Our Mission

Relations Research offers means and methods for organizations and individuals to be more resilient, innovative, and adaptable through optimizing mission-critical relationships.

Business strategies succeed or fail based on the strength of their relational underpinnings across their ecoystems.

Our Story

Our story began many years ago with a team determined to fundamentally improve workplaces and relations within. This innovation initiative led to the development and maturation of an applied science and tools for diagnosing, designing, forming, managing and improving any crucial business relationship.

Relations Research’s work resides upon a foundation of substantive research and development, and has been battle-tested in customer engagements across a spectrum of organizations from complex healthcare organizations, large-scale retail, manufacturing operations, governmental agencies and technology firms.

Meet the Team

Dawn Wells

Dawn has extensive experience helping organizations understand themselves and the people they serve. Her work is driven by a belief that understanding people and the cultural assumptions that shape their behavior is key to policy improvement and better organizational functioning. Dawn has worked as an international consultant in the NGO sector, and as a business anthropologist at Colgate-Palmolive, where she received two patents for innovation. Her research focus has included people-centered innovation in CPGs, US immigration law, refugee services, and organizational alliance-building. Dawn received her PhD in Cultural Anthroplogy at Rutgers University.

Kimberly Evans

Kimberly is the CEO of Relations Research, a firm that combines social science research with proprietary tools to help organizations and the people within them transform, innovate, and thrive. Kimberly has extensive experience advising clients and leading complex organizational transformations across many different industry sectors such as big box retail, healthcare, insurance, energy, and manufacturing. Her early engineering career involved innovations in decentralized robotic systems inspired by natural intelligence patterns; inventions in digital spherical photography at a Motorola-funded new venture; and designing mission-critical subsystems for DoD satellites. This technical foundation now informs her approach to understanding complex organizational systems and relationships. Kimberly has a BSEE and an MSEE from Virginia Tech. In her free time, Kimberly enjoys cooking, reading, playing tennis, and adventure travel.

Karen Gilhooly

Karen Gilhooly drives Relations Research's global market expansion, helping forward-thinking executives convert relationship capital into sustainable competitive advantage. With 25+ years of experience across Fortune 500 companies, private equity turnarounds, and global banking, Karen connects C-suite leaders to Relations Research's groundbreaking methodologies that blend human science with advanced analytics. Her human-centric approach has delivered impressive results throughout her career—boosting employee engagement by 31% and increasing global product sales by $1.18 billion at HSBC. Named among the Top 100 Innovators & Entrepreneurs and featured in Business Insider, Karen is passionate about demonstrating how Relations Research empowers organizations to transform relationships into market leadership. Her insights on relationship engineering for complex organizational challenges are shared through her podcast "Make Minutes Matter" and upcoming book "The Three Bucket Leader."

Rendi Black

Rendi leads Client Relations. She has over 30 years experience as a business owner and executive leader for a Fortune 40 company. Rendi was branded as a turn-around market leader growing revenue in highly competitive and dynamic marketplaces. She has substantial experience in creating strategies to grow underperforming and challenging markets, building cross functional support teams, data analytics, the creation of innovative tests, systems and processes while creating high performing teams. She joined Relations Research to leverage her experience and passion in serving leaders and organizations to be even more successful with their most critical stakeholders. Rendi enjoys spending time with her family raising longhorns and riding her horse on the family ranch in Texas. She received her BS in education from the University of Tulsa in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Danny McCall

