Alonzo Emery

Alonzo Emery is a mediator, facilitator, and Lecturer on Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education as well as a Lecturer on Law at Harvard Law School. Alonzo’s mediation and facilitation work focuses on increasing the capacity of individuals and organizations to navigate challenging conversations and manage complex negotiations.

Through their clinical and consulting practice Alonzo has worked with business executives, lawyers, judges, civil society leaders, government officials, and educators from around the world, helping clients develop effective conflict management strategies and to engage in meaningful cross-cultural dialogue.  Alonzo has led projects and workshops for HSBC, Salesforce, Hewlett Packard, the U.S. Department of Justice’s Community Relations Service, the National Institutes of Health, the U.S. Office of Special Counsel, the Asian Development Bank, the Natural Resources Defense Council, and JSW Law School in the Kingdom of Bhutan, among many others.

Alonzo speaks Mandarin and lived in China for a decade. From 2010-2013 Alonzo was an Assistant Professor of Comparative Jurisprudence at Renmin University of China Law School in Beijing. During that time Alonzo launched the Renmin University Disability Law Clinic, the first law school clinic in China dedicated exclusively to serving people with disabilities.  As the former Associate Director of East Asian Legal Studies at Harvard Law School, Alonzo worked across departments and continents to create online and in-person platforms for international exchange. In 2013, Alonzo helped create the groundbreaking course entitled “Engaging China.” Through weekly video conference meetings, Harvard students in Cambridge and Renmin University students in Beijing connect in a trans-national classroom to explore the tensions and opportunities attending the U.S.-China relationship.

From 2013-2016 Alonzo served as a Clinical Instructor in the Harvard Negotiation and Mediation Clinical Program where they managed clinical teams working on dispute systems design, consensus building, mediation, community dialogue, and facilitation projects.  Alonzo has also taught at Georgetown University and UC Berkeley.

Alonzo received their B.A. from Yale University, cum laude, their J.D. from Harvard Law School, magna cum laude, and has also studied at the University of Cape Town, Tsinghua University, Taiwan University, and Peking University.  From 2016-2022 Alonzo served on the Board of Trustees to the Yale-China Association.  After working for more than a decade to promote transnational dialogue and foster academic inquiry related to China, the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations selected Alonzo to join its Public Intellectuals Program in 2014.