Welcome to The Formative
We work with individuals, teams and organisations who are tackling some of our hardest social and environmental challenges, or are committed to contributing to a better world through purpose-driven business.
But we do it a little differently than your typical ‘consulting’ or strategic service.
Our Story
Founded in late 2021 by Caitlin Stanway (that's me!), The Formative was born at the juncture of some big and challenging experiences: launching a tech-based social enterprise, consulting for non-profits and purpose-driven businesses, embarking on a Masters in Business & Social Impact, and delving into trauma-informed yoga teaching while managing my own journey with burnout. I needed to slow down but the urgency of our climate and social crisis felt too overwhelming, and too important to step away from.
As I navigated my situation, and started to see it reflected in the organisations and communities I was working with, I realised a crucial truth: no amount of strategy or expertise could drive meaningful change if individuals and teams were at their emotional and mental capacity. This realisation led me to radically rethink my approach to success and impact, placing wellbeing and resilience building at the forefront of my work.
The Formative is a coming together of 13+ years of experience in social impact, branding, marketing, leadership and business development, complemented by training in trauma-informed yoga and social justice. It’s an exploration and an invitation on how to slow down and think differently, for greater impact.
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We’re deeply passionate about capacity from the inside out. Whether we’re working 1:1 with individuals or with a team, we incorporate capacity building for wellbeing and resiliency into our programs, workshops and strategies.
Grounded in our Embodied Impact™ methodology, we integrate a diverse range of modalities, including people-centred design, yoga philosophy, trauma theory, theory of change design, decolonial practice and systems-thinking, to drive transformative outcomes.
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We know where our own strengths lie, and that the best work is done together. This work can [and should] be cataclysmic.
We collaborate with some incredible people and teams offering complimentary services and knowledge sets across organisational development, measurement and evaluation, organisational psychology, branding, design, meditation training and more.
Our Approach
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We believe everyone has the right to wellbeing, and to see effective systemic change we need to care for everyone in the system.
We’re working towards an enterprise that uses a portion of our profits to develop and fund trauma-informed somatic and mindfulness programs for individuals and communities experiencing barriers to entry to mainstream spaces and initiatives.