The First Step of Conflict Resolution & Connection: Listening
Attend ready to listen. Leave ready to connect. Arrive at the Summit ready to act.
Most of us were never taught how to actively listen. We were taught to wait for our turn, to prepare our response, and to evaluate what we’re hearing against what we already know.
In this 60-minute working session, Sophie Levy, Founder of The Magnet Collective, will guide HR professionals through a listening framework rooted in the idea that how well you listen can transform a conversation into connection, and connection into action. Participants will leave having actively practiced the framework, not just walk away with a concept. Whether you’re heading into a networking conversation at the Summit or a difficult 1:1 back at work, you’ll have something concrete to reach for.
Please note: This session requires active participation. On-camera participation is required – please plan accordingly.
Session Learning Objectives:
1. Interact with a practical listening framework applicable to networking events and challenging workforce conversations
2. Opportunity to practice the active listening framework in a low-stakes virtual setting.
3. Build shared language and experience with fellow Summit attendees before you’re in the room together
About the speaker
Sophie Levy is the Founder & CEO of The Magnet Collective: a cohort-based L&D program for early-career professionals, held at your office, guided by The Magnet Collective team. Employees practice core competencies in Communication, Collaboration, and Conflict Mediation. To demonstrate their growth, they design and lead a colleague-facing activity.
At the national venture philanthropy firm New Profit, she served as what she likes to call a “translator” between investors, nonprofit leaders, community partners, and internal stakeholders, successfully stewarding over $25M in philanthropic capital. A Summa Cum Laude graduate of American University’s Class of 2020, she led a high-performing national fundraising team at DialogueDirect, connecting citizens across twelve US cities with philanthropic initiatives aligned to their values during a time of widespread isolation and disconnection. Earlier in her career, Sophie conducted foundational research for Beit Hagefen, an Arab-Jewish cultural center’s inaugural “Third Space”: a place in Haifa where people can encounter differences without relinquishing their own identities.
In her offline life, she completed the 400-mile Jordan Trail at age twenty-one, and later hiked the 2,650-mile Pacific Crest Trail, experiences that demanded cross-cultural communication, bilingual logistical planning, and deep resilience that further sharpened the grit and adaptability that define her leadership today.
