Developing People

We help children, youth, and adults develop the understanding, character, relationships, and practical skills needed to navigate life and contribute meaningfully to their communities.

Our work offers two complementary pathways: Raising Royalty, focused on human development through secular learning experiences, and Thy Kingdom Come, focused on Christian spiritual formation.

Through mentoring, education, reflection, meaningful relationships, and practical experiences, we help people move beyond knowing what matters toward developing the capacity to live it.

Different journeys. A shared commitment to growth.

Development is a continuing journey. Whether you're interested in the principles that guide our work, the frameworks we've developed, or opportunities to work together, there's a next step.

Explore the principles behind our approach.

Continue discovering how relationships, developmental resources, active participation, and attention to limiting factors help create meaningful opportunities for growth.

Discover how our ideas become practical systems.

Explore Raising Royalty and Thy Kingdom Come, the two distinct pathways through which we put our developmental commitments into practice.

Let's explore what development could look like in your community.

Whether you represent a school, organization, church, family, or community initiative, we welcome conversations about shared goals, learning experiences, and opportunities to serve.

Developing People. Delivering Services. Building Systems.

People develop through experiences, relationships, opportunities, choices, and reflection. Understanding a principle is important, but learning to practice it is what begins to change how we live. That's why our programs are more than collections of activities or lessons. We intentionally create environments where people feel supported, recognize their strengths, participate in meaningful experiences, exercise responsibility, and reflect on their growth. Whether someone is learning through chess, developing study skills, strengthening relationships, or pursuing spiritual formation, our commitment is to help people become active participants in their own development. We don't simply teach what people should know. We create opportunities for them to practice what they are learning.

Our approach to developing people is informed by four complementary ideas. 

Each helps us understand a different part of the developmental process: the importance of relationships, the resources people need, the experiences through which they learn, and the factors that may be limiting their progress. Together, these principles influence how we design programs, engage participants, and recognize growth.

People develop in the context of relationships. The quality of those relationships can influence their confidence, opportunities, sense of belonging, and willingness to grow. The Search Institute's Developmental Relationships Framework identifies five essential elements:

• Express Care: Show people they matter.
• Challenge Growth: Encourage them to keep getting better.
• Provide Support: Help them navigate challenges and pursue goals.
• Share Power: Respect their voices and involve them in decisions.
• Expand Possibilities: Connect them with people, places, and opportunities that broaden their horizons.

These elements remind us that effective development is not simply something we do to people. It is something we pursue with them.

Relationships are not an addition to the program. They are part of how the program works.

People bring strengths and possibilities into every learning environment, but their development is also influenced by the resources, relationships, opportunities, and expectations surrounding them. The Search Institute's 40 Developmental Assets Framework identifies eight categories of developmental resources.

External Assets

• Support
• Empowerment
• Boundaries and Expectations
• Constructive Use of Time

Internal Assets

• Commitment to Learning
• Positive Values
• Social Competencies
• Positive Identity

These assets help us look beyond isolated behaviors and consider the broader conditions that support healthy development. They also remind us that personal responsibility and community responsibility belong together. 

We cannot expect people to thrive through individual effort alone while ignoring the conditions that influence their opportunities to grow.

Knowledge becomes more useful when people have opportunities to explore it, practice it, question it, and apply it.

Our active-participatory approach emphasizes four essential conditions:

• Safety: Creating environments where participants feel physically and emotionally secure.
• Positive Supports: Building encouraging relationships and constructive expectations.
• Opportunities to Learn: Engaging participants in meaningful, hands-on experiences.
• Opportunities to Lead: Giving participants increasing responsibility, voice, and ownership.

These conditions shape how we facilitate activities, guide discussions, encourage cooperation, and create opportunities for reflection. In Raising Royalty, participants don't simply hear about decision-making. They make decisions on a chessboard, consider the consequences, discuss alternatives, and connect those experiences with situations in their own lives. In Student Venture, participants don't simply hear about effective study habits. They build and use the tools that help them organize information, understand what they are learning, and take greater responsibility for their education.

