Engage Community.
Design Stronger Systems.
Co-Create Solutions.

Sol is a collective

of strategists, facilitators, and community-builders leveraging human-centred design to advance environmental and social wellbeing.

We turn team and community insights into experiences people *actually* want and community-tested solutions you feel proud to stand behind.

We specialize in equity-focused engagement processes that centre community voices and build organizational capacity in strategy, design, and relationship building.

Our work spans sustainability, education, social innovation, and civic engagement, always grounded in the belief that those closest to a problem hold the keys to its solution.

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We help teams convene, co-design, and launch human-centred solutions that address specific and pressing needs.

Effective solutions require clear and targeted strategies that are easy to deliver. We are skilled at supporting teams in creating organizational roadmaps that are easy to follow.

We are seasoned facilitators offering support with team and board retreats, program refinement, annual planning, and ongoing staff coaching.

Effective solutions require clear and targeted strategies that are easy to deliver. We are skilled at supporting teams in creating organizational roadmaps that are easy to follow.

We are seasoned facilitators offering support with team and board retreats, program refinement, annual planning, and ongoing staff coaching.

Refine Your Strategy

Effective solutions require clear and targeted strategies that are easy to deliver. We are skilled at supporting teams in creating organizational roadmaps that are easy to follow.

We are seasoned facilitators offering support with team and board retreats, program refinement, annual planning, and ongoing staff coaching.

Refine Your Strategy

We are skilled community builders, experienced with crafting intentional community spaces and stewarding multi-year relationships.

We lead from behind: deeply listening and uplifting what communities most need.

We are skilled community builders, experienced with crafting intentional community spaces and stewarding multi-year relationships.

We lead from behind: deeply listening and uplifting what communities most need.

Engage Communities
& Deepen Relationships

The Lab

In the Lab, we co-design real solutions by, for, and with those who are most impacted, bringing them to life together. The Design Lab meets real needs. It’s a thoughtfully curated space for magic: interdisciplinary, multi-stakeholder co-creation.

We host public design labs where community voices are heard and actioned [join one here!].

We host private design labs for organizations looking to solve specific problems with their teams and communities.

We host public design labs where community voices are heard and actioned [join one here!].

We host private design labs for organizations looking to solve specific problems with their teams and communities.

Why is Sol a Co-op?

We believe in democratic, distributive, and collective leadership. We apply these values to our practices, both professionally [in our work] and organizationally [for our work.]

As a co-operative, we work inside a shared-ownership model.

This re-distributes power in a way we think is genuinely pretty cool.

Why is Sol
a Co-op?

We believe in democratic, distributive, and collective leadership. We apply it to our practices, both professionally (in our work) and organizationally (for our work). We work inside a shared-ownership model so we understand viscerally what it takes to make democratic governance actually function.

A co-operative is a collectively owned enterprise that serves the interests of its members. This means a company owned by its workers, clients, or both. In addition to collective decision-making about how to allocate surplus, co-op co-owners get a say in business decisions. This re-distributes power in a way we think is genuinely pretty cool.

Nicole Doray

she/her

Urshian Khalid

she/her

Katie Wilson

she/he/they

Volita Yego

she/her

Samiera Zafar

she/her

Rhona Sinamtwa

she/her

Our Team
Our Team
Our Team
Our Team
Our Team
Our Team
Our Team
Our Team
Our Team
Our Team
Our Team

Research
Research
Research
Research
Research
Research
Research
Research
Research
Research
Research

Research from the Lab

We like to spend more time understanding wicked, webby problems than we do crafting their solutions. This helps us challenge our assumptions before jumping to a prescribed outcome.

We're publishing our research here, in real time, for your feedback. Here's what we’ve learned from our recent design labs.

Participate in the research below! Upvote insights that feel true to you based on your lived or professional experience.

Research

What we heard

Lived experience

Design lab participants who live in Mimico struggle to commute along the waterfront trail after heavy rainfall.

Professional experience

Storm water infrastructure in Toronto, specifically along the waterfront, is outdated and in need of repair.

Data

Catch basins to divert water along flood plains may provide temporary mitigation.

Challenge 1

How might we reimagine the built environment and build resilience to these recurring floods?

Unexpected but inevitable flooding along the Lakeshore worsens mobility and transportation issues.

Pathways we're exploring

Contaminant remediation with constructed wetlands

Updating storm water infrastructure

Trenching along the lakeshore

Catch basins to divert water along flood plains

Sponge parks

Share your thoughts here.

Use the comments section to add more. Got more to say? Shoot us an e-mail!

Stay updated

We won’t send you anything unless it’s *really* cool. Drop your e-mail below if you want to keep in touch!

Engage Community. Design Stronger Systems.Co-Create Solutions.