THE TEAM

Founder

Harrison, now a student at UPenn, founded Debate Oasis to expand access to critical discourse and public speaking education. A former Lincoln-Douglas Debate captain, he competed at Nationals and placed top 3 at States.

Debate Oasis 2026 President

Nate is a three-time NSDA Nationals qualifier and 2025 quarter finalist. He has also qualified for TOC. He does extemporaneous speaking and congressional debate. He placed at the Washington State competitions in multiple events.

Debate Oasis 2026 Vice President

Bill Tang, a rising sophomore at Bellevue High School, is this year’s Vice President! He has debated on the local and national circuit for 3 years with experience in Lincoln Douglas, Public Forum, and Parliamentary debate. He is an experienced Model UN delegate, enjoys lifting, and loves listening to Tame Impala!

Debate Oasis 2026 Director of Debate

James is a sophomore and Lincoln-Douglas Debate Captain at Bellevue. In LD, he cleared to elims at NSDA Nationals and placed 34th, alongside placing third at the Washington State Championship. He has also championed several local tournaments, including Newport, Gig Harbor, Auburn, and Western Washington, and cleared at TOC-bid tournaments such as Berkeley and UPS. In impromptu speaking, James is also a two-time State Speech Championship qualifier and champion of the Auburn Riverside Invitational. Outside of debate, he enjoys listening to music, reading, and spending time with friends.

Public Forum Debate Teacher

Zia is the current head captain of PF at Bellevue. This year he was tied for the most state bids in Washington with 5 and qualified to the TOC with 2 bids. He has reached out rounds at Mount Vernon, Berkeley, and SeattleU among other tournaments. Outside of debate he likes to play volleyball and watch college football.

Spontaneous Speech Teacher

Ziwen competes in Extemporaneous Speaking and Impromptu. He is the reigning Washington state champion in Extemp and has also qualified for Nationals and NIETOC in the event. As a sophomore at Eastside Prep, he enjoys playing Ultimate, playing piano with his band, working out, and following K-pop.

Debate Oasis Director of Speech

Mandy is a rising senior at Bellevue. She placed top 3 at State for Spoken Word and became bid leader in Dramatic Interpretation her first year. Since then, she’s gone on to become a semi-finalist at Berkeley Congressional Debate, and a double semi-finalist in multiple events at State. Outside of speech and debate Mandy serves as her school’s debate team treasurer and spends time as a summer camp counselor.

Lincoln Douglas Debate Teacher

Vanessa is a rising junior and LD Captain at Valley Christian in San Jose, CA. As a sophomore, she has cleared in both PF and LD at multiple local and national circuit tournaments such as UKSO, Berkeley, UPS, and won her district tournament. Recently, she has also placed 2nd at NSDA Nationals in Big Questions Debate. Outside of debate, she likes mock trial, music, Instagram reels, and self-studying Swedish. She’s super excited to work as an instructor!

Public Forum Debate Teacher

I’m Emily, and I currently debate and serve as squad captain for Interlake. This year, I qualified to the TOC with 3 bids & state with 4, with my season’s highlights being co-champing Seattle U, octafinaling Stanford and more. Outside of debate, I like jasmine milk tea, oil painting, and going cool places with friends. Super excited to see yall at debate oasis!!

Public Forum Debate Teacher

Rohail Khan is the number 2 ranked Sophomore PF debater in Washington state. He’s champed multiple tournaments within Washington state and broken deep into outrounds. He qualified for the state tournament as well as the national tournament. He is the second speaker for his team and has placed top 5 for speaker awards at tournaments multiple times. Outside of debate, he’s a big fan of music and basketball

Lincoln Douglas Debate Teacher

Jasmine has competed in LD for 2 years and placed at Jack Howe as well as TOC Digital 1. She has won states and was the first place speaker.

Lincoln Douglas Debate Teacher

Colin is a rising junior at Flintridge Prep. He’s cleared at multiple national circuit tournaments and qualified for the California State Championship, Nationals, and the TOC. Outside of debate, he enjoys working with art and music. He’s super excited to work with everybody!

Public Forum Debate Teacher

Christy is a rising sophomore at the Overlake School and competes in Duo Interpretation and Public Forum Debate. She has qualified for both state and nationals in Duo Interpretation, along with placing at multiple tournaments. Debating, she has placed 3rd and 9th for speaker awards at UPS and Stanford, respectively. Outside of speech and debate, she enjoys trying different snacks, fencing, and collecting blind boxes. She’s super excited to work with everyone! 

Platform Speech Teacher

Melinda is an upcoming sophomore at Bellevue High School and competes in oratory speech and occasionally public forum. She’s broken at the Tahoma and Auburn Riverside tournaments and is always working on things to improve. Outside of voicing out topics she’s passionate about, Melinda loves dancing, playing badminton, practicing violin, listening to lots of rnb, and learning korean from all the korean media she consumes. She is super excited to work with everyone!

Congress Debate Teacher

Harry is a rising senior at Bellevue High School and competes mainly in Congressional Debate. He is a Washington State finalist in Congressional Debate and has broken at Nationals. From the start of his debate career, he was a finalist at countless tournaments, including TOC-bids tournaments, and earned a TOC bid. Outside of debate, he can be considered a big nerd and enjoys mathematics and playing pickleball. 

