Kiana Young

KIANA YOUNG is a firm believer in the power of language and art as tools of social change. She has a wealth of experience in numerous events for both speech and debate, including: Public Forum, Parliamentary Debate, Congress, Original Prose and Poetry, Original Advocacy, Duo Interpretation, Dramatic Interpretation, Prose Interpretation, Impromptu Speaking, Persuasive Speaking, and Speech to Entertain/After Dinner Speaking. In high school, she consistently placed within the top 3 in her events at regional tournaments; in college, she consistently broke to final rounds and was nationally competitive. 

Kiana’s passion for public speaking and performance extends to various mediums beyond speech and debate. Kiana is a nationally-ranked spoken word poet and accomplished performance artist. In 2016 and 2017, she competed on UC Berkeley’s national poetry slam team at the College Unions Poetry Slam Invitational (CUPSI) helping her team earn the ranks of 8th and 13th in the nation, respectively. For the past two years she has been a board member with CalSLAM, UC Berkeley’s spoken word poetry organization, where she helped organize open mics and writing workshops on campus. Kiana was also a member of the 2016 National Poetry Slam Team for The Berkeley Slam in downtown Berkeley, which is the longest-running slam venue in the Bay Area. In 2017, Kiana’s original poetry manuscript was selected as a finalist for the Write Bloody Publishing Manuscript contest.
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A recent graduate of UC Berkeley in fall 2017, Kiana received her B.A. in Rhetoric with a concentration in Public Discourse, and a minor in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies. For the past two years, she has worked as a educator and sexual violence prevention advocate on campus and in the Berkeley community.  In summer 2017, she was awarded a Summer Undergraduate Research Fellow for her original thesis for Rhetoric and Ethnic Studies, focusing on the relationship between rhetoric, [dis]identification, and decolonization of language among mixed-race Asian & Pacific Islander Americans.

Kiana will be available as an instructor at the following locations for Fall 2018:

Fremont
Cupertino (pending)
​BASIS Fremont  (pending)

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Competitive History and Background​
• West High School (Torrance, CA 2009-2013)
• El Camino College (Torrance, CA 2013-2014)

Competitive Highlights: 
COLLEGE
• National Champion of Speech to Entertain/After Dinner Speaking at Phi Rho Pi Nationals (2015) 
• Silver Award in Open Parliamentary Debate at Phi Rho Pi Nationals (2015)
• Bronze Award in Junior Parliamentary Debate at Cerritos College Tabor-Venitsky Invitational (2015)
• Finalist in Prose Interpretation at Cerritos College Tabor-Venitsky Invitational (2015)
• Finalist in Prose Interpretation at Pasadena City College Invitational (2015)
• Finalist in Prose Interpretation at University of Utah Classic (2015)
• 1st Place/Gold Award in Novice Parliamentary Debate at San Diego State University Aztec Invitational (2014)
• 1st Place/Gold Award in Novice Parliamentary Debate at Irvine Valley College Invitational (2014)
• 1st Place/Gold Award in Novice Parliamentary Debate at Pasadena City College Invitational (2014)
• 1st Place Novice Persuasive Speaking at Cal State University, Northridge Roberta Barbara Invitational (2014)
HIGH SCHOOL
• 4 time qualifier to the CA High School State Championship (Duo Interp 2012, OPP  2012, Duo Interp 2013, OPP 2013) 
• League Champion of Duo Interp and Original Prose and Poetry (Western Bay Forensics League, 2013)
• 2nd Place at State Qualifiers in Duo Interp (2012)
• 2nd Place at State Qualifiers in Original Prose and Poetry (2012)

Honors and Relevant Experience: 
• Sexual Violence and Sexual Harassment Peer Educator for the PATH To Care Center (UC Berkeley, 2015 - 2017)
•  Educator with the Consent Education Working Group at Berkeley Student Cooperative (2015 - Present)
•  Queer Emerging Artist Residency with the Destiny Arts Center (Oakland, CA, 2016)
• Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship, College of Letters and Sciences (UC Berkeley, 2017)
• 8th & 13th in the nation as a competitor for UC Berkeley at the College Unions Poetry Slam Invitational (2016, 2017)
• Cal Alumni Association Leadership Award, awarded to top 1.5% of UC Berkeley students for exemplary leadership (2015, 2016, 2017)
• Community Manager at Oscar Wilde House, LGBTQIA+ housing cooperative (Berkeley, CA, 2015 - 2016) 
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