Siena Pilati

Student Speaker, May 2026

Pilati, from North Canton, Ohio, is graduating with a bachelor’s degree in public policy from the UK Martin School of Public Policy and Administration, and a certificate in artificial intelligence. She will deliver the student address at the 6 p.m. Friday, May 8, ceremony.

During her time at UK, Pilati, who is also a student in the Lewis Honors College, has combined policy, data and civic engagement into a wide range of campus and community leadership roles.

“It hasn’t actually set in that I’ll be graduating from UK this week,” Pilati said. “I feel so proud of myself to have made a home here in Kentucky and am taking all the knowledge and skills that I learned at UK with me into my next chapter.”

As an out-of-state student, Pilati said her experience at UK reflects the impact of the university and the Commonwealth on her personal and professional growth.

“Every faculty, staff member and peer I’ve met at UK has gone out of their way to help me in my academic, personal and professional life,” she said. “Kentucky pulls you in and makes you a better person.”

Pilati held several leadership roles across campus, including Executive Director of University Affairs for the Student Government Association and Overall Student Leadership Director for the UK Visitor Center, where she also worked as a tour guide. She founded and led the Cats Vote Coalition, a nonpartisan student organization focused on civic engagement, and served as Director of Data Management for Every Vote Counts.

Her professional experience includes internships with the U.S. Government Accountability Office and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, as well as policy work with Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government’s Office of the Mayor. She also conducted research through the UK College of Public Health, contributing to a National Institutes of Health-funded study examining the impact of substance use-related policies in Kentucky communities.

As a UK Commencement speaker, Pilati hopes to encourage graduates to embrace uncertainty and chart their own path.

“I hope my story helps people feel less afraid of making big life decisions and understand that all of our individual paths look different,” she said. “I want people to feel excited and ready to pursue their life of meaning and purpose — not afraid.”

After graduation, Pilati will continue her work in Lexington this summer as a policy fellow in the mayor’s office before beginning a Master of Public Policy program at Georgetown University in the fall.

*Interview courtesy of UK Now