Alana Conner

Alana Conner is cultural scientist who studies, writes about, and consults on culture, psychology, and health. Her most recent work is Clash! 8 Cultural Conflicts That Make Us Who We Are, which she coauthored with Hazel Rose Markus.

She serves as the executive director of The Stanford Center for Social Psychological Answers to Real-World Questions (SPARQ), a “do tank” that aims to create and share social psychological insights with practitioners in business, government, and nonprofits. She also collaborates with clients to design interventions that enhance the well-being of diverse populations around the world. In addition, she works with scientists, business leaders, and other innovators to translate their ideas for general audiences. Her clients include The World Bank, The Stanford Clinical Excellence Research Center (CERC), Archimedes Inc., and many research labs.

She also writes for a variety of venues, which have included The New York Times Magazine, EDGE.org, and the Stanford Social Innovation Review, where she served as senior editor for five years.

She has a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Yale, a doctorate in cultural psychology from Stanford, and a postdoctoral certificate in health psychology from the University of California, San Francisco.