Washington, D.C. ROAR Story Slam 2024 Recap
Finalists: Lin Su Winton, Tony Luckett, Amy Anderson, Mike Tessier, Jae Kwon, and Alisha Bennett
Judges: Sam Hyun, Lucy Lee, Jung Yun, Eugenia Kim, and Sam Lee
Emcee & Performer: Eunji Kim
Producers: YS Kim Foundation, Providence Pictures
Assistant Directors: Korean American Community Foundation, Council of Korean Americans, JCK Law, Jeannie Park
Community Partners: NAKASEC, Camp Naru, HANA Center, The National Korean Student Alliance
Special thanks to George Washington University’s Asian American Students Association for partnering with us to host this year’s ROAR Story Slam.
Credits
Photographer: Janice Chung
Production Manager, Camera, and Editor: Kimberly Young Sun
Editor: Cedric Stout
2nd Videographer: Chris Tsou
Motion Designer and Editor: Aj Valente
Designer: Celine Son
Playlist
Alisha Bennett
1st Place Winner
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Alisha Bennett (she/her), AKA Seon Young, is a Korean Adoptee born in Daegu, South Korea. She grew up in Michigan and moved to New York City in 2006. With a heart dedicated to children, she has worked as a school social worker for the NYC public school system for 17 years. She has her own private practice and a small-batch pasta business with her husband. She lives in love and gratitude in Brooklyn with him and their 3-year-old daughter.
Mike Tessier
2nd Place Winner
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Mike Tessier / Yoon Hobin (he/him) is a strategy consultant, storyteller, and advocate from Seattle, leveraging his journey as a Korean American Adoptee to inform his empathetic approach. He's dedicated to fostering positive change on a global scale. Mike extends his impact as an emcee for charity gaming streams, drawing on his work as a collegiate basketball and strategy card commentator.
Tony Luckett
3rd Place Winner
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He grew up in Queens, NYC where he discovered his love for video games, dance, and science. Abandoning his city roots to study mechanical engineering and sculpture at Dartmouth, Tony found his voice in the hills of New Hampshire and later, put his critical and creative thinking skills to the test in the Marshall Islands as a teacher and school leader, in Boston as a high school math teacher then in graduate school where he studied business, education and design. In his career since, Tony has helped build businesses and develop strategic alliances in both tech and non-profits.
Jae Kwon
Finaslist
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Born as Jaewon, Jae Kwon (he/him) had his name cut in half on the attendance sheet at Olive J. Dodge Elementary of Alabama and decided to go with it. He didn't want an English name, and he didn't want his actual name mangled either. Jae's a creative writing student at Columbia, college consultant, and pocha-server. He provides SAT content on his YouTube Channel SexyJ (The Hyungs chose the name, not him). He dedicates this Story Slam to his friend: your dongseng's gonna be famous, just watch.
Amy Anderson
Finaslist
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Amy Anderson (she/her) is an L.A. dwelling actor, writer, singer, and comedian. Her stand-up comedy has been seen on Showtime, Comedy Central, and HBO: The Comedy Festival. Her greatest achievement, to date, is being a single-mom to a very cool, almost 17 year old who seems to really like her. Follow Amy on IG @theamyanderson and @theotheramyanderson, her daughter's band @october.theband, and their dog @itsrubytotherescue.
Lin Su Winton
Finaslist
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Lin Su Winton (she/her)is Korean American and grew up in rural Texas, raised by two loving parents who taught her to do her best. After college, Lin Su spent many years in Austin before moving to Minneapolis, where she now lives with her partner, two kids, two cats, and a fridge full of kimchi. This is her first storytelling event.
Photos
