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LONGHOUSE TALKS

LongHouse Talks: Civility in the Era of Division

September 28, 2024, 4:00 PM | LongHouse Reserve

Carrie Rebora Barratt will be in conversation with Sally Susman, Chief Corporate Affairs Officer at Pfizer, and joined by Raul Damas, Healthcare & 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?

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Our Panelists

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Saundra Williams-Cornwell

Saundra Williams-Cornwell joined the Board of Trustees of the Brooklyn Museum in 2002 and now serves as its secretary and a co-chair of its Diversity Committee. Previously, she served as chair of the Governance and Bylaws Committee and co-chair of the Collections Committee in addition to co- founding the Fund for African American Art, which is devoted to enhancing the collection of works created by African American artists prior to 1945. Williams-Cornwell received a B.A. in psychology from Manhattanville College, Purchase, New York; an M.A. in African literature from Howard University, Washington, D.C.; and a J.D. from St. John’s University School of Law, Queens, New York. She had a career in law as a partner of Bower & Gardner from 1984 to 1994 and formerly served on the boards of the Manhattan Theatre Club, United Way of New York City, Brooklyn Heights Association, Center Against Domestic Violence, and various medical institutions including the Long Island College Hospital.

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Raul Damas

Raul Damas is Partner, Healthcare & Life Sciences, Global Lead, NY at Brunswick. He advises clients on corporate communications, financial situations, and crisis management. He has a record of strategically positioning companies and their leaders to optimize their relationships with stakeholders, including customers, investors, employees, and the media.

Raul’s extensive financial communications experience includes Spotify’s unprecedented public listing, GSK and Pfizer’s consumer unit joint venture, Reckitt Benckiser’s acquisition of Mead Johnson, AkzoNobel’s defense against PPG and Elliott Management’s takeover bid, and Catalent’s acquisition of Paragon Bioservices.

Raul has provided strategic counsel at the highest levels of the public and private sectors, employing his rare combination of policy development, communications, and government relations experience. Prior to joining Brunswick, he held senior leadership positions in the White House of President George W. Bush, Pfizer, and Purdue Pharma. He began his career as a public opinion researcher, founding Latino Opinions, a bilingual polling and strategic communications firm.

Raul is a graduate of Villanova University, and holds an MBA from Columbia University, as well as a Masters of Political Management from the George Washington University. An avid runner, Raul serves on the New York Road Runners’ Public Affairs Committee.

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Sally Susman

Sally Susman is Executive Vice President and Chief Corporate Affairs Officer at Pfizer. She is vice chair of the Pfizer Foundation and co-chair of Pfizer’s Political Action Committee.

Sally 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.

Sally 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. Sally is the author of the Wall Street Journal best seller, Breaking Through: Communicating to Open Minds, Move Hearts, and Change the World.

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Carrie Rebora Barratt

Carrie Rebora Barratt is the Director of the LongHouse Reserve, in East Hampton, New York, the house and gardens of the textile designer Jack Lenor Larsen. She is also the founder of The Solace Project, an initiative to connect the arts and nature to human wellness through museum visits, contemplative practice, making and writing.

Prior to LongHouse, Carrie was the ninth CEO and President (and first woman) of the New York Botanical Garden where she worked with board and staff during a period of major leadership transition and institutional growth in science and arts. During her tenure at the Garden, Carrie developed a long-range art exhibition plan with vital educational programs and new digital content, drafted an agenda for increasing diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility, heightened the garden’s role in the botanical and horticultural dimensions of climate change and human wellness, and expanded the urban gardening program in our region. During the summer of 2020, at the height of the COVID pandemic, the Garden not only kept their staff intact and balanced the budget, but also grew and distributed over 5000 pounds of vegetables throughout the Bronx.

Earlier in her career, Carrie was Deputy Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, leading 27 departments and over 400 staff -- curatorial, conservation and scientific research, libraries, education, publications, and digital.