InWithForward
InWithForward is a Vancouver-based participatory research and design firm that co-creates social programs and policies with Canadian governments, foundations, and non-profits through ethnographic research, co-design, and methodology products including Curiko, Soloss, Auricle, and the Flourishing Field School.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2014
- HeadquartersVancouver, Canada
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What InWithForward does
InWithForward is a Vancouver-based participatory research and design organization that works on the root causes of social issues through ethnographic research and co-design. Founded circa 2013–2014, the firm collaborates with Canadian government agencies (City of Edmonton RECOVER Urban Wellness Plan, City of Vancouver Convivial City, BC Office of the Representative of Children and Youth), foundations (Vancouver Foundation, Community Foundations Canada, Metcalf Foundation), and non-profit social service organizations to redesign services and policies related to wellbeing, social isolation, homelessness, disability, aging, and community grief. Its methodology integrates social science, anthropology, and design thinking through proprietary approaches including the Grounded Change framework (built on seven mechanisms of change), Thick Data collection from small samples in everyday contexts, and local listening infrastructures such as Auricle.
The organization delivers a portfolio of program products rather than traditional SaaS: Curiko (a platform connecting people with and without disabilities); Soloss (a community grief and loss support network with public ceremonies); Kudoz (a learning platform for people with cognitive disabilities); Meraki (a subscription box for families with disabilities); Fifth Space (an HR practice allocating staff experimentation time); Grounded Space (a seven-organization R&D collective of social service providers); Grounded Data (systems connecting policymakers with service user realities); and the Flourishing Field School (an educational program for practitioners and policymakers). Supporting outputs include The Trampoline Effect book, Soulful City and The Questions of The Ages interactive publications, and a digital ethnography methodology. No APIs, software integrations, app store presence, or machine learning capabilities are offered; outputs are predominantly publications, workshops, and co-designed interventions.
Revenue is generated almost exclusively through project-based professional services contracts and grants with the named government, foundation, and non-profit partners listed above. The organization operates with a deliberately small team (1–10 employees) across Vancouver, British Columbia and Peterborough, Ontario, with project work spanning Edmonton, Toronto, North York, and additional Ontario jurisdictions. No venture capital, private equity, or institutional investment is disclosed, and ownership is presumed to remain with the founding team.
InWithForward firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- InWithForward
- Legal name
- InWithForward
- Website
- https://inwithforward.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2014
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- InWithForward is a Vancouver-based participatory research and design firm that co-creates social programs and policies with Canadian governments, foundations, and non-profits through ethnographic research, co-design, and methodology products including Curiko, Soloss, Auricle, and the Flourishing Field School.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
InWithForward industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Participatory Research & Design Consulting
- NAICS
- Educational Support Services (6117), Educational Support Services (61171), All Other Schools and Instruction (61169)
- SIC
- Services-Educational Services (8200), Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)
- akta.pro primary industry
- NGO/Nonprofit Education Programs & Service Delivery (EDADALAC)
Keywords
Where InWithForward is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Vancouver
- HQ country
- Canada
- HQ region
- North America
Offices2 records
Markets served
InWithForward business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D
Revenue model
- Consulting & Project Fees: Revenue generated through contracted research, design, and evaluation projects with government agencies, foundations, and non-profit organizations. Projects include ethnographic research, co-design workshops, program development, and policy advisory services.
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels7 records
InWithForward product offering
Product offeringCore offering
InWithForward is a participatory research and design organization that conducts ethnographic fieldwork, co-designs new programs and policies, and builds research-and-development capacity within governments, foundations, and non-profit social service organizations. They sell contracted research, co-creation, adaptation, and learning services — including the Flourishing Field School — alongside named programs such as Auricle, Curiko, Soloss, Kudoz, Fifth Space, and Grounded Space.
Product overview
InWithForward is a participatory research and design organization offering a portfolio of products and programs centered on social change and wellbeing. Their core offerings include Research (spending time in communities listening and learning), Co-Create (co-designing, testing and growing alternative practices and policies), and Learn (Flourishing Field School for learning events). Key products include: Curiko (a connection platform for people with and without disabilities), Soloss (a community healing and loss support network), Kudoz (a learning platform for people with cognitive disabilities), Meraki (a subscription box for meaningful moments), Auricle (local listening infrastructure for measuring wellbeing), Fifth Space (HR practices giving staff 20% time for experimentation), Grounded Space (an R&D collective for social service organizations), and Grounded Data (data systems connecting policymakers with service user realities). They also produce publications including The Trampoline Effect book, Soulful City interactive PDF, and The Questions of The Ages. The organization focuses on co-designing interventions with end users rather than developing technology products with traditional integrations or APIs.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Grounded Space: A Research & Development Collective that brings together social service organizations to build teams who can ask critical questions, do research, generate alternatives, make & test ideas, and continuously iterate.
- Fifth Space
- Auricle
- Kudoz
- Curiko
- Soloss
- Flourishing Field School
Quantifiable outcome
- 75% of Learning Circle participants reported seeing their challenge and user group from a new perspective
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use InWithForward
Customer profileNamed customers9 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
InWithForward technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature6 records
InWithForward partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
14 partnerships are on record, tiered core and supporting.
- City of EdmontoncoreLong-term partnership with the City of Edmonton to create, test and measure interventions that improve wellbeing through the RECOVER Urban Wellness Plan. Conducted extensive ethnographic research with street-involved adults and developed tools for measuring and strengthening community wellbeing.
- Degrees of Change Design (Curiko)corePartnership to address social isolation by building Curiko - a platform connecting people with and without disabilities to moments of connection. InWithForward conducted evaluation research on Curiko's Theory of Action in 2024.
