Experienced. Credentialed.
Built for complexity.

Ali Soleymaniha

Founder & Lead Mediator, PorroVia

My work in conflict resolution began long before I formally stepped into mediation. Early in my career, I worked on business process mapping and organizational improvement — studying how work flows, how decisions get made, how people coordinate to deliver results. The diagnostic work was intellectually engaging. Implementation was where the real story lived. Change was rarely resisted because of the process itself — it was resisted because of conflict. Differences in perspective, misaligned interests, perceived threats — surfacing quietly at first, then with increasing intensity. That is where my work actually began.

In conflict, people protect themselves. They become guarded, slow to disclose, ready to defend — and that response is intelligence, not weakness. The system is doing what systems do under threat. Approaches that rely on directives, policies, or one-way communication try to bypass that intelligence; they rarely reach what actually matters. That is why trust sits at the center of my approach. My work focuses on creating the conditions where trust can be rebuilt — where people feel safe enough to engage openly, and where meaningful dialogue becomes possible. I work across workplace mediation, business and founder dispute facilitation, family business conflicts, workplace restoration, and conflict resolution training. My practice serves organizations across the Greater Toronto Area. I hold a Master's degree in Law (LL.M.) from Osgoode Hall Law School, which grounds the work in legal and analytical rigor.

I am a published author and the developer of Dynamic Mediation™, a methodology built on the recognition that conflict is not static. It is living, evolving, shaped continuously by the people inside it. Rather than following rigid steps or linear stages, Dynamic Mediation™ works through interconnected elements that unfold concurrently: defining the preferred future, using solution-focused language, enabling collective learning, evaluating perspectives, and co-creating sustainable solutions. Instead of asking what went wrong, I guide parties to articulate what they want to see — and then help them build it together. The process continues until the solution is not only agreed upon but resilient — able to withstand the pressures of the world beyond the mediation room.