Kirstianna Guerrero works as the Program Coordinator of Empower Me! Workshops at the Kansas Youth Empowerment Academy (KYEA) in Topeka. Empower Me! trains young adults with disabilities in the Pre-Employment Transition Program of Kansas as they learn the skills they need to get and keep a job. Reaching more than 200 youth each year, she has created an interactive and engaging presentation that uses the theme of video games to parallel each important topic, from writing your resume to interviewing to working with others and everything in between. She believes that identifying the information youth need to learn and finding a way it can be connected to their existing interests is when education really becomes empowerment.
In 2020 Kirstianna participated in an Amplify event for the first time and was crowned Kansas Miss Amazing Teen 2020. She went on to be crowned National Miss Amazing Teen in 2021, organizing the first Disabled and Proud Parade of Kansas in 2022, bringing the community together at the Capital Building to celebrate our history of advocacy and the beauty of representation. That journey then led her to starting her job at KYEA as an administrative assistant in 2023. She was promoted to Program Coordinator in 2024 at KYEA and currently serves as the Co-Director of Kansas Miss Amazing. She looks forward to continuing to make a difference and strengthen these organizations for the future.
