Alexa Samaniego

Bio

Alexa is a second-year PhD student in Organizational Behavior (Micro) at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Alexa's research is inspired by her background in theatre and the performing arts. She considers how speakers and audiences experience repeated performances (e.g., entrepreneurs giving the same pitch, or trainers giving the same seminar), and why certain speakers come across as more authentic than others. Her research informs the work she does as a presentation coach in the Stanford Oral Communication program and TEDxStanford.

Prior to beginning her PhD, Alexa worked as a research associate at Achievers Workforce Institute and Columbia Business School. She received her BS in Business Psychology from UC San Diego, and her MS in Applied Psychology from San Diego State University.

Honors & Awards

• EDGE Fellowship, Stanford University (2022-2025)
• Masters Research Scholarship, San Diego State University (2021)
• Psychology Department TA Award, San Diego State University (2021)
• Graduate Equity Fellowship, San Diego State University (2020-2021)
• Psychology Department Undergraduate Research Fellowship, UC San Diego (2019)
• Tritons Research & Experiential Learning Grant, UC San Diego (2019)

Professional Affiliations and Activities

• Director of Speaker Curation and Mentorship, TEDxStanford (2023 - Present)
• Graduate Oral Communication Tutor, Stanford Hume Center for Writing and Speaking (2023 - Present)

Education & Certifications

• MS, San Diego State University, Applied Psychology (2022)
• BS, UC San Diego, Business Psychology (2019)