Objectives: Since the 1990s, cultural competence and cultural humility have been advanced across health disciplines, including health education and promotion, as approaches to use to address the health needs of increasingly diverse populations, reduce persistent health disparities and promote health and health equity. While these terms are sometimes used interchangeably, each of them represents a different approach when working across cultural groups. Health professionals, including health education specialists, may also find it helpful to employ cultural intelligence when working with diverse populations. The purpose of this article is to briefly define cultural competence and cultural humility and describe how cultural intelligence can provide health education specialists with another tool when working with diverse groups. Design: Review of the literature. Setting: USA and related contexts. Results: While cultural intelligence shares some similarities with previous terms, it differs in drawing from intelligence research and emphasises an understanding of different cultures, problem-solving and adaptations in numerous cultural settings. Conclusion: This article defines cultural intelligence as an essential capability to learn and use when engaging with diverse cultural groups and working in cross-cultural settings.