SDX: InWithForward Workshops Thick Data & Design Research for Donors

Join us for a two-day learning series with InWithForward that will strengthen your ability to gather, interpret, and act on rich qualitative insights.

Whether you're designing programs, shaping strategy, conducting research, building community, or engaging supporters, these workshops will help you move beyond surface-level data to better understand what matters most to people.

These workshops are ideal for nonprofit leaders, fundraisers, researchers, planners, program designers, strategists, community builders, and anyone interested in creating more human-centred approaches to change.

Workshop 1: Thick Data

Monday, November 16

How do we get beneath the surface of a stuck social problem — and see possibilities that our usual data might miss?

Spend a day getting hands-on with “thick data”: human-scale data rich in story, context and meaning. Working with real ethnographic material from over a decade of InWithForward’s research in Canada, we’ll practice moving from stories to patterns, insights and new possibilities for action.

We’ll explore what makes data “thick,” how to gather it ethically, how to make sense of small samples, and how to translate insight into directions for policy, programs, strategy and design.

Expect stories, tools, discussion, and practice.

You’ll leave with:

● Practical ways to gather rich qualitative data about what people say, do, and dream of.

● Tools for moving from individual stories to patterns, tensions, insights, and opportunities

● New lenses for noticing what conventional data can miss

● Tools and frameworks you can bring back to your own research, planning, and practice

Workshop 2: Design Research with Donors

Tuesday, November 17

What changes when we approach conversations with donors as opportunities to facilitate reflection and deeper inquiry? Fundraisers can play an important role in helping donors articulate what they care about most and act with clear intention. Design research offers tools and lenses for doing just that.

In this hands-on workshop, we’ll practise asking questions that invite stories and reflection —and build discernment around what to notice. We’ll look for values, narratives, tensions, behavioural drivers, and assumptions about impact. We’ll practice reflecting back insights and possibilities that can help donors reframe barriers, deepen motivation, and become more readyto commit.

You’ll leave with:

● A digital toolkit for facilitating deeper, more reflective conversations with donors

● Processes for synthesis and witnessing that can generate insight & momentum

● An approach to exploring non-financial ways donors might contribute

● Greater awareness of our own narratives and beliefs about money and giving

Presenters

Natalie Napier, Research & Storytelling Lead at InWithForward

For over a decade, Natalie has worked at the intersection of Social R&D, community development, and systems strategy — designing and scaling initiatives that strengthen wellbeing and expand opportunity for people experiencing economic and social marginalization.

Natalie uses design methods rooted in social science theory to understand how systems are experienced on the ground and how they can change and evolve. She works directly with individuals navigating complex public systems and translates lived experience into insights that inform institutional strategy, governance, and service design. She is particularly interested in how belonging, agency, and purpose function as critical — yet often overlooked — dimensions of social infrastructure.

She is a settler living on Treaty 20 lands of the Michi Saagig Nishnaabeg in Peterborough, Ontario.

Rochelle Nieuwenhuis, Community Co-Researcher at InWithForward

Rochelle comes from multiple worlds – the academic world of mathematics, cellular biology, microscopes, spreadsheets, and data; the non-profit world of drop-in centres and frontline workers trying to create thriving community with people experiencing homelessness and poverty; and the family-lineage-world of Dutch settlers in rural farming communities.

She’s curious about learning & practicing what it means to have deep social connections that bind us together as humans. How do we build networks of care that are reciprocal and dignified, rather than falling into “giver-vs-needy” dynamics? How do we live out ideas such as solidarity not charity, doing with not for, agency and dignity, restorative practice, kinship, freedom and belonging, and healthy team cultures?

Rochelle lives on Treaty 6 Territory in Edmonton, Alberta, the traditional lands of the Nêhiyaw, Niitsitapi, Dene, Haudenosaunee, Anishinaabe, Nakota Isga, and Métis.

Registration Options

✅ Attend Thick Data as a stand-alone workshop
✅ Attend Design Research with Donors as a stand-alone workshop
✅ Register for both days to build a broader toolkit for understanding people, generating insight, and uncovering new possibilities for action

Location: Action Lab, Suite 210, 10408 124 Street NW, Edmonton, AB

Note: You can't see Action Lab from the street but the YWCA is located on the bottom floor of the building and can be a helpful signal that you have found the right spot! The Action Lab is on the second floor of the building to the left as you exit the elevators.

Access Notes

More information about the venue including accessibility information can be found on the Action Lab website.

As SDX, we strive to make our gatherings as welcoming and accessible as possible. At the same time, we recognize that not every event will meet every accessibility need, and there may be barriers that prevent some people from fully participating.

We remain committed to doing our best within the resources and contexts of each event, while also being transparent about the limits of what we can provide. If you anticipate or encounter barriers to participation at an SDX event, please feel free to connect with us at sdxpractice@gmail.com so we can work with you where possible.

FAQs

Where can I find more information about SDX?

• Web Page: https://www.actionlab.ca/sdx

I have an idea I would like to explore at SDX. What's my first step?

Great! If you have an idea you would like to explore with SDX or are interested in leading a session, we'd love to chat. We are happy to use our convening power to explore a suitable idea or challenge. Connect with us via sdxpractice@gmail.com.

Why does this cost money to attend?

There is a charge for this event to help us cover the costs associated with hosting, facilitation and catering. We try our best to keep the cost of events minimal and we never want money to be a barrier for folks. If the ticket price doesn’t work for you, please contact us in confidence and let us know at sdxpractice@gmail.com.

We would like to thank the Edmonton Community Foundation for their support with this event.