Welcome to Village
We can't tackle today's big challenges alone.
It takes a Village.
Hi I’m Cal. Village Co is my independent consultancy focused on supporting for-purpose orgs to make an impact through strategic design and participatory methods. With 15 years of experience across health, community services, education and justice, I set it up because I kept seeing the same pattern: good people, important problems, and approaches and solutions that don’t fit the complexity of our current context.
I work across all Village projects and draw on a trusted network of researchers, facilitators, and changemakers when the work calls for it. That means you get the consistency of working with one person who knows your context, with the depth of a broader collective behind it.
I work at the speed of trust. That means getting properly underneath a challenge before jumping to solutions, bringing the people closest to the problem into the work, and building your team's capability as we go, so you're not dependent on me to keep things moving.
I won't hand you a report and disappear. I'll be in the work with you, and when we're done, you'll have something that actually sticks.
Research and Sense-making
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Co-design and facilitation
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Strategy and innovation
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Capability building
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Research and Sense-making | Co-design and facilitation | Strategy and innovation | Capability building |
Services
I can help with
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Research
Getting underneath the surface of a challenge — through interviews, participatory community research, and working with you to make sense of what you find.02
Co-design & Facilitation
Working with communities or internal stakeholders to design responses to your challenges together. Workshops, facilitation, and participatory processes.03
Strategy & Innovation
Helping organisations get clear on direction and build plans that are grounded in evidence and owned by the people who'll carry them out.04
Capability building
Build your team's confidence and skills in design and innovation so the work continues after I leave. Hands-on, practical, and tailored to where your team is right now.How I work
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In every engagement, be it training or facilitation or design and innovation, I make it a priority to show out work and bring people along the way. I don’t pretend what I do is magic, and I want people to be able to build their skills and confidence to be able to continue on after the project finishes.
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Relationships and wellbeing are at the core of what I do. I work at the speed of trust, making sure that the space I hold are safe for everyone to engage equally. This isn't an optional extra, it's what our practice is built on.
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At the heart of my work is the belief in the power of meaningful partnerships. I engage deeply with all stakeholders, fostering a culture of participation that ensures every voice is heard and valued. This participatory approach strengthens the fabric of our collaborations, creating a unified force for social innovation and change.
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I prioritise the perspectives and expertise of those directly impacted by systems and services, giving them a seat at the table with experts and service providers. I practice meaningful participation and transparent processes rather than extractive research.
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I help teams explore what might work — not by analysing from a distance, but by testing, making, and learning in context. Drawing on designerly ways of working, I use early prototyping and iterative design to surface possibilities, uncover assumptions, and deepen our shared understanding of the system. This approach leads to more adaptive responses and more grounded insight — because the thinking evolves through the doing.
Download the free toolkit
You're trying to create impact, but something's not moving
The Momentum Framework is a free reflection tool for purpose-led teams. It helps you unpack what’s getting in the way of progress — and gives you practical ideas, prompts, and a 10-week email series to help you move forward with clarity.
