No-Yes by Katie Koestner

When the students in the room shift from slouching to sitting up straight, they are listening. When they lean forward and rest their elbows on their knees, they are completely engaged. This is the way Katie Koestner’s “No-Yes” speech impacts audiences. Katie weaves the story of her date rape at age 18 with stories of sexual assault and empowerment from male and female students across North America.

Katie achieves what school administrators and educators desire: behavior change and awareness; as well as what students respond to: three dimensional reality and honesty.

The themes of responsibility with alcohol, gender communication, consent, and respect for self and others are intertwined with the story of Katie's personal journey from victim to survivor to national spokesperson. Katie has been the subject of an HBO movie and has appeared on the cover of TIME Magazine as the first date rape survivor to speak out nationally and publicly. Men are not only addressed during the presentation, but inspired! They leave the program understanding the variety of ways in which they can take a stand and believing they can be part of the solution.

Katie's expert public speaking skills combined with her outstanding leadership and passion for change are what make this the annual program choice on the topic of sexual misconduct by the administration and orientation committees at such schools as West Point, MIT, Amherst, Williams, Brown, the University of San Diego, and nearly fifty of the most competitive independent schools in the United States!

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