Claremont McKenna College

Research Team

As a research institute, KLI supports and disseminates research through a variety of means. Advancing research in leadership is of great importance to the Institute, and students work directly with KLI faculty and staff on a wide range of leadership research projects. Ongoing research projects include topics in Women and Leadership, The Language of Leadership, Data Science of Leadership, Effective Mentorship, Followership, and Responsible Leadership in Tech.

Women and Leadership

The Women and Leadership team seeks to explore the ongoing challenges women face today, understand the causes of gender disparities in leadership, and find ways to empower and celebrate women leaders through research and advocacy.

Talin Tyvand

Talin Tyvand ’27

Vivian Gao

Wensheng (Vivian) Gao ’28

Maya Karafotas

Maya Karafotas ’28

Martina Bernheim

Martina Bernheim ’29


Networked Leadership

The Networked Leadership team is analyzing the impact of social networks on effective leadership. By using Social Network Analysis (SNA), an analysis on someone's "centrality" within a social network, their capabilities/traits, and even their titles, we will be able to understand what kinds of networks produce productive leaders. 

Nethra Mahendran

Nethra Mahendran ’28

William Hou

Daniel Cao ’29

Zoey Marzo

Zoey Marzo '29


The Language of Leadership

Our team in the Language in Leadership project is researching how leaders use communication to motivate and energize their followers. We are currently in the literature review stage and plan to analyze four categories of speeches: motivational speakers, commencement speakers, sports coaches, and business leaders.

Samuel Dominguez

Samuel Dominguez ’27

Diego Núñez

Diego Núñez ’28

Olivia Wegmann-Krider

Olivia Wegmann-Krider ’29


Effective Mentorship

The Effective Mentorship Team is responsible for KLI LEAD, an initiative that develops the next generation of industry leaders through transformational leadership, career-aligned guidance, and leadership development.

Tanzila Jamal

Tanzila Jamal '26

Harry Patel

Harry Patel ’27

William Hou

William Hou '29


Responsible Leadership in Tech

Ariel Santiago

Ariel Santiago ’26

Research Team Lead

Jasmine He

Jai Rui (Jasmine) He ’28

Jonas Rickert

Jonas Rickert ’28


Followership

The Followership research team is focused on expanding research and understanding of the concept of followership, a topic with limited research, and developing a database to create a more extensive understanding of the various perceptions of followership.

Daniel Drucker POM’27

Daniel Drucker POM’27

Marco Cisneros-Farber

Marco Cisneros-Farber ’29

Joseph Santhosh

Joseph Santhosh ’29


Data Science of Leadership

The Data Science & Leadership team leverages a large language model "digital twin" simulation methodology, where LLMs help emulate human behaviors, to improve leader training exercises.

Sik Wan (Sylvana) Poon '26.

Sylvana Poon ’26

Daniel Wu

Daniel Wu '27

Marcel Astrakhan

Marcel Astrakhan ’29