Dr. Yohanna Tesfai

About

Dr. Yohanna Tesfai is an Assistant Professor of Applied Communication who specializes in Organizational Communication.

Dr. Tesfai's research explores the communication processes through which organizational members make sense of their past, present, and future—particularly how they experience time and draw on memory. Her dissertation theoretically situated organizational memory as a communicative, relational act that emerges through relationships among organizational members, between members and textual artifacts, and between members and the material environment, such as physical spaces and architecture. To examine this construct, she conducted an empirical study of a city-funded cultural museum dedicated to preserving Black material culture, art, and history.

Before receiving her PhD, she worked as a museum educator as several Texas art museums, including the Dallas Museum of Art and the San Antonio Museum of Art. In her freetime, you can catch her bedazzling random objects, reading horror/sci-fi books, or admiring the historical buildings of Memphis.

Education

PhD, Communication Studies, The University of Texas at Austin
MA, Art History, The University of Texas at Austin
BA, Art History, Emory University

Publications

Tesfai, Y. and Feal, O. (2027). Out of sync: Time, structure, and collaboration in museum work. In Beaulieu, R. (Ed.), Transforming Museum Workplace Culture. American Alliance of Museums (AAM)/Bloomsbury Press. (https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/transforming-museum-workplace-cultures-9798765153147/)

Ballard, D.I., Mandhana, D.M., & Tesfai, Y. (2025). Groups, Teams, and Decision-Making. In Nicotera, A.M. (Ed.), Origins, Traditions, and Trends of Organizational Communication: A Comprehensive Introduction to the Field (2nd ed.). Routledge. (https://www.routledge.com/Origins-Traditions-and-Trends-of-Organizational-Communication-A-Comprehensive-Introduction-to-the-Field/Nicotera/p/book/9781032775388)

Ballard, D.I., Mandhana, D.M., Tesfai, Y., Jacome, C.S., Johnson, S.B., Gionfriddo, M.R., Suarez, M.R.E, Perth, S.A., Su, L., & Montori, V.M. (2024). Unhurried conversations in healthcare are more important than ever: Identifying key communication practices for careful and kind care. The Annals of Family Medicine, 22(6), 533-538. (Recipient of the David Meyer’s Research Award from the Primary Care Collaborative)