_MG_3103.jpg

Azzam Talhami is a Palestinian CNVC Certified Trainer, licensed marriage family therapist, peace-builder, and mental health advocate. He has trained hundreds of people across the Middle East, Europe and the US in peace-building and Nonviolent Communication (NVC), including at the MidEast International Intensive Training in NVC in Beit Jalla, Palestine. Dedicated to supporting historically conflicting communities towards a just peace, he has trained the students at the Peace Engineers School in Ukraine in sustainable peace and NVC, in partnership with PAX, the Netherlands, with the support of the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Germany. Azzam founded the NVC Arabic Academy, leading in-person and online classes for Arabic-speaking journalists, psychologists, and aspiring peace-builders across the world, as well as creating programs that train international peace organizations, such as for forumZFD. Devoted to sharing the story of his people through the lens of compassion, his interests as a guest speaker and teacher include deepening the conversation around power and privilege. He has served as an on-camera political analyst, news correspondent, documentary filmmaker, journalist, translator, and war-zone photographer for many Palestinian, Israeli, Russian, and American media outlets. Among these, he has been a translator and Middle East journalist consultant for the AT&T Original Documentary The Volunteers, on Audience Network, as well as writer and reporter for Huffington Post Arabic and Ma’an News Agency.

As a means of self-expression, Azzam pours his heart and soul into writing poetry. One of his particularly compelling pieces, What Does Living Under the Occupation Mean? gained attention from peace activists around the world and was translated into English and Hebrew.