Measuring What Matters: Agency, Belonging, Trust

Relational tech isn't measured by users or engagement metrics. It's measured by what grows in the soil it helps cultivate.

Agency

People experience themselves as capable stewards of their community.

• How many people are building relational tech?
• What are their stories of capability and action?
• Are people solving local problems with local tools?

Belonging

People feel that they — and their dreams and gifts — matter where they live.

• Are people co-creating tools together?
• Do builders report their own sense of belonging changing?
• Are diverse voices and perspectives present?

Trust

People feel motivated to engage in generalized reciprocity and shared care.

• Are relational tech tools helping people connect more deeply?
• Are neighbors engaging in mutual aid and shared care?
• Is trust growing across difference, not just within groups?

These three outcomes reinforce each other. Agency without belonging becomes isolation. Belonging without trust becomes a bubble. Trust without agency becomes dependence.