Meet the Team

Callie Anderson joined the National Speech & Debate Association in 2023. She graduated from the University of Northern Iowa, earning her bachelor’s degree in Marketing: Digital Media and Advertising with an emphasis in Digital Studies. She is ecstatic to work alongside the other NSDA staff in her role supporting grants administration and donor stewardship.

Jenn Borman joined the national office in 2025. She earned a B.S. in Theater and Speech Education from BYU-I and later an MBA from Fitchburg State University. Jenn taught theater, history, speech, and debate in Idaho, where she also coached speech and debate. During her time as a coach, she served on her District Committee and served as the Secretary on the board of the Idaho Speech Arts Teachers Association. She continued to serve as the Technical Commissioner for the association after leaving the classroom, helping high schools across the state of Idaho successfully run tournaments. At the national office, Jenn’s responsibilities include coordinating tournament services, such as the Springboard Series, and providing support to district leadership.

Alan Coverstone joined the National Speech & Debate Association national office in 2025 as Director of Regional Partnerships. In this role, he leads efforts to launch and sustain regional offices across the United States, raise local and national funding, and build coalitions with state associations, districts, schools, coaches, and community partners to expand access to speech and debate. He also champions advocacy initiatives aimed at securing policy and legislative support for universal participation in speech and debate programs.

Alan brings more than 30 years of experience as an educator, leader, and consultant working at the intersection of teaching, school innovation, and educational equity. He has served as a Senior Program Officer at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, where he directed more than $59 million in investments to support Networks for School Improvement; as Executive Officer for Innovation at Metro Nashville Public Schools, where he launched Tennessee’s first Innovation Zone and built nationally recognized charter authorizing systems; and as Chair of the Education Department at Belmont University, where he created the Metro Nashville Urban Teacher Residency to recruit and prepare teachers of color. He is also the founder of Covariant Education, a consulting practice focused on student voice, youth participatory evaluation, and the role of artificial intelligence in education.

Alan’s involvement in speech and debate began as a high school competitor in Illinois and continued at Wake Forest University, where he earned his B.A. in Speech Communication and Theatre Arts with a focus on argumentation and rhetoric. He coached debate at Wake Forest and later at Montgomery Bell Academy in Nashville for 14 years, including the 2005 co-national champions in Policy Debate. He has served on the Nashville School Board and boards of the National Speech and Debate Association, the National Debate Coaches Association, the Nashville Teacher Residency, and the National Association of Charter School Authorizers.

Alan earned his Ed.D. in Educational Leadership and Policy from Vanderbilt University’s Peabody College. Outside of work, he is an avid hiker and recently completed a thru-hike of the Colorado Trail from Denver to Durango with his brother.

Aaron Hardy joined the national office in 2015. He earned his B.A. from Michigan State University, where he had a successful Policy Debate career. After graduating, he coached debate for 10 years between Whitman College and Northwestern University. He helped coach winners of every major national college tournament, including the National Debate Tournament, as well as several Copeland Award winners. Aaron created Verbatim, the first widely used paperless debate software, and runs paperlessdebate.com. His team at Whitman was the first large college debate program to go completely paperless. For his contributions to improving debate with technological innovation, Aaron is the youngest ever recipient of the NDT’s Lucy Keele Lifetime Achievement Award.

Shuntā comes to the National Speech & Debate Association after having been the head debate coach at the University of Georgia. Prior to coaching at UGA, she was the Fuqua Chair of Speech and Debate at Pace Academy in Atlanta, Georgia. While at Pace, she coached many state champions and won a couple of national championships in Policy Debate. Shuntā has served as chair of the National Debate Coaches Association, First VP of the Cross Examination Debate Association, and a member of the National Debate Tournament Board of Trustees. She is a member of the Georgia Forensic Coaches Association Hall of Fame and the Barkley Forum Gold Key Society. Shuntā has also served as co-chair of the Policy Debate division at NSDA Nationals for the past five years. In her role at the NSDA, Shuntā will primarily help run tournaments and oversee judge training and accreditation.

Lauren McCool joined the national office in 2017. She earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre Education from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, a Master of Arts in Theatre History and Performance Studies from Bowling Green State University, and Masters of Arts in Curriculum and Instruction for English Language Learners from the University of Nebraska – Kearney. As a teacher, Lauren taught theatre, public speaking, and debate courses. She also served as an interventionist for English Language Learners. As a coach, Lauren coached students to district, state, and national level titles in public speaking, interpretation, and debate. Lauren plays a leadership role in development resources and systems to support new coaches within the NSDA.

