solution

Intentional Futures played a crucial role in reshaping gDiapers’ strategy, a startup company that produces the only fully compostable diaper on the planet. Despite interest from potential partners and investors, gDiapers was struggling to navigate the dual headwinds of COVID-19 and supply chain issues. With iF’s help, they were able to re-imagine their business strategy and secure funding to expand and integrate their product into communities in Southeast Asia, where the need for sustainable diaper solutions is high. We developed a compelling pitch narrative for impact investors highlighting both the environmental and social benefits of the business model, which has sparked momentum and funding from both philanthropists and businesses.

“iF helped us explore alternative narratives and entity structures that unlocked new possible sources of funding.”
Jason Graham-Nye, Co-Founder, gDiapers
Goal 3.2: Activate the full ecosystem. 
Climate change is a complex issue, and it requires a complex solution – the challenge is not what needs to be done, but how we will accomplish it. Oftentimes, climate solutions are overly simplistic and only tackle one part of the system without considering the multiple stakeholder needs at play, including the planet. We are partnering with Yale to develop and test a methodology we call Stakeholder-Centered Design which equips more leaders with the tools they need to tackle the world’s most complex problems today.
Impact Story / Planet: 

Stakeholder Innovation

Over the past year, we have collaborated with the Yale School of Management to co-design a proprietary approach for Stakeholder Innovation. This emerging design methodology posits that complex societal issues require taking an ecosystem view to redefine the problem across stakeholder perspectives, and design the solution to serve a multitude of unmet needs. We are currently testing and iterating this approach with various organizations and we believe it will unlock better ways to tackle complex issues from climate change, racial justice, geopolitical conflicts, gun control, reproductive rights, etc. 

“Design has largely been applied to one stakeholder: the “user.” Stakeholder-Centered Design is about framing problems and creating solutions for multiple stakeholders. This isn’t the norm for most companies.” - Jon Iwata, Executive Fellow at the Yale School of Management and Practice Leader of Program on Stakeholder Innovation

“Our program at Yale aims to create and make these tools available open source so that we can share broadly what we’re learning with the hope of helping other people put this into practice.”
Jon Iwata, Executive Fellow at the Yale School of Management and Practice Leader of Program on Stakeholder Innovation
Goal: 3.3 Leave no trace.
We’ve always been committed to doing what we can to minimize harm to the planet. For the past 10 years, our home was the greenest commercial building on the planet.
This year, we’re moving to a new space to give iFsters more flexibility to decide how they want to work. We are prioritizing sustainability and accessibility in our redesign, as well as coming together as a team to help beautify and give back to our local neighborhood. 
Impact Story / Planet:

iF – Giving Back through Community Cleanups

In the fall of 2022, we officially moved into our new office space, which is located in the heart of Central District, Seattle’s oldest and most diverse residential neighborhood. It is a priority for our entire team to ensure we are active and engaged members of our community. One way we’re doing this is by participating in the City of Seattle’s Adopt-a-Street program – we have adopted the stretch of street in front of our office and a few blocks beyond, and have implemented quarterly street cleanups with all iFsters.

PROGRESS IN 2022 PLANET: A soft commitment to sustainability

From 2014 to summer 2022, we benefited from being part of a zero carbon office building. With our recent move, we must hold ourselves accountable for doing our part to minimize harm to our environment. Last year we took small steps to engage employees in giving back to our local community, and came up with ideas for making our new space more sustainable and accessible. We are also helping several organizations consider the negative environmental impacts they have. 

However significant gaps remain for us to truly reduce our eco footprint. In 2023, we will actively commit to minimizing waste in the ways that we work and prioritizing solutions that are in service of the planet and future generations.

3.1 Design with and for NextGen
We actively engaged in co-design of NextGen and ReGenerative projects.
52% of our projects in 2022 prioritized designing with and for NextGeneration youth, a slight increase from 2021 where 47% of our projects were NextGen focused.
3.2 Activate the full ecosystem
We developed, tested, and iterated a new methodology for Stakeholder Centered Design.
We increased the number of projects we worked on in 2022 which applied a stakeholder-centered systems approach, read more here.
We shared open source content to encourage broader use of Stakeholder-Centered Design including: blogs, podcasts, tools, and salons.
3.3 Leave no trace
We engaged iFsters in street cleanups and identifying sustainable/accessible office requirements.
We provided iFsters with a flexible WFH policy, and ensured the majority of meetings had a virtual option.
We explored sustainability and accessibility needs for the new office design.

4. Looking ahead to 2023

In an effort to narrow our remaining gaps, we commit to the following impact goals this year:

In an effort to narrow our remaining gaps, we commit to the following impact goals this year: 

PEOPLE

Amplify our purpose


We’ve sharpened what we stand for internally, now we need to communicate it externally in order to seek like minded partners and drive greater collective impact.

Empower diverse stakeholders


We will advocate for and experiment with participatory and inclusive decision making methods to elevate minority voices within iF as well as those we partner with.

Center equity in the iF way

We will integrate our DEI principles across the practices, processes, and tools we use to help more organizations narrow equity gaps and increase positive outcomes.

COMMUNITY

Get to the root cause


We will prioritize community-based research and co-design to surface unheard/unmet needs and possible solutions for driving equitable and sustainable change.

Follow through from idea-to-impact


We will partner with mission-driven allies to test, learn, iterate, and measure the positive (and negative) impacts that our work has in the world.

PLANET

Stand up NextGen/ReGen models


We will move more leaders and organizations to embrace regenerative behaviors and practices designed around the needs of future generations.

Validate SCD for social issues


We will apply our stakeholder-centered methodology in ways which directly advance critical social issues including racial justice, climate action, gender equality, health reform, immigrant rights, etc.

Role model “greener consulting”


We will prioritize the use of local and sustainable products, minimizing our physical and digital waste, and integrating with our neighboring community. 

Thanks for reading our first Impact Report. For feedback, questions, or to continue the conversation, please send a message to Mike Yoon at mike@intentionalfutures.com