Master of Ceremonies

Cade Miller is a third-year studying Broadcast Journalism from Inwood, West Virginia. Cade has emceed many of Penn State's events including Homecoming, Lion Ambassador's "Be Apart From the Start," Movin' On, and SPA's "Lights Up" concert, and School of Hospitality's Talent Show. Cade is a radio talk show host and a DJ for country music on COMMRadio and The Lion 90.7 FM. He is also involved in Lion Ambassadors and the University Park Undergraduate Association. He is so honored to have been selected to be the Master of Ceremonies by his good friend, Matt McHugh, for the 2023 State of State conference!

Nick Cedeño is a fourth-year student studying Labor and Human Resources, Chinese, and Asian Studies. Outside of the classroom, Nick is the President of the Student Philanthropy Network, on the Executive Board for Lion Ambassadors and Penn State Students United Against Poverty, and a brother of Alpha Kappa Psi Co-Ed Business Fraternity. Nick grew up right outside New York City in Mamaroneck, NY. Throughout his life he has been passionate about philanthropy and helping others. At Penn State, he had the privilege of being a development intern where he was really able to learn how fundraising and philanthropy can make a difference in students' lives. This year with the Student Philanthropy Network he has been able to oversee the Class Gift campaign which is Support for Complete Penn State. After graduation Nick will be working in New York City with PIMCO.

​Giselle Concepcion is a second-year Schreyer Scholar majoring in Political Science and minoring in Women's Studies and Civic and Community Engagement. Outside of the classroom, Giselle advocates for a greater emphasis on civic engagement on campus through voter registration and education efforts. She is the co-founder and External President of the League of Women Voters at Penn State, with the mission to increase voter participation and empower women to take an active role in civic life. Giselle is also the Chair of Governmental Affairs for UPUA, your student government, and Cahir Captin for Students United Against Poverty. Through her talk, Giselle explores how empowerment is a vital part of advocating for the importance of civic engagement.

​Owen Abbey is a senior majoring in Secondary Education Social Studies and minoring in Social Justice in Education. Through coursework in the minor, Owen developed a passion for serving others and becoming a mental health advocate. He believed that his experiences dealing with his own mental health pushed him to advocate for others, specifically men. In the mental health conversation, men are very rarely at the table, and the stigma surrounding men and mental health needs to be broken so that everyone can get the help they deserve. Owen’s talk is about breaking the stigma around men’s mental health and pushing everyone to get the help they all deserve.

Isabella Briseño is an undergraduate student at Penn State University double majoring in Environmental Resource Management and Political Science. At Penn State, Bella is the Executive Director of Environmental Sustainability in the University Park Undergraduate Association (UPUA), member of the Student Sustainability Advisory Council, and the Employee Engagement and Academic Programs intern at the Sustainability Institute. She has partnered with the City of Scranton in the LCAP Program to complete the municipality’s greenhouse gas inventory and coordinate climate action planning. She has conducted undergraduate research using ArcGIS StoryMaps to showcase diverse perspectives for comprehensive ocean solutions and is an independent ArcGIS contractor for the Healthy Ocean Coalition. Bella serves as the undergraduate representative on Olas y Acción under the Hispanic Access Foundation.

Lahari Peruri is a senior in the College of Health and Human Development, majoring in Biobehavioral Health and minoring in Deafness and Hearing Studies. She co-founded and serves as president of Lotus, an organization working to foster safer environments for victim-survivors of sexual violence within Black, Indigenous, and other Communities of Color. After graduating this Spring, Lahari aspires to attend law school and later further her roles in advocacy through venturing into politics. In her talk, Lahari will discuss the significance of decolonizing sexual violence prevention measures at Penn State.

Janiyah Davis is a senior double majoring in Criminology and Psychology with minors in African American Studies, Child Maltreatment and Advocacy Studies, and Sociology and a certificate in Behavioral Health and Counseling Psychology. She currently serves as Student Trustee on Penn State’s Board of Trustees where she is the lone voting representative for over 98,000 university students to oversee the enterprise.

Haskel Canagarajah is a senior majoring in Finance and minoring in Health Policy and Administration here at Penn State. Haskel is a driven leader in the Penn State community, holding several roles over the past couple of years. He has served as the Vice President of Consulting Services for the Nittany Lion Consulting Group, where he acquired and oversaw client projects for Fortune 500, nonprofit, and small business organizations. He has also served on the Executive Committee of Penn State THON as the Development Director, where he oversaw individual, corporate, and foundation donor involvement in the world’s largest student-run philanthropy. Haskel has also represented the university in case competitions on the regional and national levels. Through these experiences, he has learned what constitutes strong leadership from those across the university and has developed his own set of leadership skills.