Cutting through the noise

In his three years in the joint-degree program at Harvard Kennedy School and Harvard Business School, Elan Kogutt MPP and MBA 2024 honed his interests and skills in conflict resolution, negotiation, and systems change. Kogutt is applying this expertise to address some of the world’s most complex and persistent conflicts with the Negotiation and Conflict Resolution Collaboratory (NCRC).

According to Kogutt, “cutting through the noise” to identify and leverage shared experiences across even the starkest of divides is key to long-term conflict resolution and lasting peace.

“Shared experience is healing,” he said. “You’re cutting into the things that matter the most to people.” Making meaningful change, like the kind central to NCRC’s work, also requires proactively naming and openly addressing hard issues that divide people while cultivating a sense of “genuine community” before issues escalate into outright conflict, Kogutt said.

Before joining NCRC, Kogutt spent years advising local and international governments and working on a wide range of issues—from helping expand childcare access in New York City to identifying strategies to move food and vaccines more efficiently around the world. Through these experiences, he applied systems thinking and strengthened collaboration and democratic governance across various levels of government and civil society.

“When people at the local, community level are unable to engage with people who hold different worldviews,” he said, “you start to realize how much of this is about polarization—and the loss of structured ways to engage with one another on ideological issues.” Kogutt, partnering with NCRC Director Monica Giannone, developed Dialogue for Understanding, a skills-focused approach to help participants engage in structured conversations about their values across divides.

At NCRC, Kogutt leads peace, conflict, and dialogue initiatives, applying his training to develop a rigorous framework and practical tools and resources for scholars and practitioners. This builds on an in-depth, five-university research initiative, Why It Worked, that examined how seemingly intractable conflicts transition to peace. Why It Worked was designed and led by NCRC and funded by Bridging Insights, Inc. This research culminated in a special issue of Negotiation Journal, with Kogutt serving as an editor and contributing author.

Kogutt’s interest in conflict resolution and lasting solutions took root in Texas, where he grew up in a traditional Jewish community. He later did much of his interfaith work in other U.S. cities, helping build interfaith communities and establishing common ground across tough, often intractable divides without erasing deep differences.

“I was doing work on religious pluralism, literacy, and liberty—helping communities navigate deep difference. I realized I was focused on something timely and that I needed to deepen mastery of this craft,” he said.

Kogutt received a David M. Rubenstein Fellowship in his first year at HKS and a George Leadership Fellowship in his third year. The lessons he learned in leadership from CPL’s faculty—including negotiation strategies from Brian Mandell, adaptive leadership approaches from Ron Heifetz, and how to mobilize change from Marshall Ganz and Cornell William Brooks—have complemented his own leadership and guided his decision to continue his work at CPL after he graduated. With NCRC, he has designed and facilitated workshops and convenings, leading efforts to train students, practitioners, and leaders.

“We’re given both the frameworks to lead and the courage to take our leadership to the next level,” Kogutt said. “My focus now is on refining my personal pedagogy, scaling practical, evidenced-based tools, and equipping the next generation to effect change and work towards resolutions.”