When Skills for Life approached Design Centered Co., they had an inspired vision but needed a structured pathway to achieve it. Using our Impact Centered Design (ICD) framework, we began where every transformative initiative should start—by clearly defining the impact they sought to create. For Skills for Life, this meant breaking the school-to-prison pipeline for marginalized youth aged 16-25 in the Peel Region while building a financially sustainable model that could scale their mission.
Our Impact Centered Design approach guided Skills for Life through a comprehensive transformation, resulting in securing grant funding worth over 10X their investment in our services and the successful launch of Skills at Work (SAW), their social enterprise initiative. By focusing on Purpose, People, and Process—the three pillars of our framework—we helped them articulate their vision, understand their stakeholders, and build operational systems that continue to serve their community today.
“Being able to work with someone to help us strategically, define the initiative in a way that makes sense, that it could be promoted as a business… It allowed us to present our business in a very professional, structured manner that got us recognized.”
– Chris Thompson, Skills for Life
Background: The Challenge of Sustainable Impact
Skills for Life Inc., founded in 2016 by Chris Thompson, emerged from a deeply personal mission. Having witnessed friends and family fall through the cracks of the education system and into the justice system, Thompson created an organization dedicated to providing essential life skills and mentorship to youth, particularly those from Black, Indigenous, and marginalized communities.
By 2022, Skills for Life had achieved significant organic growth but faced a critical challenge: how to create sustainable impact at scale. They conceived Skills at Work (SAW), a social enterprise offering landscaping and cleaning services that would provide paid work opportunities while developing professional skills for program participants. However, translating this vision into a viable business model required more than good intentions—it required a systematic approach to impact design.
As Thompson reflected during our collaboration, they were “riding a wave” of interest in social enterprises but needed to articulate their model in a way that would resonate with funders, customers, and the youth they served. This is where our Impact Centered Design framework comes into focus.
Chapter 1: Defining the Impact
Before diving into solutions, we worked with Skills for Life to crystallize their intended impact across multiple dimensions:
Social Impact: Providing youth caught in the school-to-prison pipeline with genuine second chances through meaningful employment and skill development.
Economic Impact: Creating sustainable livelihoods for youth while building a financially viable social enterprise that could operate independently of grant funding.
Community Impact: Transforming neighborhood perceptions of marginalized youth by creating positive interactions between youth workers and community members.
Systemic Impact: Contributing to a reformative justice system that offers alternatives to incarceration and breaks cycles of recidivism.
With this multi-faceted impact clearly defined, we could then apply our three pillars to build the solution.
Chapter 2: Purpose – Aligning Mission with Market
The Purpose pillar of Impact Centered Design ensures that every aspect of the organization aligns with its core mission while meeting real market needs. For Skills for Life, this meant reconciling their social mission with business viability.
Articulating the Dual Value Proposition
We helped Skills for Life develop a compelling narrative that spoke to both their social purpose and business value. As Thompson noted, one of the biggest breakthroughs was “being able to help articulate the project into a succinct document” that clearly communicated their purpose to diverse stakeholders.
The resulting purpose statement positioned Skills at Work as more than a service provider—it became a vehicle for community transformation. Customers weren’t just purchasing cleaning or landscaping services; they were investing in their community’s future by providing youth with pathways to success.
Market Opportunity Alignment
Through our strategic analysis, we identified a substantial market opportunity that demonstrated Skills for Life’s purpose aligned with genuine market demand. The analysis revealed their immediate serviceable market was 3X larger than their initial operational capacity, proving that the organization could pursue its social mission while meeting real customer needs in the Peel Region.
Service Definition Through Purpose
Working through the Purpose pillar, we helped Skills for Life clearly define their service offerings. Thompson emphasized this as a key outcome: “Being able to articulate specifically what services and define them so we could speak about it.” This clarity ensured that every service offered—from landscaping to cleaning—directly supported both youth development and customer satisfaction.
Chapter 3: People – Understanding and Engaging Stakeholders
The People pillar of Impact Centered Design recognizes that sustainable impact requires deep understanding of all stakeholders. For Skills for Life, this meant mapping a complex ecosystem of youth clients, service customers, and community champions.
“The biggest thing was being able to do the personas… so we could define who the customer audience would be. I think that was huge for the project. It helped me analyze where we need to go, and we’ve been using that kind of framework.”
– Chris Thompson, Skills for Life
Groundbreaking Persona Development
Thompson identified the persona development exercise as one of the most valuable outcomes of our collaboration: “The biggest thing was being able to do the personas… so we could define who the customer audience would be. I think that was huge for the project.”
We developed detailed personas across three stakeholder categories:
- Youth Clients: Segmented by age (16-17, 18-22, 23-25) and their parents, each with distinct needs for skill development, mentorship, and employment opportunities.
