Listening across Divides in the Workplace

National Week of Conversation will give Americans a period of reflection on how to engage people of different backgrounds and perspectives in a conversation and enable them to learn to see past differences. Building off these themes, HearMe will host a virtual panel discussion that explores empathetic listening across differences. It will address questions such as, “how to engage people of opposing views in a civil dialogue,” “do we have to suppress our feelings to show empathy,” and “how can we train ourselves to become empathetic listeners with people we don’t agree with.” This event will address topics specifically as they relate to divides in the workplace.

Moderator: Adam Lippin

Adam Lippin is an entrepreneur, Founder and CEO of HearMe, and the Co-founder and CEO of Cuddlist. After the success of his earlier ventures, Adam launched the emotional wellness app HearMe in late 2019 with the core value that authentic connection is a fundamental human necessity. Starting with just 50 listeners, HearMe has grown to over 18,000 listeners in more than 150 countries who support a user base of over 125,000 and has been featured in USA Today, Forbes, Evening Standard, The New Indian Express, Thrive Global, Inverse, and many more

Panelists:

Kathy Mandato

CHRO – Warner Media

VP HR – Snap

EVP – NBC Universal

SVP – Comcast

Transformational people, culture, and operations executive with 20+ years experience in Human Resources, sales and new business development, marketing, and communications as well as scaling technology-driven companies. 

Matt Gjertsen

CLO – Better Everyday Studios

Training Manager – SpaceX

Training Instructor – USAF

Proven strategic leader in human performance development with diverse expertise ranging from personal instruction in the fast-paced environment of military aviation to creating organizational structures to foster and support excellence in a corporate setting.

Tracy Lawrence

Managing Director at the Lawrence Advisory 

Tracy L. Lawrence is the Founder and CEO of The Lawrence Advisory. The Lawrence Advisory is known for hiring, coaching, and building high-performing teams with an emphasis on innovation and performance. Lawrence was recently named the first Executive-in-Residence at USC’s Marshall School of Business. She has held leadership roles at Viacom, Kraft, Nestle, and PWC. Lawrence earned her BA in Economics from Stanford University and her MBA from Harvard Business School.