Alonzo Emery

Alonzo Emery is a lawyer, mediator, and lecturer on education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Emery'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 Emery 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. Emery 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.

Emery speaks Mandarin and lived in China for a decade. From 2010-2013 Emery was an assistant professor of comparative jurisprudence at Renmin University of China Law School in Beijing. During that time Emery 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, Emery worked across departments and continents to create online and in-person platforms for international exchange. In 2013, Emery helped create the groundbreaking course entitled "Engaging China." Through weekly video conference meetings, the course connected Harvard students in Cambridge and Renmin University students in Beijing in a trans-national classroom to explore the tensions and opportunities attending the U.S.-China relationship.

From 2013-2016 Emery 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. While teaching at Harvard Law School Emery also worked with colleagues to create, teach, and eventually lead the flagship 1L Negotiation Workshop. In addition to Harvard Law School, the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and Renmin University, Emery has also taught at Georgetown University and UC Berkeley.

Emery 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. Emery’s past board appointments include service 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 Emery to join its Public Intellectuals Program in 2014.