Alnoor Maherali - CEO and Mediator

Alnoor Maherali is a highly skilled diplomat, dispute resolution specialist, practicing Ombuds, and SIMI accredited mediator. He resides in New York City and mediates for Venn Mediation and the New York Peace Institute.

A ‘student of the world’ his personal and professional travel has taken him to almost 50 different countries, making him especially adept at navigating cultural, ethnic, and racial differences. During his time in the foreign service, he worked overseas in Afghanistan and Bangladesh, specializing in conflict resolution, political dynamics, human rights, and disaster response.

His professional accomplishments include the negotiation of resolutions at the United Nations in Geneva and New York, sharing of best practices in disaster response and civil-military coordination with the Government of Brazil, and important roles in the resolution of two high-profile kidnapping cases in Afghanistan.

He studied Mathematics at Queen’s University in Canada and has a Master in Public Administration (MPA) from the Harvard Kennedy School in Boston. It was in his MPA that he discovered his passion for mediation, while taking an advanced workshop in Multiparty Negotiation and Conflict Resolution. Since then he has committed himself to mediation full-time, with training and professional development, co-launching his own mediation firm, and by joining community mediation rosters.  

Alnoor aspires to help those who are uncomfortable with conflict, as he himself once was. He has since learned that conflict in itself is not bad, but that there may be challenges in how it affects us and how we respond to it. He views mediation as a safe and collaborative process that enables people to resolve their conflicts amicably with an outcome all can be happy with while maintaining or even enhancing their relationships.

Favorite Quote - “Dreams aren't perfect. They come true, not free.”