- Service Consumers: Including single-family households, landlords, and small business owners who valued both quality services and community impact.
- Community Champions: Donors, funders, and justice system partners who could provide financial support and youth referrals.
Stakeholder Value Mapping
Through the People pillar, we mapped how Skills at Work would deliver value to each stakeholder group. Youth would receive employment, skills, and mentorship. Customers would receive reliable services while supporting their community. Champions would see tangible social impact and reduced recidivism.
This comprehensive stakeholder understanding influenced every aspect of the business plan, from marketing strategies to service delivery models.
Building Trust Through Relationships
The People pillar also addressed how Skills for Life would build trust with each stakeholder group. For youth, this meant creating supportive mentorship structures. For customers, it meant professional service delivery with a compelling social story. For funders, it meant demonstrable impact metrics and professional documentation.
Chapter 4: Process – Creating Systems for Sustainable Impact
The Process pillar ensures that impact intentions translate into operational reality through well-designed systems and procedures.
Financial Architecture for Sustainability
We developed a comprehensive financial model that Thompson described as giving them “the macro view” of what the program could become. This process work included:
- Multi-year projections showing a path to program revenue exceeding costs by 85% reduction in subsidy needs within two years
- Diversified revenue modeling with four distinct streams to reduce dependency on any single source
- Scalable cost structures that could flex with growth while maintaining service quality
- Clear metrics showing how each dollar invested would generate multiplied social returns
Thompson reflected on the value of this comprehensive planning: “It was good that we had the time to macro view that budget… When funders ask us what we’re trying to get to, we already have that plan.”
Operational Framework Development
The Process pillar guided creation of operational systems including:
- Governance Structure: Clear roles from Executive Director through Service Providers, ensuring accountability and efficient decision-making.
- Service Delivery Process: Standardized approaches to customer engagement, from initial contact through service completion and follow-up.
- Risk Management Systems: Comprehensive risk assessment addressing 8 key risk areas with mitigation strategies and assigned ownership.
- Performance Measurement: KPIs tracking both business metrics (sales growth, customer retention) and impact metrics (youth employment duration, program completion rates).
Implementation Roadmap
Our team created a detailed timeline with specific milestones, responsible parties, and success metrics. This process documentation gave Skills for Life a clear pathway from concept to launch, even when they had to adapt due to funding constraints.
Outcomes: Impact Centered Design in Action
The application of our Impact Centered Design framework produced remarkable results:
Purpose-Driven Success
The clear articulation of purpose enabled Skills for Life to compete effectively for funding. Despite being “the youngest and smallest” organization among 25-30 applicants for a Region of Peel grant, they reached the final three. Officials specifically noted being “impressed with the business plan“, validating our Purpose-driven approach.
People-Centered Results
The deep stakeholder understanding translated into successful program implementation:
- Successfully recruited and hired a program manager whose passion perfectly aligned with the mission
- Established their initial client base within the first operational period
- Generated early revenue proving market validation, exceeding initial revenue targets
- Created compelling video content showcasing youth participants, strengthening community connection
Process-Enabled Sustainability
The operational systems we developed enabled Skills for Life to:
- Secure grant funding representing a 10X return on their investment in strategic planning
- Launch and complete a successful pilot program validated by external evaluators
- Maintain operations with 75% less resources than originally projected while still delivering impact
- Build a foundation that continues to guide their growth years later
Thompson emphasized the lasting value of the process work: “It gave us a working center, that foundation that allows us to pull… so we don’t lose what the project was about.“
The Power of Impact Centered Design
Our work with Skills for Life demonstrates how Impact Centered Design transforms vision into sustainable reality. By starting with clear impact definition and building through Purpose, People, and Process, we created more than a business plan—we created a framework for lasting social change.
The numbers tell a powerful story of return on investment:
- 10X funding return: Every dollar invested in strategic planning generated ten dollars in grant funding
- Top 10% competitive positioning: Reached final round among 25-30 established organizations despite being newest and smallest
- 75% operational efficiency: Maintained operations with significantly fewer resources than projected while achieving goals
- 3X market opportunity: Identified serviceable market three times larger than initial capacity
As Thompson noted, even during periods of uncertainty, the framework remains valuable: “It gives us a working center… that foundation that allows us to pull.“
This is the essence of Impact Centered Design, creating robust frameworks that organizations can adapt and evolve while maintaining focus on their core impact. For Skills for Life, this meant successfully launching Skills at Work despite sector-wide funding challenges, maintaining operations with limited resources, and continuing to provide transformative opportunities for youth in their community.
The success of Skills at Work proves that when impact is intentionally designed through purpose, people, and process, organizations can achieve both social transformation and business sustainability—creating lasting change in their communities.
