Transforming Human Potential in the Global Workplace: Cracking the Connection Code Event

How do we build more human connections in a world transformed by AI, hybrid work, and global complexity?  On April 15, 2025, over 200 international leaders, scholars, and students convened at the Kimmel Center for “Cracking the Connection Code: Transforming Human Potential for Global Workplace Success” — a dynamic, future-facing event designed to tap into new forms of connection for building stronger teams and workplaces in an evolving world. 

This landmark gathering, in collaboration with the NYU SPS HR Capital Management program and the executive coaching firm Talking Talent, also featured thought leader insights by Warner Bros. Discovery, the United Nations #NewWork initiative, GSK, McKinsey & Company, and Essenta—to co-deliver one of this year’s highest-impact events to date.

From thought-provoking keynotes to interactive innovation labs, the program brought human-centered principles to life through cross-sector dialogue, intercultural insights, and co-creative approaches.

Impact Overview:

• Audience Reach: Over 200+ attendees participated, including executive leaders, HR innovators, faculty, students, and policymakers.

• Cross-Sector Participation: Speakers and collaborators joined from academia, corporate leadership, international governance, and consulting.

• Student Engagement & Impact: Approximately 15 SPS undergraduate DAUS students and SPS graduate students from the MS in Human Capital Management Program and MS in Management and Systems Program were selected to give poster presentations at the event, with one SPS student winning an internship with the executive coaching firm Talking Talent.

Thought Leadership Across Borders and Sectors:

The event featured keynote speakers and global experts, including Dr. Anna Tavis (NYU SPS), Dr. Mary-Clare Race and Teresa Hopke (Talking Talent), Prof. Raul Sanchez and Prof. Dan Bullock (NYU/United Nations), and Liliana Uruburo (United Nations #NewWork), each offering insight into the cultural, psychological, and organizational dimensions of connection.

As Teresa Hopke asked in her opening remarks, “What kind of workplace are we building for the next generation?” Her challenge reminded us that connection is more than a performance lever—it is a human legacy.

Speaker Highlights and Key Themes:

• The Evolving Role of Leadership and Technology: Dr. Anna Tavis, Clinical Professor and Chair of the Human Capital Management Department at NYU School of Professional Studies, shared future-forward insights on how leadership and human capital strategies are evolving alongside technology. She highlighted the need to explore further how coaching and AI can work together to support, not replace, human development. 

• Connecting Globally with Intercultural Competence: In their keynote, Professor Raúl Sánchez and Professor Dan Bullock spotlighted how intentional intercultural communication is key to leading across the globe and advancing collaborative innovation, core to the Lab’s mission of advancing intercultural competence for co-creativity in global contexts.

• The Neuroscience of Belonging: In her keynote, Dr. Mary-Clare Race revealed the Connection Paradox: despite more digital tools, many professionals feel increasingly disconnected. Her solution? New frameworks to build connection into leadership, culture, and team habits—turning “soft” skills into measurable performance drivers.

• Culture in Motion at United Nations #NewWork: Liliana Uruburo, People and Culture Strategist and Co-Lead of the New Work movement at the United Nations, shared how this grassroots initiative is shifting the way thousands of UN employees connect, collaborate, and lead. Her spotlight on the new Transformative Spaces initiative illustrated the power of psychological safety, deep listening, and trust to drive true cultural change. 

• The Power Panel – The Business of Connection: In a panel moderated by Dr. Mary-Clare Race, leaders from McKinsey & Company, Warner Bros. Discovery, and Essenta explored the evolving “business of connection,” citing that highly connected teams outperform on retention, innovation, and strategic decision-making.

• The World Café Innovation Lab – From Insight to Action: Finally, attendees then explored live case studies and creative provocations in a collaborative World Café format. Major themes included:

  • Designing AI to support—not replace—empathy and human connection

  • Rethinking hiring: prioritizing emotional intelligence and values alignment

  • Creating cultures of trust through psychological safety and small, everyday behaviors

  • Breaking down silos to build inclusive, co-creative, and globally fluent teams

Student Impact – Poster Showcase & Internship Opportunity with Talking Talent

The event expanded its student-centered impact and workforce readiness by inviting SPS DAUS and DPB students to submit poster proposals on the theme “Building Genuine Connection at Work,” exploring how connection and inclusivity drive organizational well-being. In addition to showcasing their ideas before an audience of faculty, peers, and industry leaders, students competed for a summer internship with Talking Talent, a global leader in inclusive workplace innovation. Through initiatives like this, connecting students with industry leaders, students can further fuse academic inquiry with actionable, positive change in the global workplace.

The Road Ahead: Building the Future of Work Together

The success of Cracking the Connection Code affirms a core principle: human connection is more than a soft skill – it is the key to human potential fused with emerging technology in the future of work. The I-Lab is grateful to the HCM program, Talking Talent, UN NewWork, and our student presenters, speakers, and attendees who joined us in not just imagining a better workplace but actively designing it. Let’s continue to bridge global perspectives and chart the next chapter of human potential together.