I2I’s Heart-2-Heart on Our New Direction, 2026 Vibe Check, & New Client Alert
Happy new year! (Can we still say that when January felt like it has been at least one year long?)
Welcome to the first 2026 installment of Intention 2 Impact’s Heart-2-Heart — our monthly newsletter where we share what’s on our mind, in our hearts, and up our sleeves.
This month, we re-introduce I2I 4.0 with a new focus on communications, vibe check 2026, and spotlight our newest partnership with Decolonizing Wealth Project.
On Our Minds
Lately, it feels like we’re living in the Upside Down.
Between immigration raids, state-sanctioned killings, rising authoritarianism, attacks on truth, accelerating AI, and the daily drumbeat of crisis, many of us are carrying a sense of fear, grief, and exhaustion. It is overwhelming to live and work in a world where so much feels unstable, unjust, and out of our control.
We hear this from partners. We feel it ourselves.
And in moments like this, we often return to a simple question: What does it mean to show up with integrity when the world feels like it’s on fire?
For us, the answer has always been rooted in our work.
At I2I, our consulting practice is more than a business model. It is our channel for advocacy. Our way of participating in collective problem-solving. Our contribution to the co-creation of a more just, humane, and resilient future.
We don’t organize marches. We don’t write legislation. But we do something else we believe deeply in: we help the social sector learn faster, see more clearly, and act more boldly in service of communities.
That is our form of resistance.
It’s why, since 2018, we’ve partnered with foundations, impact investors, and nonprofits to strengthen how they understand their work, listen to communities, and make decisions. And it’s why, as the world has grown more complex and volatile, we’ve become even more intentional about how we show up.
Over the past year, one insight has sharpened for us: In this moment, it is not enough to simply generate good evidence.
We have to make sure it travels.
We have to make sure it’s understood.
We have to make sure it’s protected.
We have to make sure it’s used.
That’s why we’re increasingly focused on two inseparable practices: measuring and communicating impact.
We measure so that organizations can see what is really happening — beyond anecdotes, beyond funder-friendly narratives, beyond surface-level metrics. We measure so learning can be honest, equitable, and actionable.
And we communicate so that learning doesn’t disappear into reports, folders, or forgotten links. We communicate so evidence can shape strategy, influence capital, shift narratives, and strengthen accountability to communities.
Together, measurement and communication fortify the infrastructure of meaningful change.
That’s why we’re intentionally evolving I2I from a MEL firm to a social impact consultancy known for both measuring impact and communicating it — clearly, responsibly, and in ways that move learning into action.
In 2026, we’re investing more deeply in narrative, design, and dissemination so evidence doesn’t stall out in reports, but reaches the rooms where decisions are made and accountability is shaped.
We’re excited to share this next chapter with you. Follow along as we launch our new website and expand our communications work — and join us in practicing what we believe: Impact is a Verb™.
Because in the end, it’s not just what you do — it’s how you do it. And our role is to help ensure that “how” is grounded in evidence, equity, and humanity.
In Our Hearts
A new year calls for a new Mood Board. In typical I2I fashion, each I2I team member curated their 2026 mood board to dream & document their visions, goals, and vibes for the year ahead. This practice continues to be a favorite I2I annual ritual, 5 years and counting!
We invite you to jam-out to I2I’s 2026 playlist whilst flipping through our latest mood boards.
Up Our Sleeves
🔦Decolonizing Wealth Project 🔦
Team I2I is jazzed to announce our latest partnership with the Decolonizing Wealth Project.
Decolonizing Wealth Project is the genesis of Edgar Villanueva’s 2028 smash hit book, Decolonizing Wealth: Indigenous Wisdom to Heal Divides and Restore Balance. The organization is dedicated to stewarding a global movement through reparative giving that shifts power alongside resources. To date, they have influenced nearly $1 billion in giving through direct engagement with donors and institutions.
They are on a mission to ensure $1 trillion is redistributed by 2035, proving that when we repair our shared history, we create futures where everyone can thrive.
Team I2I will collab with the Decolonizing Wealth Project to create a MEL framework to measure and communicate the impact of transforming wealth into collective wellbeing. We will also work closely with the Project’s Youth Mental Health Fund (YMHF), a $20M fund launched in 2025 that grants to organizations and Tribes offering mental health services tailored to the unique experiences of youth ages 10 to 24.
Onward and upward, y’all!
You know, heart-2-hearts are supposed to be a 2-way street…
So comment below, what’s on your mind, in your heart, and up your sleeve? Hopefully a lil’ bit of good trouble. 😉
Subscribe to the newsletter here!
Until next time,
Intention 2 Impact
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