Boston Debate League

Boston Public Schools

Boston Public Schools (BPS), which has an 85% minority population and 72% of students on free or reduced cost lunch, has invested substantially in debate, and is our partner and the institutional home for the League.

The league is championed by Reverend Gregory G. Groover and Marchelle Raynor, Chair and Vice-Chair of the Boston School Committee, Dr. Carol R. Johnson, Superintendent of Boston Public Schools, Irvin Scott, Academic Superintendent of High Schools, and Martha Mullane, Senior Project Manager of BPS’ Office of High School Support.

Schools in the After School Debate League
Boston Latin Academy
Brighton High School
Burke High School
Charlestown High School
Curley K-8 School
Dorchester Academy
East Boston High School
English High School
Excel High School
Harbor School
Irving Middle School
New Mission High School
Quincy Upper School
Tech Boston Academy
Timilty Middle School
Urban Science Academy
West Roxbury High School

Schools participating in the Evidence-Based Argumentation program
Another Course to College
Boston Adult Technical Academy
Boston International/Newcomers Academy
Boston Latin Academy
Brighton High School
Burke High School
Charlestown High School
East Boston High School
English High School
Excel High School
Kennedy Academy for Health Careers
Madison Park High School
New Mission High School
Tech Boston Academy
Urban Science Academy

Steve Stein, Executive Director
Steve is the Executive Director of the Boston Debate League and has fifteen years of experience with urban debate leagues. He is a former nationally competitive high school and college debater and was a debate coach of one of the largest and most successful high school teams in the country. He holds a Masters in Education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and taught high school history for ten years. Mr. Stein was also the co-founder of the Atlanta Middle School Urban Debate league, has consulted with Urban Debate Leagues in Atlanta, Chicago, and Milwaukee, has worked at and directed numerous summer urban debate institutes, and conducted many coach training and professional development workshops for teachers and coaches.
Tanya Bogina, Operations Manager
Tanya joined the Boston Debate League in January 2012. She is responsible for developing systems and procedures aimed at improving the efficiency and scalability of BDL’s programs. Tanya brings more than five years of experience working in financial services at JPMorgan and Brown Brothers & Harriman. She received an MBA at Yale University’s School of Management and a B.A. in Economics and International Relations from Boston University.

Sophia Boyer, Professional Development Coordinator
Sophia is the Professional Development Coordinator in charge of the Boston Debate League’s Evidence-Based Argumentation Initiative (formerly known as Debate Across the Curriculum). She comes with thirteen years as an educator in middle and high school settings, including BPS. Sophia is experienced in humanities instruction, ESL teaching, program administration, teacher training, curriculum development, professional development and program planning and evaluation. Sophia was born in Haiti, educated in the U.S. and currently resides in Boston. She earned her undergraduate degree in Sociology/History from Regis College and postgraduate degrees in Human Development and Urban Education from Wheelock College.

Jake Campbell, Grants Manager
Jake joined the Boston Debate League as Operations Manager in June 2011. He has been involved with debate for more than ten years, starting at his high school in South Dakota and continuing as a student at Boston University. After graduating with a degree in philosophy, he started coaching college debate and volunteering as a mentor at New Mission High School with the Boston Debate League. Now he is excited to work more closely with the BDL because he appreciates the profound impact the activity has had on his academic and personal life.

Matt Grimes, Program Manager
Matt has worked for the Boston Debate League as Program Manager since August, 2010, running the after-school league and Debate Across the Curriculum initiative during the 2010-2011 school year. Prior to arriving in Boston, Matt attended Brown University and was a coordinator of the Rhode Island Urban Debate League, a partner organization of the BDL. There, he developed his passion for working with urban youth and knack for communicating difficult debate concepts in straightforward language. He is thrilled by the growth the BDL has experienced this past year and is excited to kick off the new middle school division in the 2011-2012 school year.

Paul Madden, After School Debate League Coordinator
Paul is the After School Debate League Coordinator for the Boston Debate League. Before assuming his current position with the League, Paul taught mathematics and physics and coached debate in both the Boston Public Schools and in South Dakota at an Oglala Lakota tribally chartered school. Previously, he has been involved with the Boston Debate League as a debate team coach, as a lead teacher and contributing author of mathematics and science activities for the Debate Across the Curriculum Program, a faculty member in the League’s summer institute, and as a committee member. In addition, he is a reviewer for the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics journal, Mathematics Teacher and serves on Community Change Incorporated’s board of directors. He graduated from Boston College’s Carroll School of Management, Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelors of Science in 2007 and from Boston College’s Lynch School of Education as a Donovan Urban Teaching Scholar with a Masters Degree in Secondary Mathematics Education in 2008.

