Kathy Tagenel | Relational Cultivator
About Kathy Tagenel
For over three decades, Kathy has been drawn to what lives beneath the surface of human systems—the invisible relational structures that quietly determine whether people and organizations falter... or flourish.
She is a Relational Cultivator and creator of the Relational Architecture Model™, a framework for restoring structural clarity to the relationships at the heart of every organization, so that people and organizations can thrive rather than strain under the weight of what remains unaddressed.
With a foundation in electrical engineering from Northwestern University and an MBA from the University of Chicago, Kathy built a corporate career that took her from IBM and Ameritech to General Manager at Verio — before leaving to build her own business in 1998, because she found that what mattered most in organizations was rarely technical or structural in the traditional sense. It was relational.
Since then she has worked with entrepreneurs and business owners as a Kolbe Certified™ Consultant and trusted advisor. Her most significant collaboration has been an eighteen-year business relationship with Bob Burg, coauthor of the international bestselling business parable, The Go-Giver®, including serving as President of Go-Givers International LLC. She developed the programs that built The Go-Giver® Movement into a global community around the entire book series that has sold over two million copies worldwide. Notable programs include the Certified Go-Giver Speaker & Coach Program and The Go-Giver Beyond The MasterMind Retreat.
Through that work a pattern became undeniable: even when individual leaders are capable and committed, organizations destabilize when authority, responsibility, and boundaries drift out of proportion. What looked like communication problems, personality conflicts, or leadership failures were frequently something deeper — structural distortion in the relational field. The Relational Architecture Model™ emerged from that recurring observation.
Kathy is cofounder and Vice President of the Rutherford Education, Innovation, and Growth Network (REIGN). An incubator and accelerator program designed to empower entrepreneurs, innovators, and tech startups to learn, build, and thrive. Rooted in the spirit of innovation and community, REIGN provides the resources, mentorship, and collaborative environment needed to turn bold ideas into sustainable ventures.
She also loves being part of the Ruff'ton Roots Community Garden, a gathering of community volunteers coming together to grow quality produce for our neighbors. We grow all crops together as a team, with community service at the heart of our organization.
Kathy loves photography and all the photos of Lake Tahoe on this website were taken by her. She is an adventurer who loves to kayak, travel, and boldly go where she’s never gone before!
At the heart of everything Kathy does is a single animating purpose: to find what is essential that has been forgotten — in people, in teams, in organizations — and cultivate the conditions for it to be remembered, grow, and flourish.
