Kiara Downey

Arts, English, Administration
805-684-4127 x141
kiara_downey@cate.org

With over 20 years of international school experience, Kiara Downey arrives on the Mesa as the new Director of Theater. She comes to Cate most recently from United Nations International School in New York City, where she has taught since 2002 and served as the Head of Theater since 2014. 

Kiara began her theater career as a member of the Living Stage Theatre Company, the groundbreaking social change theater of Arena Stage in Washington D.C., where she learned to develop performances for diverse audiences including incarcerated men and women. Her early experiences making theater for social change continue to inform and inspire her work today.

Kiara earned her bachelor’s degree in philosophy and politics from the University of Montana and received her master’s in theater from Trinity College Dublin. She was the co-founding director of Minc Theater Ireland, an international theater company in Dublin, before embarking on her teaching career. 

Much like she did at UNIS, Kiara has plans to expand the performing arts offerings at Cate from playwriting courses to the creation of a social justice theater program that tackles pressing issues through meaningful performances. 

In addition to her role as the theater director, Kiara will be a dorm parent in '25 House and an advisor, and she is looking forward to continuing the theater program tradition of incorporating the rubber chicken into every production!