Ahmad-Shah Duranai

Expert Overview

Ahmad-Shah Duranai is an expert on issues of leadership, verbal communications, peace and community activism.

Ahmad-Shah Duranai is an author, public speaker, educator, architect, leadership and high performance coach. Ahmad has been a community activist and member of the Afghan Peace Mediation Team. As Architect and Project Manager he has worked for over 30 years with large Canadian and international consulting firms, leading design teams on numerous mega projects in Canada, USA and the Middle East including projects such as Toronto General hospital, Atlantis The Palm in Dubai and Nortel Campus in Ottawa.

As a leadership and communications coach, speaker and master trainer of Verbal Aikido, he is the owner and head coach of DuraNet Enterprises Inc. and has designed several programs on leadership, personal development, communications, high performance, relationships and other soft skills.

He has trained leaders in the non-profit sector, financial institutions and the staff of the United Nations. As a community activist serving on non-profit boards, he is the recipient of the 2013 Lieutenant Governor of Ontario Award and  received a medal for his activism in humanities and social justice as well as the 2020 Ambassador for Peace Award from United Peace Federation.

Ahmad has appeared on many TV and radio talk shows. He is also the host of the social media program Conversations with Ahmad and co-host of Where is Afghanistan Going?

Ahmad is the author of multiple published works: "An Outside-The-Box Look At Afghanistan: New Ideas for Lasting Peace and Stability", "The Leadership Zone: Lessons from the Front Lines", and he is a contributing author in the anthology "Peeking Behind The Scenes: A Deliberate Path to Success". He is also co-author of the upcoming book "Vertical Villages and the Future of Mixed Use Development".