WDI Board of Directors

Leah Castella - Director

 

Aleava Sayre

 

Sarah Glaser

 

Linda M. Collier

 

Greta Stahl

 

Rae Lynn Schwartz-DuPre

 

Devin Majkut

 

Vanova Robles



 

2010 Camp Staff

 

Leah Castella - Director competed in LD debate for four years at Duncanville High School in Duncanville, Texas.  She went on to compete as a policy debater for four years at Lewis & Clark College.  Her successful debate career culminated in a quarterfinals finish and a third place speaker award at the 1995 CEDA National Tournament. After finishing at Lewis & Clark, Leah went on to attend law school at the University of Texas School of Law, and graduated with honors in 1999. Leah has been a practicing litigator in the SF Bay area since 1999, and currently works in the Oakland office of McDonough, Holland & Allen. Leah has been a part of the WDI since its inception, and has been the Executive Director of the organization since 2002. Leah is also on the Board of Directors of the Bay Area Urban Debate Commission and coaches the Jessup Moot Court team at Boalt Hall.  

 

Chandra Carlisle competed in Lincoln Douglas debate for 3 years at Ridgefield High School, winning numerous regional tournaments.  She went on to compete in Parliamentary Debate at Whitman College where she qualified for the NPTE and travelled nationally, taking first place at such tournaments as the Washington University St. Louis Gateway Invitational and the Western Washington Koma Kulshan Debates.  She taught LD for 4 years at the Whitman National Debate Institute and has presented at several smaller camps.  She is now a criminal defense attorney in Seattle, WA.

 

Linda M. Collier, JD is the director of debate and head coach of policy debate at The Barstow School in Kansas City, where she also teaches four levels of academic debate classes.  Prior to joining Barstow in 2007, Linda was the principle investigator of DEBATE-Kansas City, one of the original urban debate programs funded by the Open Society Institute and the Director of Debate at the University of MIssouri-Kansas City where her teams won four national championships during her 20 year tenure.  Her final year at UMKC, the team of Amy Foster and Malcolm Gordon won the Herbert Walker trophy as the runner up at the National Debate Tournament.
Linda has also served on the boards of the National Urban Debate League Association and the National Debate Coaches Association.

 

Sarah Glaser debated for four years in high school at Emporia, Kansas and went on to debate at and coach for Kansas State University.  She earned her PhD in biological oceanography at Scripps Institution of Oceanography and recently completed a postdoctoral research position at SIO and the Northeast Fisheries Science Center in Woods Hole, MA. She is currently a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Kansas studying marine food webs.  Sarah joined the WDI in 2005 and has served the Board of Directors as the Director of Finances since 2007.

 

Liz Kim had successful debate careers at Glenbrook South High School and Harvard University and subsequently assistant coached for both schools. She graduated in 2009 from Wellesley College and volunteered with the Boston Urban Debate League during her time in Boston. Debate provided an essential community for Liz where she could explore her identity in a safe space that supported dialogue and diversity and she hopes to open this community to as many individuals as possible. She has taught at the Gonzaga Debate Institute and is excited to join the WDI staff this summer.

 

Laura Johnson debated for St. Paul Central the past four years. Her senior year, Laura and her partner were champions of the Iowa Caucus tournament, finalists at the Mid-America Cup, and semi-finalists at the Cal Invitational.They were in quarters of the TOC where Laura was 9th individual speaker. Laura has also volunteered as a coach and judge for  the MN UDL throughout high school. She will be attenting Macalester college in St. Paul MN this fall. Laura was a student at the WDI the past two years and is delighted to be returning as a staff member this summer.

 

Devin Majkut is the Women's Debate Institute's Alumni Director and coordinators our mentoring program. She cares about empowering, educating, and supporting the community of women in debate and is committed to women being active, powerful leaders in the activity.
Devin debated policy for four years at Sehome High School in Bellingham, WA and was involved with the debate team at Western Washington University. She judges and coaches in the Pacific Northwest region, and offers lectures at the WDI on feminism and alternative forms of debate.

 

Ana Nikolic is a rising senior at Emory University.  She is a three time qualifier for the National Debate Tournament, and participated in the elimination rounds of the National Debate Tournament her sophomore and junior year.  Ana has advanced to the elimination rounds of major college tournaments including Georgia State, Wake Forest, the Cal Swing, and West Georgia.  Ana debated for Wayzata High School, where she qualified for the Tournament of Champions.  Ana has spent three summers working at the Emory National Debate Institute.  Ana also works with students from the Atlanta Urban Debate League coaching and judging debate.  This is her first summer at the Woman's Debate Institute, and she is very excited to be joining the staff!

 

Vanova Robles debated for four years for Fort Lauderdale High School. She won the Florida Bluekey tournament, got to finals of the Lexington Debate Tournament, and qualified to the Tournament of Champions two years in a row.  Next year she will be debating for the University of West Georgia.  She has been with the Women's Debate Institute for the last two years and is returning for her first year as a staff member.

 

Aleava Sayre began debating cross-examination debate while attending Dimond High School in Anchorage, Alaska.  She continued debating policy during her four years at Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon.  After graduating from college, Aleava attended the University of Minnesota Law School and graduated magna cum laude.  During her subsequent clerkship at the Minnesota Court of Appeals, she began coaching at South High School, a member of the Minnesota Urban Debate League.  She currently works as a litigating attorney at the law firm of Leonard, Street and Deinard in Minneapolis, Minnesota.


Rae Lynn Schwartz-DuPre, PhD. Competitively competed in policy debate at the University of Vermont. She coached multiple first round teams while getting her Masters at Wake Forest University. She then went on to get her PhD in Communication Studies at the University of Iowa. At Iowa Rae Lynn coached NDT elimination round competitors and got involved with the Women’s Debate Institute. She is currently an Assistant Professor of Communication at Western Washington University with a specialization in rhetoric, postcolonial feminist theory, visual and critical cultural studies.

 

Carly Wunderlich just graduated from Michigan State University this spring after spending four years on their debate team. This debate season Carly won the Kentucky Tournament and the National Debate Tournament. This summer she's working at the debate camp at Michigan State and then coaching debate in the fall at Gonzaga University. This is her third summer at the WDI and she can't wait to be back!

 

Anjali Vats

 

Robin Sellman