Leela Ortiz graduated as an Edward J. Bloustein Distinguished Scholar from Rutgers University with a B.A. in Women & Gender Studies. She has worked in the non-profit sector for more than a decade in roles including business administrator and program director. Leela has designed and implemented both community-based and mission-based programs for thousands of youth in the New York metropolitan area. She owns a business management consulting company and is a NSCAA Youth Level II certified soccer trainer. Hired in 2021, Leela brings her managerial, organizational, and interpersonal skills to her role at the NSDA.

Dr. Paul Porter joined the National Speech & Debate Association national office in 2022. He holds a B.S. in Communication Studies from Ball State University, an M.A. in Communication and Rhetorical Studies from Eastern Michigan University, and a Ph.D. in Educational Leadership from Indiana State University.

He helps oversee efforts to foster a sense of belonging and inclusion for all members of the organization. Since joining, he has contributed to the development of several initiatives, including the Belonging and Inclusion Station and the Activating Equity Award. He also created the rural, small school, and independent school coaches’ interest groups and supports the ten caucuses and interest groups that comprise the Coaches’ Network. He has presented on topics such as multicultural competence and unconscious bias at events across Indiana and nationwide.

Paul’s involvement in speech and debate began at Ben Davis High School, where he was a two-time NFL national finalist in 1997. He has coached numerous state finalists, national qualifiers, and an NSDA national finalist. Additionally, he served on the Indiana State Speech and Debate Association Board of Directors from 2021 to 2024. He was inducted into the National Forensic Association Hall of Fame in 2023.

Annie Reisener joined the national office in 2015. She earned a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Northern Iowa. She has been active in the Association for the past twelve years as a competitor, judge, and member of the national office staff. Annie oversees the organization’s strategic communications, manages the internship and fellowship programs, and leads efforts to actively support new and existing members as they develop, run, and participate in programs based on the guidance and regulations established by the Association.

Elisha Roberts joined the National Speech & Debate Association in 2026. In her role as Director of School Recruitment, she works with schools across the country to empower more students to find their voice, develop critical thinking skills, and become strong communicators through NSDA programming. When this happens, Elisha knows that students are able to fully participate in our society. She participated in speech and debate for two years in high school, an experience so formative that she made speech and debate the first elective offered at the high school she founded in Denver in 2016. That young team has since won two state championships and competes at Nationals every year! Over the last 20 years, Elisha has dedicated her professional and personal time to the K-12 education space, first as a civics and AP government teacher and then as an assistant principal, founding principal, and chief academic officer. Most recently, she worked with districts across Colorado on school improvement, strategic plans, and intentional AI literacy implementation.

Elisha was born and raised in Denver and spent time living and learning abroad in Botswana, Papua New Guinea, Japan, and other parts of Southeast Asia and Europe. She was a Daniels Scholar and a James Madison Fellow. Elisha holds a Bachelor’s degree in Politics from Occidental College and a Master of Education, Curriculum, and Instruction from Boston College.

Kara Smith joined the national office in 2023. She earned a Bachelor’s degree in Secondary Education (English and Communications) in 1999 and a Master’s Degree in Educational Leadership in 2006 both from the University of Idaho. From 2000-2022, Kara taught and coached speech and debate in the state of Idaho, serving as a district chair in the Inland Empire District and later in the Gem of the Mountain District, and was the Idaho State Speech Commissioner from 2018-2022.  Kara is a four-diamond coach, an NFHS Section Winner for Outstanding Speech, Debate, and Theatre Educator, and an Idaho Speech Arts Teachers Association Hall of Fame Member. Kara coached numerous students to state titles in every discipline—interpretation, public address, and debate—and qualified students, including several four-time competitors, to the National Tournament every year of her coaching. At the national office, Kara’s responsibilities include overseeing the district tournament series and international outreach.

Ryan Tullis joined the National Speech & Debate Association in 2025. They hold a B.S. in Software Engineering from Iowa State University. Ryan is an NSDA alum, having competed primarily in Public Forum Debate during high school. At the NSDA, Ryan works on the development of Tabroom.com.

Lisa Vossekuil has been a staff member of the National Speech & Debate Association since 2003. As Operations Coordinator, Lisa serves as office manager, oversees shipping and customer service for sales merchandise, honor society insignia, membership materials, and recognition mailings, and manages the organization’s history digitization.

Becky Wagner has been a staff member since 2015 working in the Trophy Shop assembling, packaging, and shipping awards not only for the NSDA but also for the many schools and universities that order awards for their tournaments across the country. Becky has a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Cardinal Stritch University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Currently, Becky serves as treasurer for the town of Princeton, Wisconsin. Previously, she was an EMT for 15 years with Princeton Ambulance Service and a supervisor for 28 years at Ripon Good Cookies. Most recently, she worked in IT for SSM Healthcare.

