Media
A Full Circle Moment on Campus
In 2024, Luciana Simion was featured on CSUSM Alumni’s social media to celebrate her return to campus—this time, not as a student, but as a faculty member. From earning her MBA in Business Analytics to becoming a professor shaping the next generation of business leaders, this moment represents a meaningful milestone in her professional and academic journey.
Research Award Recognition
In 2023, Luciana Simion was recognized by Claremont Graduate University’s Transdisciplinary Studies Program for receiving the Crossing Boundaries Research Award for her collaborative project on multiracial leadership development. The study, co-led with Ashley Watterson, explores the role of upbringing in shaping complex leadership identities across cultures and disciplines
Events
TEDxClaremontGraduateUniversity
- As Manager of the Maldonado Executive Leadership Institute (MELI), Luciana led the full-scale coordination and curation of TEDxClaremontGraduateUniversity in 2024 and 2025. These events are part of CGU’s mission to elevate transdisciplinary dialogue, ethical innovation, and inclusive leadership. Luciana served as lead organizer, cross-departmental liaison, and speaker coach, working closely with university leadership, TEDx licensing officials, marketing teams, and a diverse roster of speakers. She oversaw every aspect of the events, from theme development and speaker selection to performance coaching and event production. Luciana ensured that each talk met TEDx standards while amplifying voices from across sectors and identities. These events reflect her commitment to cultivating platforms for public scholarship, transformative storytelling, and leadership development.
- TEDxClaremontGraduateUniversity 2024
- Theme: Ideas Worth Spreading About the Future of Leadership
- Date: May 1, 2024 | Location: CGU Albrecht Auditorium
- This second annual TEDx event brought together speakers to explore what leadership means in a world of rapid technological, social, and institutional change. As an organizer and speaker coach, Luciana worked with academics, executive leaders, consultants, and nonprofit professionals to shape their narratives and deliver compelling, research-driven talks. The event spotlighted ideas that emphasized innovation, service, resilience, inclusion, and emotional authenticity in leadership, business, public policy, and education.
- TEDxClaremontGraduateUniversity 2025
- Theme: Leadership Reimagined: Navigating a Transforming World
- Date: April 10, 2025 | Location: CGU Albrecht Auditorium
- For the third TEDxClaremontGraduateUniversity event, Luciana led MELI’s expanded strategic vision to reimagine leadership amid growing volatility and systemic disruption across sectors such as technology, government, law enforcement, public service, education, and the creative industries. Under her leadership, the event brought together a diverse and high-impact speaker lineup and highlighted narratives of adaptive leadership, the power of storytelling, ethical innovation, challenging outdated government practices, and fostering inclusive systems change. Luciana spearheaded cross-sectoral outreach, curated the speaker roster in alignment with TEDx values, and provided intensive coaching to each presenter (from idea generation and storyboarding to script refinement and delivery preparation), ensuring that each talk reflected personal authenticity and professional rigor.
Book Clubs
Big Bet Leadership – Book Club Series
As part of her leadership role with the JOB Lab at CGU, Luciana organized and facilitated an engaging leadership book club featuring executive coach and bestselling author John Rossman, an early Amazon executive and founder of Rossman Partners. The book club offered participants a chance to learn directly from Rossman’s experiences and publications—including The Amazon Way and Think Like Amazon—on digital transformation, innovation under pressure, and scalable leadership strategies.
