Right Question Institute (RQI) works to improve democratic decision making by educating voters about strategies to ask better questions or policy makers. ¹

Activities

Right Question Institute developed the Question Formulation Technique (QFT) as a method for developing the skills to ask questions. QFT is designed to improve three different kinds of thinking: divergent, convergent, and metacognitive thinking. RQI provides resources, including step-by-step instructions, videos, guidance, and advice to use QFT with students and adults. RQI claims that asking good questions is a lifelong learning skill that can improve critical thinking, self-efficacy, and confidence in individuals, making them more willing to participate in civic life. ²

RQI’s nonpartisan Why Vote? tool aims to build an individual’s motivation and determination to vote. In 2020, Why Vote? was used in different ways by more than 250 organizations across 38 states. It was distributed to educators, school districts, and other organizations across Michigan by the state’s Supreme Court Learning Center; was used as an online resource for students at a Miami college; and was used by a voter engagement group to publish state-by-state election guides in Georgia, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. ³

Funding

The Right Question Institute is funded by donations from individuals, foundations, and corporations. RQI discloses some of its donors on its website, and tax filings confirm donations from the John Templeton Foundation ($280,000 in 2017) ⁴ and the Whitman Institute ($85,000 in 2019). ⁵

People

Betsy Smith is the executive director of the Right Question Institute. Smith is the former executive director and president of EqualityMaine and the former executive director of Citizens for Participation in Political Action. ⁶

Dan Rothstein and Luz Santana are the co-founders of RQI. ⁶

Board of Directors

Mary M. Wendell is the president of the board. ⁷

John Campbell is the vice president of the board, a professor of economics at Harvard University, and the former chair of Harvard’s Department of Economics. ⁷

David Guberman is the treasurer of the board and formerly worked as chief counsel to the Department of Unemployment Assistance and as a Massachusetts assistant attorney general. ⁷

Leslie Jimenez sits on the Dean’s Advisory Committee on Equity and Diversity at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. ⁷

Other members of the board include Macky Buck, Diane Englander, Shonak Patel, and Stephen Quatrano. ⁷

1. “About Us.” Right Question Institute. Accessed May 28, 2022. https://rightquestion.org/about/.
2. “What is the QFT?” Right Question Institute. Accessed May 28, 2022. https://rightquestion.org/what-is-the-qft/.
3. “Voter Engagement.” Right Question Institute.  Accessed May 28, 2022. https://rightquestion.org/voter-engagement/.
4. John Templeton Foundation, Return of Private Foundation (Form 990-PF), 2017, Part XV, Line 3a.
5. Whitman Institute, Return of Private Foundation (Form 990-PF), 2019, Part XV, Line 3a.
6. “Betsy Smith.” Right Question Institute. Accessed May 28, 2022. https://rightquestion.org/about/leadership/betsy-smith/.
7. “Our Team.” Right Question Institute. Accessed May 28, 2022. https://rightquestion.org/about/leadership/.