Megan West joined the NSDA in 2025 as Campaign Director. She is a former NSDA national champion (2004), NSDA district chair (Manatee, FL), and National Tournament host. She has a B.S. in Communication from West Texas A&M University and an M.A. in Rhetoric from California State University, Long Beach. Prior to joining the NSDA, Megan was a partnership manager for the non-profit Collaborative Classroom and coordinator of the Broward County Public Schools Debate Initiative, where she worked to ensure over 250,000 students in kindergarten through 12th grade had access to speech and debate. As Campaign Director, Megan leads our campaign to engage alumni to support the organization‘s bold vision of speech and debate programs in every high school across the country.

Shelby Young returned to the National Speech & Debate Association in 2025. Having previously served in the Marketing Department and as a consultant with the NSDA, she officially joined the team as Content Specialist in 2025. Shelby graduated with two degrees in marketing and communications and journalism from the University of Iowa. As a consultant, Shelby has worked with large and small non-profits, entrepreneurs, education organizations, and diverse clients across the country, strategically supporting their business and communications goals. As NSDA Content Specialist, she spearheads a collaborative process to develop and implement a content strategy that furthers the success of the National Speech and Debate Initiative. Shelby has been involved in the speech and debate community since she began competing in high school. She is thrilled to be back at home with the NSDA!

Jamelle Brown is a four-diamond coach from The Pembroke School in Kansas City, Missouri. Jamelle recently moved to The Pembroke School as the co-director of competitive speech and debate after 21 years at Sumner Academy of Arts and Science in Kansas City, Kansas. She currently serves on the NSDA Show Me (MO) District Committee. She has been an NSDA Belonging and Inclusion Advocate, an NSDA Women’s Coaches’ Caucus leader, an NSDA National Tournament event chair for Extemporaneous Speaking, and a member of several other NSDA committees. Jamelle also served on the NFHS Theatre, Speech and Debate Committee as the Section 5 leader. Mrs. Brown has received several awards, including the Milken National Educator Award, the NFHS National Speech and Debate Coach Award, the National Association of Urban Debate League’s Coach of the Year Award, Kansas Speech and Debate Coach of the Year, and was inducted into the Kansas Speech and Debate Hall of Fame. She has a passion for ensuring students and coaches from marginalized communities are supported and wants to make sure our middle school programs continue to thrive.

David Coale is a lawyer who leads the appellate practice at Lynn Pinker Hurst & Schwegmann, a commercial trial boutique in Dallas, Texas. At the federal level, he is the president of the bar association for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (the federal circuit including Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi), and for 15 years, he has published 600Camp.com, a blog about the business-law opinions of that court. At the state level, he consistently appears in the Texas Supreme Court and is one of the few lawyers who has handled a case in all 15 of the Texas courts of appeal.

He graduated from Allen High School in 1986, where he won the TFA and UIL state championships in Policy Debate; from Harvard College, where he won the NDT and the Copeland award; and from the University of Texas Law School, where he helped coach the Texas teams that first introduced the “kritik” on the national circuit.

After a 30-year absence from competitive debate, David returned to help coach his son, Camden, in Policy Debate at Dallas Highland Park High School. Camden is now going on to debate at the University of Kentucky after winning 10 bids to the TOC and two UIL state championships—the first father-son state championship pair in the 100-plus year history of forensics in Texas.

Mountain View High School, Arizona

The fact that Meg Howell, a six-diamond coach, walked away from her first teaching job at the end of the first year and considered other careers might surprise many people. Luckily, Meg’s second teaching job took her home to work with her former coach, and the passion for the activity she loved as a student grew to new heights as a coach. At the end of that magical year, they qualified a young man to the Eau Claire Nationals in the House. She still looks back on that tournament as one of her fondest because she learned so much.

Throughout her years as a coach, her teams have won seven state championships and 18 NSDA district trophies.  Her competitors have won 115 individual state championships, and she has helped 209 students qualify to NSDA Nationals; many reached “out” rounds, and 12 students had the honor of speaking in the final round.  Additionally, she helped one student to become the American Legion national champion and six students to collegiate national championships. In 2011, she was inducted into the NSDA Hall of Fame and into the Forensic League of Arizona Hall of Fame.

While her students are important, she also serves as a leader among her peers. She has served as the district chair in Arizona for 18 terms and in New Mexico for one term and was the New Mexico Speech and Debate Association President for two years.

Meg is also on the ownership team of the Institute for Speech and Debate where she values having the opportunity to share her love of speech and debate with students from all over the country.

