Meral Alizada: Kindness as Infrastructure

Meral Alizada is the only interviewee who quoted Shakespeare. She is a lawyer, but also a poet—and now a researcher and advocate for a kinder workplace. Meral describes kindness as infrastructure: a systemic force that must be embedded into the foundation of how workplaces and societies function. Through her company, Results of Kindness, she works with organizations to design and implement systems that make kindness measurable and strategic. Her focus includes leadership development, inclusive systems, neurodiversity, and ethical culture, with the goal of improving productivity, profitability, customer satisfaction, and retention.

Meral was born and raised in England and carries deep ties to Afghanistan and Uzbekistan. She shared that kindness has been central to her identity throughout her life, present in her friendships, career decisions, and sense of justice. In her early career as a lawyer, she worked in criminal law, family law, and corporate mergers and acquisitions. Even in competitive legal environments, she sought outcomes that were fair and grounded in mutual benefit.

Her academic background includes psychology and ongoing research at the University of Sussex. She is currently conducting a study on the relationship between kindness and repeat business in negotiation. That perspective is visible in how she views business and leadership, where kindness is essential. Meral, who is neurodivergent, emphasized that outsider perspectives often carry distinct forms of wisdom—if leaders are willing to listen.

A pivotal moment came when a serial entrepreneur reviewed her past work, including her academic research and a book of poetry she published in 2019, and remarked that she had been “campaigning for kindness” her entire life. “Have you considered entrepreneurship?” he asked. That moment helped crystallize her direction. In January she founded Results of Kindness, rooted in the belief that kindness must be designed into systems rather than left to intention alone.

Meral shares data that supports this approach. She cites that kindness in the workplace can result in a 13% increase in productivity, a 26% increase in profitability, and a 20% increase in customer satisfaction. For her, one of the most important outcomes is retention. As more people work remotely, pursue entrepreneurship, or explore flexible alternatives, she sees retention as a strategic advantage, particularly for companies aiming to attract and keep high-performing employees.

Cultural context is a significant part of Meral’s thinking. She described her time in Uzbekistan, where people with fewer resources often appear more supported and fulfilled. In those environments, she saw how community fills the gaps left by systems. She gave the example of children in low-income areas who show high verbal fluency and social intelligence, supported by strong social ties. In contrast, she noted how in Western contexts, even with more infrastructure, the absence of communal support can limit individual development. These insights come from both her personal experiences and her academic work in developmental psychology.

She also spoke about how kindness appears differently across cultures and neurotypes. She described kindness as having a “fingerprint”—unique in expression but grounded in sincerity. In some cultures, “kindness is clarity,” she said. She shared a story of a German friend who went on a date with another German and they went for a walk. “Twenty-five minutes in, the man said, ‘I really enjoyed our walk, but I think it's time for us to continue the walk, but by ourselves.’ Now is that better, or leading someone on? Or is there a medium? What it says is that kindness takes its own shape.”

“The more I give to thee, the more I have.”

Meral Alizada is a former lawyer and now the founder of Results of Kindness and is working on the concept “Kindness as Infrastructure.” Results of Kindness is building systems of kindness designed as architecture, scaled as infrastructure. Her work blends lived experience and research to show how kindness can be embedded into the systems we live and work by. Keep an eye out for more interviews.