Based on Interview with Nowshad Ali (On Purpose Leadership) by Krystal Rudyk (itracks)
With the fast-growing city of Saskatoon growing more diverse by the day, understanding the real experiences of newcomers is essential. This case study explores how itracks’ client and collaborator On Purpose Leadership designed and delivered a unique engagement project for Immigration Partnership Saskatoon (IPSK). In the end, the payoff was data with depth, stories with power, and insights with impact.
Who are On Purpose Leadership?
Founded in 2000 by Nowshad (Shad) Ali, On Purpose is a consultancy with a unique approach. As the name suggests, its mission is to help organizations, communities, and leaders achieve their outcomes and objectives without compromising their core values. “Purpose without compromise of values” is how Shad describes their overarching framework. On Purpose helps clients to identify their areas of non-compromise, clarify their mission, and realign their operations for effectiveness and sustained high performance.
“Our clients often come to us in one of two states,” Shad explains. “Either one, they are in times of high demand and success, and they need to figure out how to fully exploit that momentum and lead their way through growth and innovation, or two, they are in times of duress and decline and they need a clear path forward. Our job is to help them gain clarity and confidence, to trim those sails and gain mastery over those winds of chaos.”
On Purpose typically follows a three-phase approach: Analyze, Optimize, Implement. That methodology has helped organizations across Canada, from nonprofit agencies to corporate clients, move from data confusion to actionable strategy. The firm’s work often starts with a rigorous assessment phase and builds into long-term partnerships—some lasting decades.
“We ask the tough questions,” Shad says. “And not everyone is ready for that. But when they are, that’s when real transformation happens.”
The IPSK Project
Immigration Partnership Saskatoon (IPSK) came to On Purpose with the goal to better understand the barriers and opportunities facing newcomers in Saskatoon. While they had experience with traditional community consultations, they wanted a deeper, more inclusive process—especially one that prioritized voices that are often unheard or underserved.
“We needed to hear not just what people said, but how they said it,” Nowshad shared. “There are layers of meaning in the tone, the pauses, the vulnerability. We had to create space for that.”
The Solution: A Mixed-method, listening-centred approach
To achieve this, On Purpose deployed a mixed-method engagement model including the following:
- Asynchronous discussion boards hosted on itracks Board allowed participants to respond on their own schedule, providing thoughtful input without the pressure of live participation.
- Live video focus group sessions gave space for in-depth storytelling, dialogue, and elaboration with no need to travel.
- In-person forum event added a sense of community and connection to data collection and results presentation.
- Targeted recruitment ensured a representative mix of newcomers, service providers, and community stakeholders.
Once all responses were collected, they were consolidated into a list that live forum attendees could upvote based on perceived level of importance so that the stakeholders could appropriately prioritize initiatives.
This hybrid approach was especially effective for engaging individuals with language or time barriers. “Some participants were more comfortable writing than speaking,” says Shad. “Even if their grammar wasn’t perfect, they felt safer expressing themselves that way.”
Insights & Findings Highlights
- Job Interview Barriers: One participant shared how a question about Indigenous relations during a job interview completely threw them off. “It wasn’t that I didn’t care. I just didn’t know what to say, and it shook me. After that, I couldn’t focus.”
- Preparation Gaps: Participants expressed a need for clearer expectations around Canadian hiring practices, especially for entry-level professional jobs.
- Emotional Honesty: The asynchronous board gave people space to open up. “Not everyone is comfortable speaking in a group,” says Shad. “But everyone deserves to be heard.”
- Respecting Language Diversity: When compiling the final report, On Purpose preserved original participant quotes—grammatical errors and all. “That’s how people actually speak when they’re new to the country,” Shad emphasized. “Erasing that is erasing part of their truth.”
Technology’s Role
itracks’ platform offered an essential tool for flexible, scalable engagement. With options to segment participant groups, host multimedia prompts, and collect asynchronous input over several weeks, it was a natural fit for the project’s inclusive goals.
“The ability to join the conversation on your own time is huge,” says Shad. “Especially for newcomers juggling work, family, and sometimes multiple jobs.”
Impact
The IPSK engagement surfaced key themes that are now shaping program development. For example, the concept of a newcomer internship program emerged directly from participant feedback. The project also modeled a new gold standard for public consultation—one that integrates both qualitative depth and technological accessibility.
“We didn’t just collect data,” Shad points out. “We collected courage, vulnerability, and wisdom. That’s what you get when you create real psychological safety.”
In a world of templated surveys and rushed engagement, On Purpose proved there’s a better way. By thoughtfully layering data collection tools, holding space for honesty, and treating community input with the respect it deserves, they uncovered insights that charts alone could never reveal.
For Shad Ali, it all comes back to one thing: purpose. “We measure success not by how much data we gather, but by how much truth we uncover.”
For more information or to work with On Purpose Leadership, check out their website here.
To learn more about how itracks’ qualitative data collection and analysis tools can work for your next project, give us a shout!