About
Innovation consulting with purpose at the centre
The for-purpose sector is unlike any other. It operates under funding constraints, governance complexity, and a constant tension between mission and margin that commercial consulting frameworks were never designed to navigate. Tolchard Consulting was built specifically for this environment — by someone who has lived it, led within it, and spent 20+ years helping organisations like yours turn bold ideas into lasting impact.
Our story
Tolchard Consulting was built from the inside out. Tom Tolchard has held senior executive roles in the for-purpose sector — with real budget responsibility, duty of care, and accountability for outcomes. He knows what it feels like to sit at the leadership table, to weigh mission against margin, and to make decisions that affect the people your organisation exists to serve.
That lived experience is what makes the difference. Tom understands the hidden rules of the sector — the funding pressures, the governance constraints, the stakeholder dynamics, and the quiet tension between doing good and staying viable. He doesn't need it explained. He's navigated it himself, and he brings that understanding to every engagement.
Based in Western Australia, we work with organisations across the state and nationally — from large community service providers to start-up social enterprises just finding their feet.
Tolchard Consulting exists to bring that same balance to purpose-driven organisations across Western Australia and beyond — where mission and bottom-line value aren't in competition, but are two sides of the same imperative.
Shaped by Australia's most radical social change-makers
The person behind the work
Ideas are only as valuable as your ability to realise them. That's the work.
Tom Tolchard has spent his career working directly alongside some of Australia's most radical and impactful entrepreneurs and change agents — people who don't just talk about transformation but build it from the ground up. That proximity to genuine innovation has shaped everything about how he works.
What sets Tom apart is a rare ability to convert ideas into realised, high-impact businesses and programs. He understands the full arc from insight to execution — how to take a compelling concept, stress-test its viability, and build the conditions for it to succeed in the real world. Not as a theorist, but as someone who has done it alongside the people who matter most.
That experience now sits at the heart of Tolchard Consulting — brought to bear for purpose-driven organisations who deserve the same calibre of thinking and execution support as any high-growth venture.
How we work
Built with, not for
We don't hand over reports and walk away. We work alongside your team to build shared understanding, test ideas, and develop plans that your people believe in and can act on.
Rigour and creativity together
Good strategy requires both analytical rigour and creative thinking. We bring both — and we believe the best ideas emerge when you hold them in tension.
Mission first, always
Every recommendation we make is tested against one question: does this serve the mission? Commercial logic matters, but it's always in service of purpose.
Small by design
We deliberately stay small so we can give every client our full attention. When you work with Tolchard Consulting, you work directly with our most experienced people — not a junior team.
Experience & credentials
Our team brings deep experience across strategy, innovation, design, and the social sector.
20+
Years driving innovation
50+
Organisations supported
WA
Based in Western Australia
4
Core service areas
Ready to work together?
We'd love to hear about your organisation and the challenge you're working on. Every engagement starts with a conversation.