Nadia N. Shahram received her B.S. in Business Administration and her J.D. from the State University of New York at Buffalo. She has received training as a family mediator from the Rochester Mediation Center. Ms. Shahram has been a practicing attorney in the field of Matrimonial Mediation for the past 15 years. She is a board member of the Family Justice Center of Erie County, a member of New York State & Erie County Bar Association, and the New York State Council of Divorce Mediation.

Ms. Shahram has served on a number of advisory boards as well as collaborated with numerous cultural, civic, humanitarian, and educational organizations including the International Institute of Buffalo, Journey’s End Refugee Services, Buffalo Public Schools, Zonta International, Women’s Interfaith Institute, and the YWCA of Niagara County.

Ms. Shahram has received a number of awards including the “Spirit of Woman” for her work with the Family Justice Center, a “Cultural and Education” Award from Buffalo Public Schools, “Women of Influence” from Business First, the Yellow Rose award from Zonta International and, and the Legal Elite of Western New York. She is a regular contributor to the Erie County Bar Bulletin, The Buffalo News, and the Public Radio’s program “You and The Law.”

          Ms. Shahram’s keen Interest in Mediation and resolving disputes outside of court is a result of her extensive research, experience, and travels, as well as her own heritage and beliefs. Ms. Shahram's cultural, educational and professional experiences have provided her with a broad knowledge base from which to offer expert opinion and assist courts and attorneys in dealing with Muslim clientele in matrimonial and family law.

After the tragic events of September 11, 2001, she began to re-examine her faith of Islam, the role of Muslims in the international arena, and the perceptions of the religion in the West. Ms. Shahram's course at the University of Buffalo Law School, "The Effects of Religion and Culture on Family and Criminal Laws," was created as a quest to find answers to her own questions including why there is such prevalence of misogyny within Moslem culture.

            While visiting her native country of Iran in 2004 and 2005, Ms. Shahram conducted hundreds of interviews and attended Islamic courtrooms as part of an extensive research project. She witnessed first-hand the unjust implementation of Islamic Law. As a guest speaker in this area of expertise, local as well as national radio and TV stations have interviewed Ms. Shahram, including CNN, as well as numerous print media. She writes regularly for law publications and local newspapers.

Ms. Shahram has published her first novel, "Marriage on the Street Corners of Tehran” in 2010. This book was based on true stories and research of women's experiences and the interpretation of Islamic Family and Criminal Law as they are currently being practiced in modern Iran.

Ms. Shahram is the he founding member of “Raising Hope”, an annual fashion show fund-raiser to benefit the Family Justice Center, during which she and the committee raised over $100,000 for women victimize by domestic violence.

In 2012, she established a scholarship to encourage and enable Moslem women to pursue higher education. She is the founder and the president of the Coalition for the Advancement of Moslem Women. As the first order of business, the board is filling a petition with the State regarding polygamous marriages.

           In addition to her performances of dance and poetry, Ms. Shahram has created theatrical depictions of legendary Persian female characters from classical literature and participated in numerous cultural programs and festivals to benefit not-for-profit organizations.

As a human rights activist for Ms. Shahram recently unveiled the first Declaration of Equalities for Moslem women during Convention Days in Seneca Falls, New York, the birthplace of the women’s rights movement. This declaration written in the spirit of Elizabeth Cady Stanton aspires to address laws and cultural practices which are unjust, and discriminatory to women in Islamic countries. She has also organized the first Culture and Control of Women Conference at the University of Buffalo School of Law in 2015.