Henry Yampolsky

Henry Yampolsky is a best-selling author, mediator, educator, and multi-time TEDx Speaker. Henry serves as the Assistant Director for Education, Outreach, and Conflict Resolution at Virginia Tech's Office for Equity and Accessibility and teaches conflict resolution, mediation, and peace building as part of Virginia Tech's Center for Peace Studies and Violence Prevention. Henry has worked with hundreds of complex conflicts and has taught and lectured around the world including at Columbia University School of Law, the New York Peace Institute, Bellevue Mediation in Zurich, Switzerland, the International Gandhi Center and Museum in New Delhi, Bharathiar University in Coimbatore, India and at the Sattva Summit in Rishikesh, India.

Henry's best-selling and critically acclaimed book, Dis-Solving Conflict from Within: an Inner Path for Conflict Transformation introduced a mindfulness-based paradigm for responding to conflict with strength, clarity, and compassion instead of reacting with fear, avoidance, or aggression. Henry's two TEDx talks have garnered thousands of views. Henry's first TEDx talk described his motorcycle journey across the Himalayas and what it taught him about conflict, connection, and dialogue. In his second TEDx talk, Henry talked about radical compassion as the goal of conflict resolution.

Prior to embarking on a career in peacebuilding, Henry was an award-winning trial lawyer in Philadelphia. He has earned a Doctor of Jurisprudence degree from Temple University and a BS in International Studies from the University of Scranton. Henry is also a master-level instructor of Sattva Yoga, trained at the birthplace of Yoga, in Rishikesh, India. Originally from Kyiv, Ukraine, Henry resides in Virginia.