Our mission
About RFI
Research, knowledge and foresight for practical action.
Relational Futures Institute is an independent Ghanaian research and learning organisation established to help communities, institutions and decision-makers understand change and respond responsibly.
Our purpose
Connect community experience, institutional learning and long-term decision-making.
RFI pays particular attention to the relationships among people, institutions, knowledge systems and the living environment. We combine rigorous inquiry with accessible public knowledge.
Our work preserves indigenous and community knowledge, investigates social and environmental change, strengthens institutions and creates spaces where different forms of knowledge can inform better decisions.
Knowledge should not be extracted and carried away. It should strengthen relationships, recognise its holders and return useful learning to communities.
The ideas behind our name are set out in Our Thinking.
Our vision
A society in which knowledge is preserved, evidence is accessible and people can shape their futures with confidence and responsibility.
Our institutional character
African-rooted and globally engaged.
01Context-aware
02Independent and inquiry-led
03Evidence-driven
04Community-engaged
05Practical and accessible
06Ethically responsible
07Long-term in orientation
08Open to collaboration
Founding leadership
Josephine N. Nartey
RFI was founded by Josephine N. Nartey, a Ghanaian research, strategy and knowledge-management professional with more than two decades of experience across research, institutional development, professional writing, communications and digital transformation.
Her work centres on making knowledge useful—connecting evidence, institutional capability and community realities to programmes and decisions.
Josephine N. Nartey
Founder, Relational Futures Institute
Legal foundation
Established in Ghana.
Registered name: Relational Futures Institute LBG
Legal form: Company Limited by Guarantee
Date of incorporation: 11 September 2026
Registration number: CG059190926