* The reliable studio governments and organizations choose — not because we're the biggest, but because we're the most rooted in what's real.
ThinkPlace Americas is a strategic design consultancy that helps organisations, governments and communities address the challenges they face by understanding context across system levels and co-creating solutions through research, participation, prototype and iteration.
Start a conversationA value you can't define a 'never' for is probably just a word you like.
These five survived the test.
We act with purpose, present to the realities and challenges of the people we work with.
We rush decisions or craft solutions without integrity.
We question what we know, bring different perspectives, come with questions before solutions.
We assume we know everything or stop learning.
We look for the best way forward, one step ahead, unafraid to try different things.
We look away from the challenge.
We bring energy and see the exciting part of the work.
We leave things halfway.
We work with uncertainty and stay open to changing plans.
We stick to a plan that no longer fits the purpose.
We don't promise these. We try to live them — and tell each other when we don't.
Co-design, systems thinking, and participatory methods — applied where strategy meets implementation.
Seven practices we weave together — from human-centered research and behaviour design to MEL, AI integration, and organisational transformation.
Applied learning experiences for governments, NGOs, and development teams — including AI for decision-making and AI for beginners.
Projects with governments, multilaterals, and grassroots organizations across the Americas — told as the people they served experienced them.
Most engagements combine three or four of these — shaped around the problem, not picked from a menu.
Quantitative data rarely explains why people do what they do. Without that understanding, programs end up designed for imagined users.
Explore → 02Knowing what people should do doesn't change what they do. Most interventions ignore the norms, habits, and contexts that shape actual behaviour.
Explore → 03Organisations get stuck optimising what exists instead of designing what's needed. Complex problems require systems thinking, not isolated projects.
Explore → 04Traditional monitoring and evaluation reports upward, it doesn't learn inward. Teams end up proving success instead of improving the work.
Explore → 05Most impact organisations adopt AI and digital tools without understanding what problem they solve — or end up automating broken processes.
Explore → 06Consultancies often leave teams dependent on outside help. Real capability is built when the client team can sustain and adapt the work after we leave.
Explore → 07Strategies get written at retreats and filed in drawers. When organisational identity, structure, and culture don't align, strategy unravels.
Explore →Most engagements weave three or four of these together. We don't sell services off a menu — we design the practice the problem actually needs.
Applied learning spaces for governments, NGOs, and development teams — where we rehearse the future before it arrives.
For senior leaders who have to decide how, where, and when to integrate AI into their organisation. No hype, no panic — just clarity on what changes, what doesn't, and where the real risk lies.
For everyone else — the team that needs practical confidence with Claude and generative AI in their day-to-day work. We start where they are and leave them where they need to be.
ThinkPlace Americas brought a rigour and a humanity I haven't seen from other consultancies. They actually listened, and it showed in everything they delivered.
