OUR STORY
A lifetime spent asking better questions.
iZnew was created to make deep human intelligence personal, accessible, and useful—especially at the moments when someone is ready to see a new possibility.
THE FOUNDER
David H. Collins. A people architect.
After leaving investment banking, David’s career evolved from leading projects in education and social responsibility to consulting in human intelligence and helping individuals and groups through key transitions in their lives.
The phrase “People architect” became a breakthrough in how he understood his own work—not a job title, but a mission to help people and organizations build more meaningful futures.
ONE QUESTION, MANY YEARS
“How can understanding a person more deeply change what becomes possible?”
That question has shaped the work from early nonprofit matching experiments through Obik and the present-day iZnew idea shop.
HOW WE GOT HERE
Built over decades. Made for now.
BEFORE 1993
Learning to see the whole person.
Immersion in assessment tools, research, nonprofit matching, organizational culture, and extensive person-to-opportunity work, including experience at Caliper.
1993–2004
Obik and a new language of fit.
David founded Obik, creating human-intelligence tools and programs for career development, education, organizations, and transition work. The earlier enterprise served major institutions and broad populations.
2024
The Idea Shop opens.
iZnew began as a place to make hard-won insight vivid, personal, and actionable—one person, team, and conversation at a time.
NOW
Human depth meets new possibility.
iZnew is part of i9 intelligence, bringing its human-intelligence approach to life through personal guidance, programs and bespoke transition experiences.
AN IDEA WORTH KEEPING
The person is never the score.
People deserve more than a category or recommendation. They deserve questions that invite them in, insight they can recognize, and a sense that the future contains more than their present circumstances.
Your lived experience matters as much as what any assessment reveals.
Meaningful insight should sound like you, not like a computer-generated label.
A new perspective should help you decide, connect, create, or move.
What could we discover together?
Come to the Idea Shop with your questions. You are welcome here.