> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.co.school/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Research & storytelling - URL: https://www.co.school/services/research-storytelling/ - Published: 2026-10-01T20:23:33.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-01T20:23:33.000Z - Description: Listening-driven projects to engage your community, deliver impactful stories and drive real change. - Author: Kevan Gilbert - Tags: Services A pathway to new insights and innovation, built on respectful community engagement. ## You're working hard. Is it working? Organizations are designed to keep going. That's a good thing. But if we keep shipping, keep operating, keep running, without ever asking if we're achieving our intended results...we risk not just stagnation, but irrelevance. What impact are you having, really? If you asked your community members, what would they say? What stories are hiding within the living reality of your people, if only you took the time to ask? ## Listening transforms. It can can be absolutely revelatory, to truly listen. The empathy built through close connection with your community has the capacity to change lives. When we gather stories from your community, it's not just new *insights* that emerge. There really is *change* that takes place, just in the act of paying attention. Co.school's research and storytelling projects are designed to: - Respectfully, relationally, gather stories from those in your community. - Write with clarity and simplicity to synthesize the key themes learned from the conversations. - Co-create a report with you that helps your stakeholders take action, make decisions and create change. ## Listen before you leap Some of the work Co.school's clients have gone on to undertake after a storytelling project have included: - A total organizational rebrand, from re-naming their organization to developing a new brand identity. - The launch of a new organization. - The development of a new strategic plan. - The creation of net-new work-streams, programs or service offering - The redesign and streamlining of an existing offering. The foundation of innovation is empathy: paying attention to the needs, stories and lived reality of those impacted by your presence. Therefore, if change or innovation is what you desire, the starting point is listening. ## What's the process? A partner ready to undertake some community-driven listening research would [reach out to start a conversation](https://www.co.school/contact/). Together, we'd scope the work: how many voices are you hoping to reach? How would we hope to reach them? What is your relationship like with them? What output are we looking to create? We'd then craft some invitations, create a booking link, and schedule some chats. Over the course of weeks or months, we'd host interviews, round-tables, workshops; we'd run surveys, and undertake custom research pathways that we design together. From there, we would synthesize the learnings into a clearly-written report. This may sometimes be a "What We Heard" report treated as an internal deliverable, for a leadership team or board. Sometimes, this may become a public-facing asset like a micro-site with its own branding. We're happy to work with you on any direction. Crucially, throughout the process, we are honouring the relationships you are stewarding. We respect the anonymity preferences of participants, honour the privacy and vulnerability of those involved, design purposefully regarding compensation, and more. All of this is discussed with you before the process begins. Here's how I described the process in a recent LinkedIn post: ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/78/bc/78bcdb42-e603-41c4-9fc8-2411afdffe5a/content/images/2026/10/Screenshot-2026-10-01-at-12.43.38---PM.png) ## Stories from the story-gathering If you're wanting to read a little more about how this work has gone, feel free to read some of the case studies, below. [Improving supplier diversity with service design, for CQCCPutting members first in the Canadian supply chain conversation![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/78/bc/78bcdb42-e603-41c4-9fc8-2411afdffe5a/content/images/icon/2-Co.school.Logo.Avatar.Rnd.Black--1--977d6cb7-2739-44e5-a8fd-b70112ff1ace.jpg)Co.school is a human-centered design studio (BC, Canada).Kevan Gilbert![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/78/bc/78bcdb42-e603-41c4-9fc8-2411afdffe5a/content/images/thumbnail/CQCC-Case-Study-Web-Assets-2-1-be5b9c54-1060-4d69-be9b-f7ab500da306.jpg)](https://www.co.school/work/improving-canadian-supplier-diversity-by-design/) [Accelerate Okanagan: A community-driven insights reportBringing relationships and stories together for new insights In Kelowna, BC, a curious emergence unfolded over the course of a decade: when local legendary startup Club Penguin was acquired by Disney, it generated a chain reaction of tech talent and start-up growth that eventually led to the Okanagan being![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/78/bc/78bcdb42-e603-41c4-9fc8-2411afdffe5a/content/images/icon/2-Co.school.Logo.Avatar.Rnd.Black--1--ee26b934-7d55-4bf2-a0b5-31208236209e.jpg)Co.school is a human-centered design studio (BC, Canada).Kevan Gilbert![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/78/bc/78bcdb42-e603-41c4-9fc8-2411afdffe5a/content/images/thumbnail/ao-89bde9de-22a1-44ee-850c-ce339cb06ed9.jpg)](https://www.co.school/work/co-creating-a-story-driven-community-vision/) If you're curious about what you are reading here, and want to learn more, feel free to [reach out!](https://www.co.school/contact/)