(Illustration by Ross MacDonald)
The Relational Renaissance
ARTICLE: Welcome to the Era of Relational Intelligence
In her Spring 2026 cover story, Stanford Accelerator for Learning Executive Director Isabelle Hau argues that as artificial intelligence continues to transform our lives, it’s critical to invest in relational infrastructure that supports human connection.
• “The reframing is powerful: connection as infrastructure, not soft skill. As load-bearing as roads or power grids,” reader Gabriela Anaya wrote. She went on to wonder if the same world that actively dismantled relational infrastructure in the past, “in boarding schools, in urban renewal, in the professionalization of care that turned neighbors into clients,” can make good on its promise now. “What I keep circling: Maintenance is as important as design. And maintenance, unpaid, unmeasured, sometimes illegalized, has been happening all along in communities that never stopped trusting each other.”
• Another reader applied Hau’s argument to building trust between colleagues in technical fields: “The engineering leaders I work with who build the most autonomous, high-performing teams aren’t necessarily the most technically brilliant,” Olaf de Ruiter said. “They’re the ones who’ve learned to build trust, navigate tension, and create clarity with their people. AI accelerates everything, including the consequences of not having those skills.”
• “AI’s impact ultimately comes down to us, and whether we intentionally nurture the trust, attunement, and care that have always been essential for human flourishing,” said Melanie Lopes, LMFT. “I’d love to see the pendulum swing back from automation to connection. Bring on the relational renaissance!”
More Reasons to Give
ARTICLE: What Else Can We Do? The Thirteen Intentions of Philanthropy
“Why do you care?” asks Tambourine Philanthropies President Ariel Simon in his thought-provoking feature story in SSIR’s Spring 2026 issue on the manifold reasons people give charitably.
• “The ‘Thirteen Intentions’ framework provides a necessary road map for moving beyond surface-level charity toward deep, structural impact that actually reshapes local environments,” reader Ava Bennett commented.
• Kevin Tow read the article and thought of teachers: “I like the framework as a means of reflection about why educators engage in their work and the multiple motivations they may have to teach.”
• Many readers endorsed Simon’s push to view philanthropic impact more broadly than metrics and scale. “When funders are explicit about why they care, strategies and expectations tend to align more honestly with the outcomes they hope to see,” wrote Sage Braziel on LinkedIn.
• “Understanding why people give—not just what they want to achieve—feels like a more honest starting point for conversations about effectiveness, scale, and risk,” Georgina Liew added. “In a time when the sector feels under pressure, this kind of clarity about intention really matters.”
Constructive Conflict
SERIES: Holding the Tension
This online series of articles on navigating organizational disagreement, developed with the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life at Tufts University, brings together scholars, attorneys, leadership coaches, and social-impact advisors to share ideas that can help leaders “engage constructively with disagreement and conflict, with the goal of building organizational and civic strength.”
• “When creative conflict is seen in the spirit of inquiry and trust, it paves the way for radical candor and lower barriers to innovation,” reader Ratul Chowdhury commented.
• Regarding an article in the series that specifically addressed disagreement around DEI initiatives, Maya Butalid wrote, “The authors illuminate how sustainable diversity, equity, and inclusion work depends not just on good intentions but on aligning strategy, structure, and everyday practice so that what we say we value resonates in how we actually work together.”
Read more stories by SSIR Editors.