How Collaboration Led Me to a NASA Space Mission

November 2, 2023, 1 pm ET, Thursday ONLINE

Sometimes people think scientists always knew what they wanted to do, and went straight at it from the age of five. Lindy Elkins-Tanton’s path was far curvier, with as many downs as ups, on her way to leading a robotic NASA mission to a metal asteroid. Maybe it's clearer in hindsight than it was moving forward, but she now sees how her wish to work in teams where every person can succeed has driven most of her career choices. Elkins-Tanton will talk about her path from single mother to scientific leader, and she’ll work with participants to define the values that are foundational for leadership in any area.

“He’s stupid.”

When we disagree with people, we sometimes find ourselves wanting to discard the whole person. With so much in our daily lives that we can’t control, showing disdain is a concrete action we can take to offer temporary relief. After those five seconds where our negative judgment feels like a tidying up of the world, does it ever really help?

How do we bridge our differences and move beyond “winning” an argument or just being "polite" to creating spaces for collaboration? How can we disagree and still move forward?

In this workshop, we’ll go beyond discussions of increasing global polarization and conflict to exploring what showing up for one another in the present moment can look like, even when it’s uncomfortable. Together we will identify the common threads that unite us and learn how to use them to have constructive dialogue with people who seem like they are on the opposing side

Presenter Bio

Return To Programs