Anne Phillips, Director of Development
Anne joined the Boston Debate League as Director of Development in May 2011. She brings 6 years of experience as the Director of Development at the Boston Women’s Fund and Planned Parenthood of Maryland. Before starting her career in development, Anne was as an environmental activist and community organizer in Houston, Texas and the Chesapeake Bay region for 5 years. Anne has also worked on several political campaigns, helped to lay the organizational groundwork as a founding member of Charm City Roller Girls in Baltimore, Maryland. These days she stays busy serving as a board member for the Boston Chapter of Young Nonprofit Professionals Network and the EMA Fund, and exploring Boston by bike. Anne has a B.S. in Communications Studies from the University of Texas at Austin.

Board of Directors

John Isaacson (Chair): President, Isaacson Miller
Josh Alwitt: Vice-President of Global Learning and Development, Sapient Corporation
Marilyn Chase: Assistant Secretary for Children, Youth, and Families, Commonwealth of Massachusetts
David J. Glass, M.D.: Executive Director, Muscle Diseases at Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research
Matt Schnall: Partner, Bingham McCutchen LLP
Raquel Webster: Assistant Corporation Counsel, City of Boston Law Department

Advisory Council

The Boston Debate League (BDL) Advisory Council was established to contribute to the support network of our students and the BDL staff. The guidance, talent, and support of the Advisory Council is essential to the success of our programs. In concert with BDL staff and board, Advisory Council members are key players in helping to expand our network and resources to ensure the success of our programs.

The BDL Advisory Council is comprised of 4 standing committees:

Friends of BDL

Legal Community

Program Committee

Young Professionals Group

Benefits of joining the Advisory Council

Networking with a diverse group of individuals

Leadership and professional development opportunities

Opportunity to work more closely with students on an ongoing basis

2011-2012 Advisory Council

Josh Alwitt: Vice-President of Global Learning and Development, Sapient Corporation Chair of the Advisory Council
Nancy Adams: Partner, Mintz Levin Co-chair of Legal Community
Tim Averill: Debate Coach, Waring School
Abhi Bhakta: Owner, Super 8 Watertown MA
Andrew Brokos: Founder, Boston Debate League
Kristen Buppert: Senior Associate, Providence Equity Partners
Richard Chang: Debate coach, Josiah Quincy Upper School
Joshua T. Cohen; Research Associate Professor of Medicine, Tufts Medical Center
Alison Eggers: Associate, Bingham McCutchen LLP Co-chair of Legal Community
Elbert Hardeman: Business Risk Analyst, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston
Nicholas Hansenns: Analyst, Google
Julian Harris, M.D.: Director of the Office of Medicaid, Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Noah Kaufman: Associate, Foley Hoag Co-chair of Young Professionals
Alex King: Senior Analyst, Altman Vilandrie & Co.
Jim Murphy: Debate Coach, Weston High School
Tom Nakayama: Professor/Chair, Northeastern University
Michelle Pellam: Teacher and Debate Coach, Brighton High School
Matt Schnall: Partner, Bingham McCutchen LLP
Jose Sierra: Principal, Fish & Richardson Co-chair of Friends of BDL
Jayson Smith: Teacher and Debate Coach, East Boston High School
Nick Smith: Regional Operations Manager, Hertz Rent-a-Car
Olivia Spalletta: Ph.D. Candidate, Brandeis University
Russell Stein: Tax Attorney, Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP
Victoria Thavaseelan: Associate, McDermott Will & Emery LLP
Eric Van Loon: Mediator and Arbitrator, JAMS
Stephanie Volovik: Staff Attorney, Committee for Public Services, Public Defender Division
Mike Wasserman: Director of Development, Bottom Line Co-chair of Friends of BDL
Paul Wexler: Director of Forensics, Needham High School
Beverly Williams: Teacher and Debate Coach, Timilty Middle School
David Wolfish: Associate, L.E.K. Consulting Co-chair of Young Professionals
Paris Woods: Admissions Officer, Harvard University Co-chair of Program Committee

Current Advisory Council Members log in here.