Participation turns information into experience. Reflection helps turn experience into understanding.

Development involves many interconnected dimensions. Progress in one area may be affected by difficulties in another. A student may have strong academic ability but struggle with organization. Another may possess leadership potential but lack supportive relationships. Someone may have clear goals but find that competing responsibilities, limited resources, or difficult circumstances prevent meaningful progress. The limiting factor concept encourages us to ask: What is currently restricting this person's ability to move forward? Sometimes the answer involves a skill that needs development. Sometimes it involves a relationship that needs strengthening, an opportunity that is missing, or a barrier that must be addressed. The goal is not to define people by their limitations. It is to recognize what may be constraining their growth and identify a practical way forward. And because circumstances change, the limiting factor may change as well.

Effective development requires us to recognize both a person's potential and the conditions affecting their ability to realize it. 

These four foundations do not constitute a separate program. They inform the way we approach the programs and experiences we develop. 

1. Developmental Relationships reminds us how we engage people. 
2. Developmental Assets helps us recognize what supports their growth. 
3. Active-Participatory Learning guides how we create meaningful learning experiences. 
4. The Limiting Factor concept helps us examine what may be restricting progress and where attention is needed. 

Together, they encourage us to look at the whole person rather than focusing on a single behavior, skill, or outcome. Our programs put these commitments into practice through two distinct pathways.

Student Venture develops practical learning skills that help participants become more confident and independent learners. Beginning with organization and effective note-taking, participants learn to capture information, ask questions, identify important ideas, connect concepts, and develop useful study practices. Through personal notebooks, calendars, learning tools, and guided reflection, participants practice taking responsibility for their learning and managing their commitments. Student Venture is not simply about completing school assignments. It is about developing learning practices that can serve participants throughout their lives.

Explore Student Venture

Raising Royalty helps children, youth, and adults grow in character, relationships, leadership, and purpose. Through active learning, supportive relationships, and shared experiences, participants recognize their strengths, examine their values, practice responsibility, and develop the capacity to make thoughtful decisions.

Life Is a Game of Chess, Not Checkers. Chess provides a practical framework for understanding the interconnected dimensions of life: Purpose, Values, Stewardship, Wisdom, Community, and Discipline. Participants learn to see the whole board, recognize competing priorities, anticipate consequences, and adapt when circumstances change. Every piece has a purpose. Every move changes the board. Sometimes a piece comes under attack and demands immediate attention. Sometimes pursuing what matters most requires sacrifice. The goal is not simply to become a better chess player. It is to become more thoughtful about the decisions we make in life. 

Learn more about Raising Royalty 

Thy Kingdom Come helps individuals and communities abide in Christ and grow in His likeness through five interconnected pillars: Worship, Discipleship, Fellowship, Ministry, and Evangelism. Rooted in God's grace, these pillars guide our response to His love as Scripture, reflection, relationships, and practice become part of the journey of spiritual formation. While Thy Kingdom Come has a distinctly Christian purpose, our commitment to meaningful relationships, participation, reflection, and growth continues to shape how we develop its learning experiences.

Explore Thy Kingdom Come

Word in Rhythm™ helps individuals, families, and groups engage Scripture through daily readings, Sunday School and Chronological devotional journeys, prayer, and reflection. The Night Cap invites participants to revisit what they have learned and close the day in surrender. Through these practices, participants are encouraged to move beyond reading Scripture toward reflecting on its meaning and applying it in everyday life.

Explore Word in Rhythm

The Broken Elevator explores the Twelve Steps as a pathway for spiritual reflection and personal growth. Through honesty, surrender, accountability, amends, and service, participants examine patterns of behavior, consider their relationships, and practice a different way of living. Its emphasis is not merely on recognizing what needs to change, but on taking meaningful steps toward change.

Explore The Broken Elevator