The Toniic Shift

Big questions are at the heart of The Toniic Shift: a project to listen to, learn from, and generate future scenarios with past, present, and prospective network members. 

Like so many purpose-driven organizations, Toniic faces significant headwinds. Member attrition poses questions about its business model. Growing competition poses questions about its role. And more existentially, stubborn inequality, rising authoritarianism, plutocracy, technological disruption, market uncertainty, and the climate emergency pose questions about its underlying theory of change. Perhaps you would frame the problems and opportunities we face differently — that’s why we hope to talk with you.

Our social design team, InWithForward, has spent the last 15+ years working with governments, philanthropists, investors, social organizations, and everyday people to grapple with complexity, co-create new theories of change, and test transformative models of practice. We bring together human-centered design methods with critical social science theory, which enables us to toggle between the world as it is and the world as it could be. 

In partnership with Toniic, we are exploring how the network might engage members, steward resources, and repurpose the financial system for social and environmental wellbeing. Our shared starting point is that the current financial system treats profit as an end, rather than as a means to flourishing lives and ecosystems. Recasting our financial system so that it is in service to everyday people and the planet requires lots of big and little shifts — shifts in mindsets, relationships, resource flows, policies, and practices. 

Through The Toniic Shift, we will: 

• Reflect on individual and organizational roles and purposes
• Probe members’ underlying values, beliefs, and desires
• Imagine alternative futures and financial models

To identify what needs to shift and how, we use a design research process consisting of cycles of divergence and convergence. That means, we go wide to gather distinct perspectives before identifying patterns and actionable insights.

• In our first cycle, we will spend time with 15-20 present, past, and prospective Toniic members to understand what matters most to them: their values, world view, and theories of change. Out of these conversations we write profiles, group people according to shared needs and desires, and generate an early set of opportunities.
• In the second cycle, we use these draft opportunities as starting points for co-design workshops and scenario building.
• In the third cycle, we test promising ideas by prototyping their component parts — everything from fresh value propositions, roles, interactions, tools, and more.

If you are seeing this page it’s because you’ve been identified as someone with a valuable point-of-view! We hope to learn from you. Here’s what taking part in the project looks like:

• One virtual conversation (2 hours): A relaxed, exploratory session with one of our designers. We’ll guide you through prompts to explore your motivations, values, goals—and whatever else comes up. (People often say it feels cathartic… in a good way)
  Optional second conversation (up to 2 hours): A deeper dive, building on the first conversation. Sometimes the good stuff needs time to surface.
• A “playback” session (1 hour): We’ll share what we heard and reflect it back to you. You’re in control—you can edit, add, or revise anything that doesn’t feel right.

1. You have something to contribute. Perhaps you’ve got strong opinions about impact investing. Or maybe you’re not so sure what you think about Toniic or our financial systems. We’re looking for the confident, the passionate, the cautious, the unsure, and the weary. Your ideas, uncertainties, and questions help us better understand both the problem and solution space.
2. Shape the future direction of Toniic. Whether you are committed or on the fence, your reactions and thoughts can help us to identify where to from here. 
3. You can tell us what you really think. Because we are independent of Toniic, and you choose what we share back, you can be honest about your experiences with Toniic, impact investing, and what you think is called for — without needing to be polite or politically correct.
4. Have some fun with us. Our goal is quite simply to learn. We don’t have an agenda to sign you up to anything, or sell anything. Hopefully that’s freeing.
5. A self-retreat. People often say talking to us feels reflective and reaffirms what matters to them. At a moment where there is no shortage of world events to process, this is a conversation where we can grapple with the tough stuff out loud.

Just like data is critical to impact investing, we think it’s foundational to future forecasting — especially data thick in nuance and insight. Thick data zooms in to identify what drives human behaviour, zooms out to understand cultural context, and pans left, right, up and down to spark imagination.

Thick data comes from guided conversation and collaborative co-design. Unlike feedback surveys or customer satisfaction interviews, the goal of thick data isn’t simply to improve a service, but to challenge assumptions, reframe problems, and explore alternative directions.

To support good conversation and idea generation, we create a set of design research tools. Where most surveys stay at the level of what people say they do, design research tools try to get at the gaps between what people do, say, believe, and really want. Through card decks, timelines, images, and projective prompts, we probe people’s underlying logics, feelings, and reactions.

The InWithForward team on this project includes Lana Klok (left), Dr. Sarah Schulman (centre), and Raph Katz (right).

• More about Lana: Born in Amsterdam, Lana has lived in Austria, Norway, the Netherlands, and now Canada. She has been running her own design & research business for a couple of years, working with over 20 international clients and organizations. Lana holds a Masters in Interaction Design (TU Delft). She spends her leisure time outdoors, backcountry skiing, camping, hiking and biking.
• More about Sarah: Sarah grew up in Austin, Texas and has lived in five countries. She has worked with governments in the UK, Russia, US, the Netherlands, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Human Biology and a Masters in Education Policy from Stanford University and a Doctorate in Social Policy from Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar. Sarah is a serial social entrepreneur (InWithForward is her 5th organization!), author, journalist, and a new mom.
• More about Raphael: Born in the UK, Raphael has lived in London, Copenhagen, Montreal, Vancouver, and Toronto. He holds a Masters in Interaction Design from Copenhagen and was a Danish design award finalist, as well as honored by Core 77 in the service design category. Raphael is a longstanding team member of IWF. He enjoys morning swimming, photography, and comedy.