Introducing new solutions that directly impact the lives of young people. 

Youth thrive when they are supported by adults that value their strengths, provide resources, and foster a sense of belonging and purpose. Thriving emerges from a dynamic interaction between the developmental needs and strengths of a young person and the support and opportunities in their relational ecosystem. Developmental Relationships are critical. 

Through the benefits of developmental relationships, young people move beyond surviving to thriving. However, a relationship gap exists for too many young people—the gap between what they need, and what they experience. Relationships are often prominent in schools’ and organizations’ mission, vision, and communication, but not nearly as emphasized in the concrete, everyday supporting structures needed to bring that mission and vision to life.

An intentional focus on relationships is not a separate, add-on strategy. Rather, it must be integrated into what an organization already does.

"You cannot overstate the importance, from a research perspective, of quality relationships for young people,” says Search Institute CEO, Dr. Benjamin Houltberg. “And so the Developmental Relationships Framework is an actionable framework that is applied in the day-to-day lives of young people, and can both build internal assets and align sparks, while also being a bridge builder and connector to opportunity and access—social capital. So as we dive into Developmental Relationships, think about it in the broader context of thriving."

Search Institute is ringing in 2025 with exciting new measurement and improvement tools, as well as enhanced professional learning experiences that support adults and youth-serving organizations to build the core skills and mindsets necessary to bring the frameworks to life for young people at individual, organizational and community levels. Ultimately, it takes all of us, interwoven together with young people, to create a tapestry of thriving communities.

“Youth are facing unprecedented challenges, ranging from social isolation to systemic inequalities. More than ever, we must collaborate to increase access to the opportunities and resources young people need to thrive,” says Monica Dixon, Search Institute’s Senior Director of Solutions. “Through our practical, research-backed solutions, we invite educators, leaders, and community partners to collaborate toward a common vision of empowering youth and prioritizing their well-being​.”

Solutions that Drive Impact 

New Learning Experiences: The Fundamentals of Developmental Relationships 

The value of relationships is deeply understood in schools and youth-serving organizations, yet considerable numbers of staff and leaders say relationships are often overlooked or undervalued as a topic for professional development.

Professional learning opportunities strengthen skills and form strong and positive relationships with youth, while building capacity to become a relationship-rich organization. Our newest series of workshops will prepare your staff to build impactful relationships with the young people they serve. 

Search Institute is launching three professional learning experiences focused on the fundamentals of Developmental Relationships. Informed by research and practitioners input, this series is built on the following core principles:

• All young people deserve to experience the lasting impact of developmental relationships. 
• It takes each of us to build our approach (mindsets and actions) and cultivate developmental relationships with young people.
• And it takes all of us to strengthen the relational ecosystem that surrounds us.

This series offers a recommended pathway to prepare youth-serving adults to build developmental relationships with young people, creating the foundational knowledge at individual, organization and community levels.

Developmental Relationships: The Roots of Youth Thriving

An introduction to Search Institute's research-based approach to Developmental Relationships that enables participants to explore common relational assumptions, familiarize themselves with a research-based framework for developmental relationships, analyze their own context, and create a practical next step to help young people thrive. 

It Takes Each of Us: Cultivating Developmental Relationships

Participants will develop an individual approach to relationship-building through Search Institute’s research-based Developmental Relationships Framework. They will reflect on mindsets, actions and growth areas, while also planning next steps to build developmental relationships within their specific context to promote youth thriving.

It Takes All of Us: Cultivating a Relationship-Rich Organization

This experience focuses on the relational culture and climate—the contexts that surround developmental relationships. Participants will learn the different pieces that intersect to create a relationship-rich organization, reflect on adult-to-adult relationships and the program context as a relational ecosystem where young people can thrive.

Youth Opportunity Navigator: Activate the Power of Supportive Relationships

All young people have the potential to thrive when they are connected to opportunities and supported by meaningful relationships. Research shows that strong social capital—the resources that arise from a web of supportive relationships—is linked with greater academic achievement, career readiness, access to internships and job opportunities, and progress toward education and career goals. 

All young people have the potential to thrive when they are connected to opportunities and supported by meaningful relationships. Research shows that strong social capital—the resources that arise from a web of supportive relationships—is linked with greater academic achievement, career readiness, access to internships and job opportunities, and progress toward education and career goals.

Until now, there were no widely available data-informed frameworks and approaches that help practitioners and organizations understand and improve how to support youth in accessing and strengthening these transformative relationships. The Youth Opportunity Navigator fills this gap.

This powerful tool provides timely insights and practical solutions for moving from data to action. By understanding and acting on this data, practitioners and organizations can build a continuous improvement mindset and create spaces and experiences where youth have the support they need to thrive.

Developed in close collaboration with practitioners and responsive to the needs of young people, the Youth Opportunity Navigator offers:

• Customizable Surveys: Consistent approach for collecting and interacting with data that supports you in translating insights into concrete action—at the organizational, programmatic, and practice levels.
• Interactive Dashboards: Reliable measures and analytical dashboards to track young people’s ongoing perceptions and needs.
• Guided Action Planning: Framework to help you set clear, achievable goals and outline specific steps for implementing change at both the practitioner and organizational levels.
• Go-To Resources: A convenient hub for tools, templates, and guides that support each stage of the improvement journey.

Thriving Through Developmental Relationships: A Training-of-Trainers and Certification Program

As we work closely with youth-serving organizations, we see a need for more long-term learning experiences and support that continue to promote mindset shifts and practices that strengthen relationships and advance equity, while also preparing others to lead training opportunities within their own organizations—bringing Developmental Relationships to their communities.

Thriving Through Developmental Relationships is a multi-year partnership to support and create relational capacity across youth-serving organizations. This three-year learning experience is designed for youth-serving organizations that have already embraced Developmental Relationships and have a shared commitment to positive youth development. Through the partnership organizations will:

• Catalyze effective use of Developmental Relationships across the organization
• Build capacity and align staff with common language and relationship-building practices to strengthen developmental relationships and become a relationship-rich organization
• Access to support to more effectively achieve their goals of promoting thriving in the lives of young people

This is a training-of-trainers and certification program implemented on a cohort basis, therefore the partner organization needs to be able to engage a cohort of more than a dozen trainers over multiple years. Key program components include:

• Two-day, in-person, train-the-trainer event where participants will learn how to deliver Search Institute’s new learning experiences on Developmental Relationships 
• Continuous learning and collaboration opportunities through a virtual, cohort-based community of practice
• Additional learning opportunities 

Partner-Centered, Youth Focused Solutions

Search Institute anticipates and solves for needs by developing research-informed frameworks, practices, and strategies that are actionable and adaptable across the youth ecosystem. This collaborative process ensures that our solutions reflect youth voice and are centered on empowering adults to drive tangible and meaningful change. Through professional learning experiences, surveys, measurement tools, and continuous improvement practices, we build capacity and inspire change.

Through our research and practical solutions, we support the adults across the youth ecosystem, and together we are building a future that empowers all young people to thrive.