Alice Shikina

All of my talents contribute to making me an effective mediator. First and foremost, I am very comfortable in high conflict situations. I keep your logical/reasoning mind engaged, while keeping your emotions as calm as possible. My calm and gentle, yet firm demeanor truly pulls parties toward a mutually agreeable solution.

Alice Shikina

Experience

I started my mediation journey in 2013. Since then, I have helped several hundreds of divorcing couples get to a resolution around their co-parenting, finances, alimony and asset splits in an amicable and calm manner. Additionally, I mediate workplace conflicts and provide follow-up coaching in conflict resolution and communication. Finally, I help resolve family disputes around the care of aging parents, strained relationships between adult siblings or children. I help parties get beyond the emotional blocks and move them to a place where they can come to agreement.

Divorce Mediation

I enjoy helping people move forward in their lives. As fraught as people might believe divorce mediation might be, I keep parties calm, relaxed and engaged in the process, so that we almost always get to a mediated settlement agreement.

I also am a panel mediator for the Conflict Intervention Services. I handle housing cases with low-income residents. The residents are either having issues with neighbors or they are violating lease terms and are facing a possible eviction. I mediate these disputes to prevent people from being displaced and to create more harmony amongst neighbors.

Finally, my work with the Department of Police Accountability allows me to mediate between civilians and police officers. They civilians have filed complaints and we mediate in order to facilitate greater understanding between the reality of the police officers and the experience of the civilian. These mediations change the way each of them sees the other. It is a beautiful transformation.

For the peacebuilding work that I have done for several years in San Francisco, Community Boards awarded me the 2025 Peacemaker Award.

Single Mom with Grit

I’m a single mom. I know hardship and grit.

I also know hard work. No one gets anywhere without it. I’ve trained myself to stay in motion in order to be able to look at adversity in the eye and move past it. I’m a fighter. But I’m also a nurturer. With all my past experiences, I have the skills to maneuver through rough spots while maintaining grace. I also have a lot of empathy.

My experience as a theater director and actress really honed my communication skills. If you can’t communicate to your actors what you want them to do without giving them a line reading, you won’t be a very effective director and your show won’t be as powerful as it can be.

My first Muay Thai kickboxing fight gave me the grit and courage I have today. As a novice fighter, I trained for three months for a national tournament. I trained three hours a day. It was grueling. It was lonely. There were so many exhausting days where I looked squarely at the face of fear. Exhaustion can eat you alive. It dampens your ability to remain steadfast. It shakes you emotionally to the core. It creates a negative filter around your entire sense of your life. Through it all, I knew I had to remain courageous. If I fell, I had to stand up again and again and again.

Through all of these experiences, I have come to be the mediator I am today. I bring grit, courage, empathy and compassion to all my clients. In a world where there is so much chaos and conflict, I work tirelessly with my clients to bring a little more comfort and peace into their lives.

When I am not working with clients, you can find me enjoying hanging out with my two boys, who remind me every day what life and love should look like.

Affiliations
Mediation Panels
  • San Francisco Bar Association
  • Conflict Intervention Services
  • California Superior Court County of Alameda Day-of-Court
  • Department of Police Accountability Mediation Panel
  • Department of Fair Employment and Housing Mediation Panel
ADR Training
  • Mediation Certificate from Ron Kelly, San Francisco Bar Association
  • Arbitration Certificate from Ron Kelly, San Francisco Bar Association
  • Mediation Training by Arts Arbitration and Mediation
  • Crossing the Cultural Divide in Mediation by Nina Mierding
  • Negotiation University of Michigan
  • Negotiations Course Yale University
  • Advanced Online Mediation Training with Woody Mosten and Susan Guthrie
Honors/Awards
Media Coverages