Our Mission

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 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 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."

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.

Melissa is a corporate leader with over two decades of experience leading teams within the U.S. and internationally. She works with both B2B and B2C enterprises and has led research on artificial intelligence tools including how agent assists, coding assists, chatbots, and basic automations can be leveraged to augment and assist humans. She serves as a trusted advisor to executives, recognized for synthesizing complex research into actionable insights that shape business outcomes and propel innovation. As a business anthropologist, Melissa applies her holistic approach and cross-cultural knowledge of human behavior to lead leaders, improve organizational culture, and co-create human-centered designs. Her career spans both industry and academia, with roles in Fortune 100 companies and market research firms as well as at universities. She holds a PhD in Anthropology from the University of Pennsylvania with a regional specialty in Latin America. Due to her deep cultural knowledge and expert communication skills, Melissa has been invited to speak at industry conferences such as EPIC, Qual360 and the Global Business Anthropology Summit and been cited in the Wall Street Journal. She also created the Business Anthropology program for Clemson University where she is a Professor Emerita.

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.​