Every child deserves relationships that help them thrive.
The Relational Intelligence Institute helps young people, schools, and communities build the capacity to connect: to trust, listen, work through differences, and care for one another.
What is relational intelligence?
Relational intelligence, or RQ, is our capacity to build trust, form meaningful relationships, navigate differences, collaborate, resolve conflict, and create meaning with others.
For generations we have invested in how children think (IQ), and more recently in how they understand their emotions (EQ). RQ focuses on what happens between people, and like any capacity, it can be practiced and strengthened.
Why it matters now
Young people today are more connected online than any generation before, and many still feel lonely and alone. AI tools now tutor, advise, and even keep people company.
As machines take on more of what we once did for each other, the human abilities to trust, listen, and care become more valuable. We are investing billions in making machines more intelligent. RQI exists to invest with equal ambition in helping people connect.
Our work
Science and measurement
Understanding what relational intelligence is, how it grows, and how to measure it well.
Practice and innovation
Helping young people, educators, and schools build relational skills into everyday learning.
Policy and advocacy
Making sure education systems and new technologies strengthen human relationships.
Building the Science of Human Connection and Relational Intelligence for Flourishing in the Age of AI
For a century, IQ shaped how schools and employers understood human potential. Emotional intelligence widened the lens. This paper makes the case that the capacity to build, sustain, and repair relationships deserves the same serious attention, especially as AI takes on more of the thinking work people once did.
It offers a working definition of relational intelligence and a research agenda to test it.
Where young people practice connection
At Design Tech High School in California, ninth graders are exploring trust, listening, and conflict in a new Relational Intelligence Lab. We are also working with Valor Collegiate in Nashville to test approaches in a different school setting.
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Stay in the loop
Occasional updates on our research, school partnerships, and new resources. No more than once a month.