Meet The Toronto Region's Judges
A list of all the professional judges for the Toronto Region
Cat-Tam Huynh
An undergraduate at the University of Southern California, Cat-Tam studies Acting alongside Cinematic Arts and Business. Since 7th grade, she has competed in United States Interpretation Events, specializing in Humorous Interpretation.
Some of her proudest high school accomplishments include placing 6th at the 2024 NSDA Nationals, winning the 2023 and 2024 Tournament of Champions, and graduating ranked 1st in Humorous Interpretation and 5th overall in NSDA points. She also placed 8th in Storytelling at the 2025 NSDA Nationals and won both the 2024 UC Berkeley Invitational and 2025 Martin Luther King Jr. Invitational in Dramatic Interpretation.
In middle school, she championed Humorous Interpretation at the 2020 and 2021 NSDA Nationals, Spoken Word Poetry at the 2021 NSDA Nationals, and became the first competitor to reach 1,000 NSDA points.
Even in high school, her coaching led to other state finalists and national semi-finalists.
Scarlett Lu
Scarlett is an 11th grade (2025-2026) student at Havergal College who is a highly skilled and practiced public speaker and debater. She participates in a wide array of competitive speech activities and has demonstrated her proficiency through numerous accomplishments:
Three “Top 20” awards at DECA Provincials 2025
Top 10 Qualifier for the 2025 Senior National Debate and Public Speaking Championships
Top 10 Qualifier for the 2026 Senior National Debate and Public Speaking Championships
Founder and Club head of the Competitive Public Speaking Club at Havergal College
FBL Canada, CNLC 2025 Public Speaking 3rd Place
Shawn Cui
Hello! My name is Shawn and I am an 8th grade student in Toronto, Canada. I have over 3 years of experience in both public speaking and debating, with over 3 years of tutoring experience in AFI TCPC as well. Some of my achievements include:
Top 5 Speaker in 2025 Harvard International Councils PF Tournament
Champion of the 2026 Annual Stanford Invitational in the Impromptu Speaking category
Silver award in the Queen’s Commonwealth Essay Competition in 2025 (With over 50,000 participants in 50+ countries), and Bronze award in 2023.
Champion in the TOC Asia Junior Debate Tournament
1st prize in the Queen’s Commonwealth French Public Speaking Tournament
Recently got accepted into a prestigious summer entrepreneurial program for high school students, LaunchX.
Founder of 2 non-profits, Shaping Future Leader (www.sfl-youth.org) and Future Speakers (www.getfuturespeakers.com)
Some of my hobbies include reading, playing video games, basketball, and more.
Lori-Ann Jakel
Lori-Ann Jakel (LA) has spent the past 20 years honing the art of communication—designing and delivering hundreds of workshops and seminars that inspire professionals to stand up and speak with confidence. As Co-Founder of Stand Up and Speak, an elite academy specializing in public speaking, interview skills, and leadership training, she has coached provincial, national, and international champions. Her work has taken her across Canada, the United States, Malaysia, India, and Vietnam.
An award-winning speaker, author, and podcast host, Lori-Ann is passionate about sharing stories, sparking meaningful conversations, and helping others discover their voice. She is delighted to judge the 21st Century Cup Public Speaking Global Invitational and wishes all participants the very best. There is no greater gift than to share your voice with the world.
Scarlett Lu
Scarlett is an 11th grade (2025-2026) student at Havergal College who is a highly skilled and practiced public speaker and debater. She participates in a wide array of competitive speech activities and has demonstrated her proficiency through numerous accomplishments:
Three “Top 20” awards at DECA Provincials 2025
Top 10 Qualifier for the 2025 Senior National Debate and Public Speaking Championships
Top 10 Qualifier for the 2026 Senior National Debate and Public Speaking Championships
Founder and Club head of the Competitive Public Speaking Club at Havergal College
FBL Canada, CNLC 2025 Public Speaking 3rd Place
Shawn Cui
Hello! My name is Shawn and I am an 8th grade student in Toronto, Canada. I have over 3 years of experience in both public speaking and debating, with over 3 years of tutoring experience in AFI TCPC as well. Some of my achievements include:
Top 5 Speaker in 2025 Harvard International Councils PF Tournament
Champion of the 2026 Annual Stanford Invitational in the Impromptu Speaking category
Silver award in the Queen’s Commonwealth Essay Competition in 2025 (With over 50,000 participants in 50+ countries), and Bronze award in 2023.
Champion in the TOC Asia Junior Debate Tournament
1st prize in the Queen’s Commonwealth French Public Speaking Tournament
Recently got accepted into a prestigious summer entrepreneurial program for high school students, LaunchX.
Founder of 2 non-profits, Shaping Future Leader (www.sfl-youth.org) and Future Speakers (www.getfuturespeakers.com)
Some of my hobbies include reading, playing video games, basketball, and more.
Please check the important announcements for the Toronto region below.
Announcements
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