LongHouse Talks: 'Civility in the Era of Division'

On Saturday, September 28, at 4 p.m., LongHouse Reserve Director Carrie Rebora Barratt will be in conversation with Sally Susman, chief corporate affairs officer at Pfizer, and joined by Raul Damas, health care and life sciences global lead at Brunswick Group, and Saundra Williams-Cornwell, secretary of the Brooklyn Museum Board of Trustees, to discuss the importance of civility in a deeply divided world.

In her bestselling book “Breaking Through,” Susman argues that we must seek harmony and listen to other perspectives — not for rebuttal, but for understanding. Whether you identify as conservative or liberal, extravert or introvert, aesthete or utilitarian — or any combination of contradictions — there are some things we can all agree on. But how do we muster the courage to live with candor and what are the leadership building blocks that can shape our future?

Sally Susman is vice chair of the Pfizer Foundation and co-chair of Pfizer’s Political Action Committee. She leads engagement with all of Pfizer’s external stakeholders overseeing communications, corporate responsibility, global policy, government relations, investor relations and patient advocacy. Before joining Pfizer in 2007, Sally held several senior communications and government relations roles at Estée Lauder Companies and the American Express Company. Earlier in her career, she spent eight years in government service focused on international trade issues.

She serves on the board of UL Solutions, a global leader in applied safety science, and as co-chair of the board of The International Rescue Committee. She is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Susman is the author of the Wall Street Journal best seller, “Breaking Through: Communicating To Open Minds, Move Hearts, and Change the World.”

Tickets to the talk are $25 to $35 at longhouse.org. LongHouse Reserve is at 133 Hands Creek Road in East Hampton.