Lincoln Douglas Debate Teacher

Zitian Chen is a sophomore at Edina High School, having competed in LD, Extemp, Congress, Impromptu, Big Questions, Public Forum and Poetry. She’s won the Minnesota JV/N state tournament twice in LD, and placed 3rd nationally in MUN.

Spontaneous Speech Teacher

Diya is a rising sophomore at The Overlake School. She competes in lincoln-douglas and impromptu speech. She’s placed first at Auburn and BSD and second in Washington state for impromptu. Outside of speech and debate, she likes running, acting in plays, writing music, and baking. She’s super thankful for the opportunity to work with DebateOasis this summer and hopes everyone has a great time!

Debate Oasis 2025 President

William, now a student at UPenn, served as Debate Oasis’s 2025 President. He has qualified for the Tournament of Champions and earned first place at the Columbia University tournament.

Debate Oasis 2025 Vice President

Jadyn, now a student at Berkeley, competed at Nationals, was a semifinalist at the Puget Sound National Qualifying Tournament, and placed 3rd in the state for World Schools Debate.

Speech Teacher

Debate Oasis 2025 Board

Meriel has 4 years of speech experience. She is 4th in DI in Washington State, as well as a double state finalist in DUO and DI her freshman year. Meriel is a three-time National Qualifier in DUO and DI respectfully. She is also her high school's Interpretation Speech captain.

Congress Teacher

Debate Oasis 2025 Board

Ben has three years of Congress and LD experience. Ben is the San Diego Imperial Valley League Congressional Champion, 5th place in California for Congress, and a Berkeley Invitational Congressional Finalist

Lincoln Douglas Teacher

Debate Oasis 2025 Board

Tomas Gonzalez is a senior at Loyola High School in Los Angeles. He has competed in Lincoln Douglas debate for 4 years and qualified to his junior Tournament of Champions, where he made it to double-octafinals.

Debate Oasis 2025 Board

Ethan Chen debated for Glenda Dawson High School in Pearland, TX. In his debate career, he primarily read kritikal arguments and earned two career TOC bids.

Lincoln Douglas Teacher

Debate Oasis 2025 Board

Charlie is a junior at La Costa Canyon High School, California. His achievements include breaking to Octofinals at Berkeley for JV Lincoln Douglas debate, and qualifying to the 2024 Nationals tournament for “Big Questions” debate. He is also a member of his school’s debate leadership team.

Public Forum Teacher

Debate Oasis 2025 Board

Ananya competed in Public Forum Debate, placed consistently at State competitions, and the NSDA Nationals and TOC. She also made it to the elimination rounds at Nationals.

Lincoln Douglas Teacher

Ayaan is the captain of his school’s Speech and Debateteam at Snohomish High School. He has qualified for the States championship for debate and won the Berkeley Debate Tournament for debate.

Public Forum Teacher

Leon is a rising junior at Harker. He has qualified to the TOC both years, acquiring 10 bids and clearing his sophomore year. Outside of debate, he likes to play Geometry Dash.

Speech Teacher

Kate has extensive experience in POI, a state finalist placing at multiple tournaments in Bellevue, Washington and surrounding towns. She's a senior at Newport High School and has practiced speech for 3 years, soon to be 4.

Lincoln Douglas Debate Teacher

Kessa is from Indiana and competes in LD, BQD, and OO. She was third in her district in both debate events and qualified for Speech and Debate Nationals in Big Questions Debate.

Public Forum Debate Teacher

Stacey, a junior at Mount Si High School, competes in Public Forum debate. She qualified for NSDA Nationals and Tournament of Champions, placed 3rd in the state for her event, and has won many tournaments.

Congress Teacher

Jiadong is the President of his school’s Speech and Debate club. He competed at Nationals and States, and is first in the state for Congressional debate. He also competed and placed in informative speaking and extemp.

Congress Teacher

Bryan has done debate for 7 years, with experience in Parli, PF, LD, and his current main event, Congress. He made semifinals at the 2024 UK Tournament of Champions and finals at the WIAA Washington State Debate Championships twice.

Public Forum Teacher

Patrick is a sophomore at Issaquah High School. He has experience in public forum and parliamentary debate with around 3 years of experience. He also has extensive experience in Public Forum debate, competing in the national circuit.

Lincoln Douglas Teacher

Shiwen has placed in Lincoln-Douglas, Public Forum, and Parliamentary debate at Apple Valley, TOC Digital Series, Peninsula, Stanford, and Berkeley. She co-championed and won top speaker at the Georgetown tournament and placed in the top 6 at the Middle School Tournament of Champions for LD.

Lincoln Douglas Teacher

Aaron has excelled in many forms of Speech and Debate specializing in Public Forum Debate. He is the Nevada State Runner-Up, has the most NSDA points in Public Forum in Nevada, a National Qualifer to the NSDA’s National Tournament, and heavily looks forward to seeing future competitors excel!

Lincoln Douglas Teacher

Colton, now a student at Stanford, served as captain of his school’s debate team. He qualified for the National Speech and Debate Tournament and championed multiple tournaments on the Washington circuit. Outside of debate, he is an avid food critic and rapper.

Outreach Officer

Jocasta, a student at Johns Hopkins University, debated in all of the styles, including: Lincoln Douglas, Parliamentary, Policy, and Public Forum.

Nathan is a senior at Redmond High School. Nathan helped with the outreach for Debate Oasis to make our organization more accessible.

Website Manager

Theo is a senior at Tesla STEM High School with extensive knowledge of graphic design. In addition, he is a great Model United Nations debater.