Her philosophy of coaching is simple. She will coach any student with desire, even if she has to help them find their desire. She prides herself in trying to help students become the very best they can be, find their voice, and make a difference in their world. She is there when they need someone to listen to them practice or to help them through a problem. And there has never been a student she wouldn’t help. It doesn’t really matter if the student goes to another school and competes against her own team; she willingly gives her time and experience to help them whenever asked.

Michael Ledford is a D.C.-based strategist and advocate who focuses on impacts to federal policy as it pertains to universities and K-12 systems, national associations and professional societies, philanthropy, venture, economic development and management organizations, academic health centers, and companies tackling frontier technologies. He currently serves as the president of Lewis-Burke Associates LLC, a lobbying and consulting firm that represents the interest of organizations across the science, technology, education and health frontiers. Michael holds degrees from Georgetown Law School and American University and was an active participant in local, state, regional, national, and invitational speech and debate tournaments in high school and subsequently as an assistant coach and summer instructor. Michael also serves and has served on local and national non-profit boards impacting victims of domestic violence, those facing homelessness, places of worship, and competitive swim clubs. In his spare time, he is active as a soccer coach for high school girls, swim team official, and adult mentor to high school boys.

Esther Oyetunji is a recent alumna of the National Speech & Debate Association, where she competed throughout high school (2020 to 2024) as a member of the American Heritage Broward speech and debate team. Over four years, she excelled in Informative Speaking, Original Oratory, Program Oral Interpretation, and Duo Interpretation. Esther’s competitive record reflects both excellence and dedication. She is a five-time Florida Varsity state champion, a two-time winner of Harvard’s Ketanji Brown Jackson Oratory Bowl, and a back-to-back Oratory champion at the Barkley Forum, The Glenbrooks, The Longhorn Classic, and the Blue Key Invitational. In 2024, she made history as the first-ever three-time NSDA national champion in Original Oratory.

During her senior year, Esther served on the inaugural NSDA Student Leadership Council and was named second runner-up for the NSDA Student of the Year Award. She is also featured in the award-winning documentary SPEAK., which premiered at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival.

Today, Esther continues to give back to the speech and debate community as an independent coach, guiding students who have finaled at prestigious tournaments at both the middle and high school levels including the Yale Invitational and the NSDA National Tournament. Esther is currently a second-year student at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish on the pre-medical track. She is deeply committed and passionate about merging medicine and law to advance a more just and compassionate world.

Josh Swartsel currently serves as a Vice President and Senior Analyst in Bank of America’s Global Information Security (GIS) Cyber Threat Evaluation & Prevention team in Washington, D.C. He is responsible for designing and leading cybersecurity evaluations to analyze the threat landscape to identify opportunities to improve the Bank’s controls and safeguard its clients. Josh’s work in GIS focuses on a wide range of threats to include risk reduction, cyber threat intelligence, incident response, artificial intelligence, and large language models.

Josh debated for Lake Highland Preparatory School in Orlando, Florida, from 1999 to 2003. He was the national champion in the House of Representatives in 2003. He went on to receive a Bachelor of Science in International Relations from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 2007. While attending West Point, Josh co-founded the West Point Parliamentary Debate Team and Tournament. Josh earned a Master’s in International Affairs from the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University in 2017. While at Columbia, Josh had the honor of coaching Congressional Debate at The Bronx High School of Science. Josh and his spouse Marissa live in Washington, D.C., with their miniature goldendoodle, Amelia.

Rachel Wilczewski is honored to serve on the NSDA Board of Directors, bringing over three decades of dedicated classroom teaching, statewide organizational leadership, and championship-level coaching to the governance of the National Speech & Debate Association. Currently directing the nationally recognized forensic program at Parker School in Hawaii, Rachel previously spent 27 years building Oregon’s Sam Barlow High School program into a state powerhouse.

Rachel’s service to the speech and debate community spans every level of the activity. A former president and multi-term vice president of the Oregon High School Speech League (OHSSL-CA), she was named the OHSSL-CA Speech Educator of the Year in 2017 and regularly manages tab room operations at Nationals. Her commitment to youth development extends to three years instructing at STEM Leadership camps in the Portland, OR area, advising the National Honor Society, and serving as a Holocaust Memorial Museum NYC Fellow and WASC Accreditation team member.

Rachel holds an M.S. in Secondary Education from Suffolk University and a B.A. in Mass Communications from Southern Illinois University. On the NSDA Board, she draws on her broad experience across diverse state circuits—from California and Oregon to Hawaii—to advocate for sustainable program growth, equitable access, and comprehensive support for speech and debate educators nationwide.