HÉLÈNE BIANDUDI HOFER
Co-founder of Good Conflict, a media and training company that teaches people how to approach disagreement with more curiosity and less combat.
Most people see conflict as a roadblock—Hélène Biandudi Hofer sees it as a doorway to deeper understanding. A journalist, documentary producer, and co-founder of Good Conflict, she helps leaders, teams, and organizations turn tension into something more productive. With a career built at the intersection of storytelling and conflict navigation, she knows how to find stories inside the storm—and how to make it useful.
For over a decade, Hélène led an award-winning TV news magazine program that reported on societal challenges and explored real solutions. From police reform in Camden, New Jersey, to hidden trafficking networks in New York, to the struggle for education in South Sudan, she has reported from the front lines of some of society’s biggest divides. Her work has appeared on PBS, NPR, CBS, and in international documentaries.
But in time, she noticed a troubling pattern: much of the news wasn’t clarifying conflict—it was deepening it. That realization propelled her to lead Complicating the Narratives, a Solutions Journalism Network project designed to help journalists cover conflict with more depth, humanity, and complexity.
Through that work—and in partnership with fellow journalist and Exclusive BrightSight Speaker Amanda Ripley—she co-founded Good Conflict, a media and training company that teaches people how to approach disagreement with more curiosity and less combat. Through dynamic workshops and training, Hélène has helped thousands of journalists, executives, and leaders build new skills for exploring and understanding conflict, both within themselves and in the world around them.
A trained conflict mediator, Hélène grew up with a front-row seat to navigating conflict. Her father, Joncker, was the trusted problem-solver in the Biandudi family in the U.S. and the Democratic Republic of Congo, and her mother, Tamora, developed mediation curriculums for kids as a fourth-grade teacher. That legacy is at the heart of her work, proving that the way we engage with conflict—whether in journalism, leadership, or life—shapes everything.
Speech topics
Good Conflict: Turning Tension into Transformation
What if we’ve been thinking about conflict all wrong? Most people avoid it, fear it, or escalate it—but what if conflict, when handled well, could actually strengthen us? In this interactive session, award-winning journalist and Good Conflict co-founder Hélène Biandudi Hofer reveals how we can reframe the way we fight, transforming conflict into a catalyst for deeper understanding and connection. Through personal stories, research-backed insights, and hands-on techniques, she’ll challenge how you see conflict and equip you with the tools to navigate it with confidence, clarity, and curiosity.
Workshop
GOOD CONFLICT
Hélène Biandudi Hofer (in coordination with Good Conflict) is here to help people move beyond slogans and tweets to a place where people can connect and grow – even in the midst of profound disagreement. When people have the vocabulary, guard rails, and basic skills to investigate conflict with curiosity, it changes everything. We stop having the wrong fights with the wrong people—and start having the fight we most need to have.
Hélène and her colleague Amanda Ripley offer evidence-based training for any organization interested in working together better.
Conflict fluency requires practice. In this fast-paced, hands-on workshop, Hélène and Amanda help teams develop the habits and skills of Good Conflict. They'll use humor, multimedia content, role-play scenarios, and storytelling, and customize each workshop for the needs of the participants.
Offered virtually or in-person (though we strongly recommend in-person whenever possible). Useful for all kinds of groups including non-profit organizations, corporate teams, government agencies, educators, elected officials, lawyers, religious leaders, emergency responders and health care professionals.
It's time to "reimagine conflict."
The workshop includes:
Pre-workshop interview with leaders to understand their needs
Pre-workshop Good Conflict survey for participants
Optional advance reading material for participants
In-person (half-to-full day) or virtual trainings (broken into 90-minute sessions)
Post-workshop survey, analysis and debrief with leadership
Good Conflict online resource toolbox for future use
Optional post-workshop coaching or strategy sessions
More information about the workshop can be found here.