On Sept. 15, the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network presented Kira Sano, a master’s student studying sustainability management, with the Young Leader Award thanks to her nine years of dedication to the organization at its annual Leadership Summit and Lobby Day in Washington, D.C. 

The ACS CAN Young Leader Award is a national award given to a volunteer who has shown dedication and passion to changing the cancer landscape. At the ceremony, 735 cancer patients, survivors and advocates met with elected officials to ask for, among other demands,  an increase in cancer research funding.  

Sano’s involvement with ACS began nine years ago when she became a caregiver to her mom, who was diagnosed with stage four brain cancer after her grandma had just passed away from lung cancer that same year. 

Daily headlines, sent straight to your inbox.

Subscribe to our newsletter to keep up with the latest at and around USC.

“It was really hard for me to go to school and do all these things, and then I found Relay For Life,” Sano said. “I found this wonderful community of other caregivers, survivors and it was the first time I could really talk about cancer and its complexities.” 

Following her mother’s cancer diagnosis, Sano joined her high school’s ACS Relay For Life organization, the world’s largest volunteer-led fundraising event for cancer research, until her senior year of high school when she got involved with the advocacy branch of ACS. 

“I’d always wanted to see that tangible change in the healthcare systems that I had seen so many problems in,” Sano said.

Sano then formed the ACS CAN California Emerging Leaders Council and Society of Emerging Leaders, which consists of youth cancer research advocates, in 2022. They push for and support healthcare access and research funding policies at every level of government. Sano’s ACS chapter went from just a handful of members to about 100 student volunteers in three years. 

Mary Kemp, the grassroots organizing director for ACS CAN, has worked closely with Sano ever since they met at a Relay For Life event in 2019. 

“Kira does everything, so it’s impossible to say that there’s just one thing that she did that earned her this award,” Kemp said. “But she’s been committed to ACS over the course of nine years.” 

Isabella Ramos, a member of the California Emerging Leaders Council, is currently lobbying government officials with Sano for various cancer-related healthcare bills. On top of that, Ramos is pursuing a project centered around the experience of a victim of the Red Hill Hawai’i military jet fuel leak, an environmental incident that contaminated the drinking water of 9,000 families in 2021 and how it led to their cancer diagnosis.

“She offers a lot of these kinds of opportunities to the different members, which we’re all really appreciative of,” Ramos said. “We live all over California, even just meeting with her over Zoom calls, we can tell that she gives a lot of her time and energy, all of her passion, into leading this group.”

Sano said managing her classes, work and cancer advocacy can be difficult. However, she also said her efforts in ACS give her a sense of direction in life that feels more like a privilege and opportunity rather than a responsibility. 

“I think this is something that doesn’t ever take energy from me but rather energizes me,” Sano said. “Whenever I hop off a call with a college or high school student who just started, I see the glow in their eyes.”

Sano said receiving the Young Leaders award has allowed her to connect with other cancer advocates around the globe.

“As Trojans, I think we have a lot of resources at our hands, and I think this is a call to action to make the most out of your time here and really make an impact on your local community because Los Angeles is so special and there’s so many unique activists around you so really get out of your comfort zone and leave the bubble and confines of this environment,” Sano said.