Welcome, I'm Yoni

Pattern-senser
Nuance-seeker
Sense-maker
Narrative complicator

Problems I care about:
- Trust and Belief in Liberal Democratic Society
- Economic Opportunity and Equity
- Belonging, and Community Building
- Environmental sustainability and stewardship
I'm Yoni, an endlessly curious, future-obsessed business designer with a background that spans psychology, history, education and business, and experiences that range from technology and social innovation start-ups to national non-profits and F500 businesses. 
​I love to play at the intersection of human needs, technological possibilities, and business essentials to innovate a better future.
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We are what we create and what we consume​

​Below are a few projects in which I've leveraged both empathy-driven and data-driven approaches towards finding desirable and viable solutions. 
Financial Services: Delivering intuitive, empathetic, and insightful experiences across digital and physical B2B journeys
Bridging the gap between health and wealth solutions
Challenge
A large employee benefits provider wanted to increase the number of customers with both wealth and health solutions, growing more products per customer and winning more RFPs
​Outcome
I developed executive workshops and synthesized findings to executives, delivering a vision of the future experience. Our sponsors told us, "you articulated that better than we ever have!"
M&A: Reaccelerating growth of an acquired company
Understanding the human side of technology
Challenge
An acquired company's new logo growth had dropped to ~0, a new executive was tasked with quickly turning things around.
​Outcome
Our team conducted interviews with a large number of stakeholders across both acquiring and acquired companies, unearthed where things had stalled out, tensions, and differences in philosophies, to help articulate a 90 day plan to help get the acquired company back to growth across enablement, incentives, and product packaging. The work led to 40% YoY growth, with the executive praising the work.

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Yoni speaking to Dreamforce attendees
Activated Insurance: A Holistic Approach To The Future Of Insurance
The 4th Industrial Revolution brings both great opportunities and challenges for insurers.
Challenge
Insurers face a crises of trust, have little engagement from customers, and risk losing business to digital native startups. Who will control the consumers' data? How will new value be created?
Outcome
Our team developed a point of view, delivered to insurance executives at Dreamforce, which I was then asked to dliver across Europe, leading to further engagements with some of the world's largest insurance firms.
Building trust to enable Value-Based Care (Healthcare)
The fee-for-service model of healthcare pits insurers and providers against each other, often at the expense of lower quality of care at higher costs. Value-based care has the potential to break this impasse, but can only work if providers trust insurers. 
Challenge
Enable the insurance company to develop true, mutually beneficial partnerships with providers.
Outcome
We developed a strategy to build trust with providers by 1. reducing friction,
2. earning permission, 3. partnering for health.
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Workplace Benefits for Freelancers (Fintech)
More than 20 million Americans are full-time freelancers and receive no workplace benefits. Even though they out-earn the traditional workforce, on average, they are immensely underbanked.
Challenge
How can we create systems to free up freelancers from the extra work of managing their own benefits? 
Outcome
I led our team to a first-place finish at the Rotman Design Challenge by uncovering an opportunity create a benefits system using invoicing for faster payments as the point of entry.
​Learn More
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Designing Better Health (Pharmaceuticals, Healthcare)
80% of fragility fractures in women over 50 do not receive long-term therapeutic intervention. 
50% of hip fracture patients had a prior fracture that should have been viewed as a warning sign.
20% of  patients die within 12 months of a hip fracture.
Challenge
Design a cost-effective patient and provider facing intervention that closes the patient-care gap.
Outcome
I helped the team conduct user observations and synthesize insights that led to patient- and doctor-facing communications that are currently in clinical trials in Europe.
Learn More
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Market Entry Strategy (Healthcare and Wellness)
India is facing a healthcare provider shortage, with only 1 hospital bed for every 1,050 patients, 1/3 as many as in the United States.
Challenge
Help one of India's largest companies create both financial and social value by entering the healthcare market.
Outcome
By researching analogues, venture capital investments and market trends, I helped identify key healthcare opportunities with a faster path to market. The team was able to use these insights to narrow the focus and begin concepting.
​Learn More
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Finding Product Market Fit (Tech Start Up)
Nonprofits face increasing needs while budgets decrease. Corporations have generated record profits but consumers are starting to demand more social consciousness from brands. 
Challenge
Solve the nonprofit revenue gap and corporation credibility gap at the same time.
Outcome
Using a lean-start up approach, I helped us validate or discard assumptions by testing each iteration with real customers. Our first client attracted over 200 nonprofit applicants.
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Organizational Development (Non-Profit)
Millennial young adults are more mobile than previous generations and cities that can't attract or retain this talent are falling behind.
Challenge
Build community to transform individual lives and help a city become a more attractive place for Millennial talent.
Outcome
I helped to recruit and manage the leadership and resources to create a space and organization that attracted over 300 users in the first year and has since helped over 1,000 individuals find jobs, build relationships and create a sense of community in St. Louis.
​Learn More

Additional Projects

/ Strategic Disruption Assessment 
Researched and quantified startup threats to a major logistics company
- Provided critical input for an executive presentation on strategy for managing disruptors

/ Technology and Experience Assessment
Researched the technology required to create a virtual trial experience for a beauty product from a major CPG manufacturer
- Reframed the conversation away from the technology to the user experience

/ Professional Development Strategy and Execution
​Developed and executed a profession development curriculum for community engagement professionals across 6 cities
​- Model was rated as most valuable professional experience by participants and was scaled to multiple regions

/ Recruitment Strategy 
Devised a new teacher recruitment and retention strategy for an education foundation in Chicago
- Led to an RFP and eventual funding of a new model based on this recommendation

Coursework and Case Competitions