The Ecosystem Project

Illuminating and transforming the human systems we live and work in.

Wicked problems resist our best-laid plans. Fix one thing, and another breaks. Push harder, and the system pushes back. It can feel like nothing ever changes—like you’re just spinning your tires.

The Ecosystem Project helps leaders see the whole ecosystem—and then transform it. Our method moves from Illumination to co-creating strategies and interventions that shift systems toward healthier, more fit-to-purpose futures.

It’s both a book and a consulting practice—giving you the tools, guidance, and support to put this method into action.

Ecosystem Illumination and Transformation – Consulting Services

Five Stages for Illumination and Transformation

From Illumination to Transformation

The Ecosystem Project is more than a book or a framework—it’s a consulting practice that helps leaders and organizations take action in complex ecosystems. Our work unfolds in two phases:

Phase 1: Ecosystem Illumination

We start by making the invisible visible. Together, we map your ecosystem, uncover hidden dynamics, and surface the leverage points that matter most.

Phase 1: Illumination

Phase 2: Ecosystem Transformation

With clarity in hand, we move into action. We co-create strategies and interventions designed to shift the ecosystem toward healthier, more fit-to-purpose futures.

Phase 2: Transformatioon

Some clients stop at Illumination, using their new insights to guide their own work. Others continue into transformation, working with us to design, Engage, and  Sustain systemic change. Either way, the process is tailored to your ecosystem and the people within it.

What is The Ecosystem Project?

We launched The Ecosystem Project as a joint venture between Sierra Learning Solutions and NextWAVE Innovation, driven by one big question: How do you create real change in a world that’s more complex, connected, and interdependent than ever?

What began as a collaboration on a book has evolved into something bigger: a dynamic consulting practice helping organizations navigate complexity with confidence.

Too often, well-intentioned efforts fail because they overlook the deep structures, hidden dynamics, and resistant forces within systems. Over the past two years, we’ve worked alongside leaders, facilitators, and change agents to refine a method that works with complexity rather than against it—bringing clarity to tangled systems and designing interventions that actually stick.

If your challenges feel overwhelming, you don’t need another plan. You need to see—and shift—the system.

Who We Work With

We collaborate with leaders and teams tackling complex, high-stakes challenges, such as:

  • Large-scale institutional shifts and transformations

  • Complex stakeholder networks that need alignment

  • Innovation, strategy, and social change initiatives

  • Organizations seeking to better leverage their environment and landscape

Our approach has been applied across diverse human ecosystems—from an entrepreneurial ecosystem in the Lower Hudson Valley, to a regional human talent network in Southeastern Minnesota, to complex organizations working on human resources, brand strategy, and innovation.

About Us

Our Mission

The Ecosystem Project exists to help organizations and institutions understand, map, and transform their ecosystems. We believe change is most effective when it aligns with a system’s natural dynamics—leveraging relationships, networks, and strategic interventions to create sustainable impact.

Meet the Team

The Ecosystem Project is co-led by Rob Brodnick and Karyn Zuidinga, seasoned practitioners in systemic innovation and strategic change. With decades of experience in organizational strategy, human-centered design, and institutional transformation, we bring both expertise and a collaborative approach to every engagement.

Together, through our joint venture between Sierra Learning Solutions and NextWAVE Innovation, we’ve created a proven methodology for illuminating complexity and transforming ecosystems—so leaders can move forward with clarity and confidence.

 

"From the start, the Venture Hub sought to map the entrepreneurial ecosystem of the Hudson Valley. In fact, it was a central part of our strategy-- to link people, services, and resources across a widely dispersed, large geographic area. Without a methodology, or specific know-how in this area, we were hampered in our attempts, until we met Rob and his team at The Ecosystem Project. Rob’s project was a perfect opportunity for us to explore and capture the nuances of the entrepreneurial ecosystem so that we could more effectively illustrate what our region has to offer and work more cohesively. The Ecosystem Project methodology, relying on Miro, the collaborative tool, enabled us to rapidly capture and share knowledge, and visualize the intricacies of our regional ecosystem. Now that we have a visual representation and a set of value propositions, we are in a position to advance hypotheses about the ways the relationships can be strengthened, how various players can be strengthened, and how the Venture Hub can leverage momentum to meet our end goals—increased investment in promising startups, revenue, and job growth, and economic growth of the Hudson Valley. "

– Kristin Backhaus, Dean, School of Business, SUNY New Paltz

"Given the multitude of demands on higher education institutions—enrollment shrinkage, financial shortfalls, curricular innovations, accreditation, graduation rates, etc.—it is understandable that many leaders find it challenging to deliver on strategic partnerships with external constituents. How is there time to collaborate with external partners on transformative projects when there is so much campus-based work to do?! And yet, not prioritizing external partnerships puts higher education at risk with society that increasingly questions the relevancy and value of college degrees. I have 30 years of higher education experience—equally split between being a faculty member and an administrator— with my academic discipline situated at the intersection of organizational behavior and strategic management. I found the Ecosystematic Project founded by Rob Brodnick to be a powerful new approach for understanding complex systems. Using an ecosystemic approach to study the shared goal of regional human (talent) development yielded key insights and interventions with an incredible efficiency and effectiveness. Rob and his team curated and developed technology tools (e.g., Miro), canvases, questions, and visuals that illuminated great insights (it made the invisible, visible!) and yielded a wide diversity of interventions. The Ecosystematic Approach is the type of framework needed by any leader facing complex situations—and this most obviously includes higher education leaders."

 – Brenda Flannery Dean Emerita, Minnesota State University, Mankato

"I began by feeling slightly overwhelmed and unsure about whether my contributions made sense, and curious about how such a diverse group of leaders—with such a widespread and complex ecosystem—would co-journey together and make sense of our shared knowledge. By the end of the first session, I was no longer uncertain and felt eager and energized. As the work progressed, I was both able to add my perspective and details in the ecosystem and apply what I was learning in the process to my daily leadership. I would like to “telescope down” into specific parts of the ecosystem and understand smaller components of work and collaboration: adding details about the bark, ferns, and moss (to continue the metaphor). I have begun doing this for my own unit by utilizing Miro and applying what I’ve learned to help us understand the wider picture and collaborate asynchronously. And, I would like to continue to “telescope out” to see how my organizations relate to others in my region/place or in similar contexts. What can I continue to learn by looking in new ways and with deepened understanding? I learned so much from hearing my colleagues put language and meaning to questions I either thought I knew the answer to or had my own answer to. I observe that subsequent collaboration is more agile and fruitful because we have experienced this “making visible” together. I also became more empowered in my own perspective because I could see its value to others and to the wider story."

-Stephanie Varnon-Hughes, Dean of Teaching, Learning & Leadership at Claremont Lincoln University

The Ecosystem Project Book

About the Book

The Ecosystem Project: A Practical Guide to Illuminating and Transforming our Human Ecosystems

The Ecosystem Project is your entry point into working with complexity—without oversimplifying it.

Inside, you’ll find:

  • A clear, practical theory of change that makes systems thinking useful for navigating complexity.

  • Ten hands-on canvases with guidance on how to use them to illuminate and shift the ecosystems you and your organization are part of.

  • Nine real-world case studies that show the method in action.

This book equips leaders, innovators, and change-makers to see the whole system—and to move it toward a healthier, more fit-to-purpose future.