Braving the Divide: Leadership for a World in Conflict

For the 2025 McNulty Prize Winners, who gathered in New York this fall, the answer was clear even if the way forward was not. Leadership in divided times, they affirm, does not begin with certainty or consensus. It begins with trust: in people, in process, and in the courage to take the first step anyway.

Moderated by Zinhle Essamuah, co-anchor of NBC News Daily, the conversation brought together Prize Winners Mohamed Ali Diini, founder and director of Iftin Global; Dr. Krithi K. Karanth, CEO of Centre for Wildlife Studies; and Layla Zaidane, president and CEO of Future Caucus. Together, they explored what it means to lead through conflict and why keeping humanity at the center is not idealism, but a practical strategy. Watch the full discussion, and read on for key insights.

What moment sparked the realization of both how and why to lead?

At age thirteen, Layla Zaidane faced a personal reckoning with identity. Growing up Moroccan American in New York, she felt pressure to choose one identity over the other, even though both shaped who she was. Years later in Washington D.C., she recognized that same false binary embedded in the US political system. "There aren't Democratic problems or Republican problems. There are problems, and there are solutions,” she said. Today, she leads Future Caucus, cultivating a culture of governing and public service grounded in humanity, empathy, and collaboration—starting with the youngest lawmakers in the country.

Displacement shaped Mohamed Ali Diini’s path to leadership. At nine, he fled the capital city of Mogadishu with his family during Somalia's civil war. When he returned twelve years ago, he found a city scarred by decades of violence and instability. That experience compelled him to start Iftin Global, initially as a side project from his home in Columbus, Ohio, and eventually returning to Somalia to create job opportunities for youth full-time. But as Mohamed would soon discover, opportunity alone was not enough to unlock potential in communities still carrying the weight of trauma.

Dr. Krithi Karanth was shaped by her experiences in the wild. Raised by wildlife scientists, she spent her childhood tracking tigers, elephants, leopards, and bears across India. After building a distinguished research career in the US—where she was on track for a tenured professorship—she recognized a critical gap: the disconnect between field research and implementing solutions on the ground. She returned to India to rebuild Centre for Wildlife Studies, an organization that now works across the Indian subcontinent, directly engaging millions of people affected by human-wildlife conflict. It's an issue she describes as "what binds the world together."

What does it mean to lead through conflict?

In Somalia, Mohamed learned that resilience cannot take root in communities shaped by daily trauma. Iftin Global initially focused on economic and job development, but program data revealed participants faced staggering rates of PTSD and anxiety. When trauma healing was embedded directly into job training, everything changed: dropout rates fell from 40% to 10%, and employment rates a year later rose to 98% among graduates who received psychological and emotional support. "Trauma is not an isolated event; it is ambient, generational, and economic," Mohamed emphasized.

The conflicts Krithi navigates as a leader in India are both ecological and social. When elephants destroy crops or leopards hunt down livestock, the losses are devastating to families whose livelihoods depend on these resources. Incidents between wildlife and humans build resentment, fear, and division.

Her solution relies on shifting perspective: "We've lived with animals for millennia. We have to change the narrative from conflict to shared landscapes." By reframing the challenge as one of coexistence rather than opposition, Centre for Wildlife Studies creates pathways for collaboration between conservation and community needs.

In the US, polarization can erase hope. Yet Layla observes young lawmakers delivering bipartisan results. Bridge building is indeed happening, and “common ground exists all across the country, but people just don't see it." Among the examples she shared are two Arkansas lawmakers on opposite sides of the abortion debate who co-chaired a Future Caucus chapter and passed a major maternal health bill together. When humanity remains at the center, disagreement does not preclude collaboration.

How do you strike the balance of navigating current challenges, while also imagining and building a better future?

Imagination is central to Mohamed’s approach. Trauma literally shrinks the part of the brain responsible for envisioning the future, limiting people’s capacity to hope. Restoring imagination, he explains, allows young people to see better futures for themselves.

Sustaining a healthier political future means ensuring young public servants don't feel isolated in a polarized landscape. By creating networks of support and shared purpose, Layla and Future Caucus help emerging leaders stay grounded in their values while navigating the pressures of partisan politics.

Krithi recognizes that environmental work often unfolds over years or even decades. Leadership, she affirms, requires the patience to keep moving forward despite setbacks and failures.

Together, these individuals offer a framework for leadership in fractured times: bravery is not the absence of fear or uncertainty, but the courage to keep showing up with humanity at the center. In a world demanding immediate answers and perfect clarity, they remind us that progress begins with trust in ourselves, in others, and in the possibility that one step forward can lead to new possibilities.

Watch the full conversation from the panel discussion to explore these insights further: