Relational Intelligence in Practice
My Work
Building relational intelligence requires:
Jumping into new or complex territory: contextual methods engage with the people who inhabit the problem space
mapping out the terrain by talking to people: knowledge creation through documentation and analysis
and creating the playbook: not stopping when we understand, but taking it to where we’re ready to act.
Here are a few of my favorite examples of how that looks IRL. Each past project vignette includes the organization type, primary research question, a few key methods, and the outcome.
Non-profit mental healthcare provider focusing on East Africa
How do we deliver our clinical services in a scalable, client-centered way?
Interviews
Focus groups
Co-design
Guiding principles
Documentation & Reporting
Training
The engagement equipped the organization to build its own qualitative research team, positioning them for upcoming pilot and RCT work.
Early-stage mental healthcare start-up in Minneapolis, MN
Is there a market for preventative mental healthcare and how can potential clients afford it?
Market assessment
Impact & cost modeling
Pilot & scaling models
Resource allocation
Go-to-market planning
Pitching & business development
Prototyping data and reports from the engagement opened talks for nationwide piloting with a pharmacy chain.
How do we support our employees in learning about sustainability and becoming active contributors?
Multinational consumer brand and their university partner
Interviews
Surveys & descriptive statistics
Co-design
Guiding principles
Wireframing & mockups
Roadmaps
The online course for employees was redesigned, improving engagement and learning comprehension to increase completion rates by 66%.
Conservation non-profit with a focus on human-wildlife conflict in East Africa
How can we distribute a product we have found to be effective in improving conservation outcomes?
Interviews
Prototyping
Co-design
Pilot & scaling models
Impact & cost modeling
Go-to-market plan
They went from a product idea to a financially viable market-ready brand with a distribution strategy.
Partner Wishlist
Generally, I love working with any organization driven to understand and respond to the people they serve. I always prioritize potential partners who center capacity building. There are also a few particular projects I'm ready to work on. Please get in touch if this sounds like you!
Advocacy organization in Nevada County or surrounding area
…looking for a research advisor or partner to support participatory action research (PAR) or other community-based action research for policy change.
AI-native company
…looking for an advisor or partner to develop their model's relational intelligence — how it maps, understands, and responds to the people using it.
Food, restaurant, or nutrition company
I've spent over ten years working in restaurants and have a deep love for the industry. I'd love to bring my research and design skills to projects focused on food access, nutrition education, or the guest experience.
School or university
…looking for an educator for courses related to modern approaches to mixed-methods, relational research.