The Cost of Conscience: The Hidden Challenges of Dissent in the Workplace

Location:	Center for American Progress, Washington, D.C.
Event Date:	February 11, 2010
Event Time:	5:30 - 7:30 p.m.
Speakers:	Matthew Alexander, Richard Cizik, Elizabeth MacKenzie Biedell, Morton H. Halperin, Scott Horton

Navigating office politics can be perilous under the best of circumstances. But for people whose moral principles put them at odds with their employer and colleagues, the burdens can be especially great. Join three Open Society Fellows as they discuss their experiences working for many years inside large organizations with which they often had profound disagreements of conscience.

Now that they have left their respective institutions—the US Air Force, the National Association of Evangelicals, and the Central Intelligence Agency—the panelists can speak with candor about their lives as outsiders within. What were the emotional and professional stresses they encountered every day on the job? How free did they feel to share their concerns with colleagues? And how did they negotiate the difficult transition to life on the outside?

Panelists

Matthew Alexander, Open Society Fellow and former senior interrogator, United States Air Force
Richard Cizik, Open Society Fellow and former vice president, National Association of Evangelicals
Elizabeth MacKenzie Biedell, Open Society Fellow and former Middle East analyst, the Central Intelligence Agency
Scott Horton, contributing editor of Harper's Magazine and attorney specializing in international human rights law (Moderator)

Panelists will be introduced by Morton H. Halperin of the Open Society Institute.