Danny is the original CEO, founder, inventor, and thought leader of Relations Research; Relations Research is the brainchild of Danny’s work. Danny has led research and development in the betterment of workplace relationships since the late 1980s. During this period of diligent investigation, he’s made many important discoveries leading to extensive new bodies of knowledge known as Work Role Yields Management™ and Durable Relationship Operating Principles™. His inventions and innovative methods have grown into solutions for both organizations and working persons through a variety of business initiatives. During his eclectic career, Danny has held many leadership and founding positions resting upon a broad foundation of personal experience inclusive of information systems, psychometrics, computer hardware and software, digital interactive photography, digital user interface, heavy truck engineering, commercial sales management, energy, industrial motors and control systems and military intelligence technologies. He holds various patents and has been honored with numerous awards. A few examples: North Carolina Entrepreneur of the Year, Herrmann International's Big Thinker, Discover Magazine's annual "Discover Award", the US Department of Energy's national award for energy innovation and Human Resource Executive magazine's national top award for human resources product innovation. His background encompasses corporate, entrepreneurial, government and community service activities in private and government sectors within large and small organizational environments. Danny is the author of Work Role Yields Management, Career Fulcrum, Talent Steward Primer, Work's A We Thing and Hiring Wisdom.

Robb Dean

Robb is a creative executive with deep experience at the crossroads of design, storytelling, and innovation. Over the course of his career, he has helped shape award-winning experiences for some of the world’s most beloved brands. His work spans physical and digital realms—from early e-commerce and interactive media to immersive brand storytelling. Robb’s contributions at Disney Interactive and Bandai included projects tied to iconic titles such as Aladdin and the Power Rangers, where his blend of narrative insight and visual design elevated audience engagement across platforms. A graduate of the University of Tennessee, Robb brings a unique balance of strategic thinking and creative direction to every endeavor. His passion lies in designing systems and experiences that connect people, clarify complexity, and make work more meaningful.

Elizabeth Briody

Elizabeth has been involved in organizational effectiveness and organizational change efforts for over 30 years – first at General Motors Research and later through her own consulting practice. Her role at Relations Research involves helping us attract world-class human science talent and lending her experience and expertise to clients. She’s worked with clients in healthcare, petrochemicals, aerospace, manufacturing, consumer products, military, and service industries. Elizabeth is Secretary of the American Anthropology Association, and the author of over 50 journal articles and 5 books. She received the a lifetime achievement award from the Society for Applied Anthropology in 2020. Elizabeth received her PhD in Anthroplogy from The University of Texas at Austin.

Jason Goss

Jason Goss leads Technologies at Relations Research, where he’s responsible for new application development, maintaining and evolving existing software applications, and working with various IT partners. Jason brings deep experience and expertise in corporate environments such as PPG Industries, Eaton and US Steel as well as in entrepreneurial companies. Jason combines business acumen with technical expertise, and has degrees in computer science, business management and accounting.

U. Ejiro Onomake

Ejiro has extensive experience as a business anthropologist and insights researcher. At Relations Research Ejiro leads our multicultural women, and AAPI programs and research in our partnership with The Center for Asian Pacific American Women and their corporate sponsors. Ejiro has worked across industries in business, education, and NGOs, for over 20 years in four continents. She has consulted for the United Nations, African Union, Fortune 500, as well as startups. Ejiro also worked for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Her career has primarily focused on leadership, mentorship, international business and entrepreneurship development, market research, human-centered design, and client engagement. Ejiro received her PhD in Anthroplogy from The University of Sussex.

Kip Fanta

Kip applies his passion and expertise in Business Relationship Management (BRM) and Global Business Services/Shared Services to advise Relations Research’s clients. He’s worked with organizations around the world (including Nestle, L’Oreal, PepsiCo, Diageo, Kaiser Permanente, Walmart, LDC, and Campbells) in their BRM and GBS/Shared Services implementations. He is a Master of Business Relationship Manager (MBRM), Knowledge Provider with BRM Institute, and an Advisor with Inixia. Kip spent 25 years in various leadership roles within the IT and Shared Services organization within Procter & Gamble (P&G). Kip was born in Cincinnati, Ohio and earned his BS degree in Mathematics/Statistics from Miami University. He then completed his Masters at The Ohio State University in Industrial & System Engineering. He is married, has two grown children and lives in Naples, Florida.