- Vancouver FoundationcorePartnership through BetaPhil project to observe Vancouver Foundation's grantmaking team and develop opportunities for strengthening equity and deepening impact of Systems Change Grant. Also partnered on PurposePhil concept books reimagining philanthropy.
- BC Office of the Representative of Children and YouthcorePartnership to make visible lived realities of young people with experience of family breakdown through digital ethnography project. Hired youth co-researchers and created storytelling approaches to inform public policymaking.
- Dixon Hall Neighbourhood ServicessupportingCollaboration on Rooms & Brooms project - 10 days of ethnographic research at rooming houses in Toronto to understand what shapes belonging, agency, and aspirations.
- City of VancouvercoreConvivial City 2020 partnership to understand aging in rapidly changing communities through 10-day ethnographic research. Insights used to inform Vancouver's Healthy City Strategy.
- North York Community HousecoreQuick Dive research partnership to understand experiences of Filipino immigrant families and youth in North York. Explored best and next practices for community service organizations.
- Massey TheatrecoreExploration partnership to understand how arts and culture can enable people's flourishing. Collaborated through Quick Dive methodology and existing Kudoz partnership to reimagine what an arts institution could look like.
- Community Foundations CanadacoreCollaboration with Vancouver Foundation and Community Foundations Canada to develop podcasts, learning circles, and retreats that re-imagine the system of philanthropy through the PurposePhil concept book series.
- Population Health Solutions LabsupportingPartnered with Population Health Solutions Lab on the Rooms & Brooms ethnographic research project in Toronto.
- Volunteer AlbertasupportingDeveloped (Re)Engaged Volunteerism report with analysis from ethnographic work across Alberta, reframing volunteering and identifying opportunity areas for the future.
- Allies in AgingsupportingPartnered on Bingo Halls & Shopping Malls project exploring experiences of seniors 75+ in Greater Vancouver area, in collaboration with Government of Canada.
- North Shore Tribal CouncilcoreWorked with Anishinaabe families entangled in the child welfare system to create Picture This scrapbook of family stories, strengths, and speculative futures for developing new Indigenous law and system.
- Grounded Space MemberscoreR&D Collective bringing together social service organizations to build capacity for asking critical questions, doing research, generating alternatives, and continuously iterating. Grew to 7 organizations.
Scale indicators8 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
InWithForward competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Livework: International service design consultancy applying ethnographic and co-design methods to public sector and social innovation challenges. Directly comparable in methodology and target buyer (government agencies, foundations) to InWithForward's participatory research practice.
- The Moment: Canadian design research firm applying ethnographic and design methods to social challenges and public sector innovation. Directly comparable as a small, Canada-based practice with overlapping methodology, social impact focus, and similar client base.
- ReD Associates: Strategy consultancy rooted in social science and anthropology, advising leaders on culture, behavior, and innovation. Comparable to InWithForward in its ethnographic depth, social-science foundation, and use of qualitative insight to drive organizational and policy change.
- The Good Lab: Social impact research and design consultancy working with nonprofits, foundations, and governments on community-centered innovation. Comparable as a smaller, mission-driven peer applying participatory research and co-design to social programs in North America.
- Participle: UK-based social design firm co-founded by Jonas Piet, focused on designing services with marginalized populations including socially isolated older people. Directly comparable as both InWithForward and Participle work at the intersection of ethnographic research, co-design, and public/social sector systems change.
- Public Policy Lab: Nonprofit design and research organization applying human-centered design to public policy and government services. Closely comparable to InWithForward's model of embedding ethnographers within government and social service organizations to redesign service delivery.
Broad incumbents
- IDEO: Global design and innovation consultancy widely recognized for human-centered design and ethnographic research methods. Comparable as it offers participatory design services to governments and social sector clients, though at far greater scale and broader scope than InWithForward's niche.
- frog (frog design): Global design and engineering firm (part of Capgemini Invent) with a strong social impact practice using ethnographic research and co-design. Comparable in methodology and serving similar public/social sector clients, though at enterprise scale.
- Engine Service Design: UK-headquartered service design consultancy (formerly Precedent and Touchpoint), with Jonas Piet having prior experience there. Comparable as a service design firm operating across public, private, and social sectors using participatory methods.
Emerging players
- BEworks: Behavioral economics consulting firm applying rigorous research methods to organizational and policy design. Comparable to InWithForward's evidence-based, applied-research approach to social challenges, with overlapping public and nonprofit clients.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat3 records
Key risks7 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
InWithForward social profiles
Digital presenceInWithForward financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
InWithForward leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles5 records
InWithForward funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
InWithForward M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about InWithForward
What does InWithForward do?
InWithForward is a participatory research and design organization that conducts ethnographic fieldwork, co-designs new programs and policies, and builds research-and-development capacity within governments, foundations, and non-profit social service organizations. They sell contracted research, co-creation, adaptation, and learning services — including the Flourishing Field School — alongside named programs such as Auricle, Curiko, Soloss, Kudoz, Fifth Space, and Grounded Space.
Is InWithForward a public or private company?
InWithForward is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was InWithForward founded?
InWithForward was founded in 2014. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is InWithForward based?
InWithForward is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada, in the North America region.
How does InWithForward make money?
One revenue line is on record: consulting & Project Fees.
Who are InWithForward's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Livework, The Moment, ReD Associates, The Good Lab, Participle and Public Policy Lab. Broad incumbents are IDEO, frog (frog design) and Engine Service Design. BEworks is listed as an emerging player.
Does InWithForward have an API?
No public API is recorded for InWithForward.
What industry is InWithForward in?
InWithForward's product category is Participatory Research & Design Consulting. Its primary akta.pro industry code is EDADALAC, NGO/Nonprofit Education Programs & Service Delivery. Its NAICS code is 6117 and its SIC code is 8200.