Talk with Donna Hicks on FRED Week 2021

All about Dignity

On October 8, 2021, Sabine Gromer of MagnoliaTree spoke with Donna Hicks about Dignity as part of FRED Week 2021.

Lines befit the zeitgeist. Donna and Sabine both believe that Dignity holds the answer for much of this illumination. Donna Hicks dedicated her book Leading with dignity to “ all the dignity agents out there who know we could do better”. 

On Friday they had a dialogue about Donna’s findings.

What they talked about

  1. Donna shared her initiation into dignity and told when she first realized its importance.
  2. What does Neuroscience say about dignity? 
  3. The definition of dignity and the difference to respect.
  4. What are the key elements of dignity?
  5. How can we be tempted to violate our own dignity?
  6. The powerful pair: Diversity and Dignity
  7. The path to develop my own dignity consciousness
  8. Generational evolution of dignity

About Donna Hicks

Dr. Hicks was Deputy Director of the Program on International Conflict Analysis and Resolution (PICAR) at the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs at Harvard University.  She worked extensively on the Israeli/Palestinian conflict and as a member of the third party in numerous unofficial diplomatic efforts. In addition to her work in the Middle East, Dr. Hicks founded and co-directed a ten-year project in Sri Lanka. 

She has also worked on the conflicts in Northern Ireland and Colombia and conducted several US/Cuba dialogues. She is the Vice President of Ara Pacis, an Italian non-governmental organization based in Rome.  They are currently involved in a dignity restoration project in Syria and Libya. Dr. Hicks was a consultant to the British Broadcasting Company where she co-facilitated encounters between victims and perpetrators of the Northern Irish conflict with Archbishop Desmond Tutu. The encounters were made into 3 television programs, Facing the Truth, which were aired throughout the United Kingdom and on BBC World.

Dr. Hicks has taught courses in conflict resolution at Harvard, Clark, and Columbia Universities and conducts trainings and educational seminars in the US and abroad on the role dignity plays in healing and reconciling relationships in conflict as well as dignity leadership training. She consults to corporations, schools, churches, and non-governmental organization. She is the author of the book, Dignity: It’s Essential Role in Resolving Conflict, published in 2011 by Yale University Press.  Her second book, Leading with Dignity: How to Create a Culture That Brings Out the Best in People, was published by Yale University Press in August 2018.