The #1 Ranked Staff In the United States

Every CDA coach is a national champion or master educator with a combined century of experience—fully background-checked, insured, and trusted by 2,000+ families. They've competed and won at TOC, NSDA Nationals, and beyond. Now they teach your student to build research-backed arguments that withstand cross-examination and deliver them with the confidence of someone who's won on the biggest stages.

2000+

Students Coached

600+

Bids

1000+

Rounds

A+

Staff Scorecard

150+

Championships

#1 Ranked. Proven. Elite.

2026 Travel Team Staff

Katheryne Dwyer
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Katheryne Dwyer

Director of Debate | University of Chicago

Malcolm Davis
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Malcolm Davis

Lead Travel Team Coach | Coach at the Nueva School

Ishan Dubey
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Ishan Dubey

Lead Travel Team Coach | Coach at Strake Jesuit

Henry Anastasi Scott
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Henry Anastasi Scott

Lead Travel Team Coach | University of Pittsburgh

Anika Gupta
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Anika Gupta

Lead Travel Team Coach | Harvard University

Bryce Piotrowski
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Bryce Piotrowski

Lead Travel Team Coach | Director of Debate at St. Luke's School

Veer Prakash
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Veer Prakash

Lead Travel Team Coach | NYU Stern

Oliver Alferness
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Oliver Alferness

Lead Travel Team Coach | Brown University

Vina Hung
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Vina Hung

Lead Travel Team Coach | University of Michigan

Nathan Lee
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Nathan Lee

Lead Travel Team Coach | Duke University

Kabir Iyengar
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Kabir Iyengar

Lead Travel Team Coach | Emory University

Riki Balu
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Riki Balu

Lead Travel Team Coach | Cornell University

Eva Redmond
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Eva Redmond

Lead Travel Team Coach | University of Wisconsin Madison

Sienna Vaughn
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Sienna Vaughn

Lead Travel Team Coach | George Washington University

Arrman Kapoor
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Arrman Kapoor

Travel Team Coach | University of Texas at Austin

Ruhi Kurdikar
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Ruhi Kurdikar

Lead Travel Team Coach | Northwestern University

Charlie Yang
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Charlie Yang

Travel Team Staff | University of Pennsylvania

Aumrita Savdharia
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Aumrita Savdharia

Assistant Travel Team Coach | University of Southern California

Aidan Krishnaney
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Aidan Krishnaney

Travel Team Staff | University of Pennsylvania

Ali Sidiqyar
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Ali Sidiqyar

Lead Coach | Vanderbilt University

Cailyn Min
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Cailyn Min

Travel Team Staff | Georgetown University

Kayte Chan
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Kayte Chan

Travel Team Staff | University of Southern California

Derek Song
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Derek Song

Travel Team Staff | Georgetown University

Michi Synn
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Michi Synn

Travel Team Staff | Harvard University

Saanvi Goyal
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Saanvi Goyal

Travel Team Coach | Dartmouth University

Dylan Liu
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Dylan Liu

Travel Team Staff | Yale University

Sana Mehra
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Sana Mehra

Travel Team Coach | Stanford University

Justin Wang
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Justin Wang

Travel Team Staff | University of California San Diego

Bryan Zhao
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Bryan Zhao

Assistant Travel Team Coach | Columbia University

Dhruv Patil
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Dhruv Patil

Assistant Travel Team Coach | New York University

Max Emanuel
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Max Emanuel

Assistant Travel Team Coach | University of Chicago

Rahul Rani
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Rahul Rani

Assistant Travel Team Coach | Northeastern University

Ben Hodges
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Ben Hodges

Assistant Travel Team Coach | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Quazi Ishaan
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Quazi Ishaan

Congressional Coach | Stanford University

Helios Lung
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Helios Lung

Congressional Coach | University of California, Berkeley

Fadhil Lawal
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Fadhil Lawal

Congressional Coach | Vanderbilt University

Peter Hablinski
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Peter Hablinski

Assistant Travel Team Coach | Dartmouth University

Seth Small
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Seth Small

Assistant Travel Team Coach | University of Texas Austin

Cameron Ingram
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Cameron Ingram

Assistant Travel Team & Policy Coach | Western Kentucky University

Spencer McElligott
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Spencer McElligott

Assistant Travel Team & Policy Coach | University of Iowa

Zaid Ashruf
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Zaid Ashruf

Assistant Travel Team Coach | Columbia University

Aarav Jamdar
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Aarav Jamdar

Assistant Travel Team Coach | University of California Berkeley

Michael Aiello
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Michael Aiello

Assistant Travel Team Coach | University of Notre Dame

Ben Rask
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Ben Rask

Assistant Travel Team Coach | University of Virginia

Natalie Wang
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Natalie Wang

Assistant Travel Team Coach | Stanford University

James Yu
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James Yu

Assistant Travel Team Coach | Williams College

Sophia Xiong
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Sophia Xiong

Assistant Travel Team Coach | George Washington University

Shoumili Tarafder
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Shoumili Tarafder

Assistant Travel Team Coach | University of Michigan

Amudhan Gandhi
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Amudhan Gandhi

Assistant Travel Team Coach | University of Maryland College Park

Yang Bai
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Yang Bai

Assistant Travel Team Coach | University of Texas Austin

Deanna Ma
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Deanna Ma

Assistant Travel Team Coach | University College London

Aryan Sethi
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Aryan Sethi

Assistant Travel Team Coach | University of Toronto

Gia Patel
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Gia Patel

Assistant Travel Team Coach | University of California Los Angeles

Andrew Li
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Andrew Li

Assistant Travel Team Coach | Yale University

Raghav Ashok
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Raghav Ashok

Assistant Travel Team Coach | University of California Berkeley

Jash Lohani
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Jash Lohani

Assistant Travel Team Coach | Arizona State University

Thelonious Kurland
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Thelonious Kurland

Assistant Travel Team Coach | University of Chicago

Leo Hao
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Leo Hao

Assistant Travel Team Coach | Georgetown University

Divija Rao
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Divija Rao

Assistant Travel Team Coach | University of North Carolina Chapel Hill

Nicholas Willett
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Nicholas Willett

Assistant Travel Team Coach | University of North Carolina Chapel Hill

Nicholas Athanassiou
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Nicholas Athanassiou

Assistant Travel Team Coach | University of Michigan

Roger Li
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Roger Li

Assistant Travel Team Coach | Stanford University

Willie Tsai
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Willie Tsai

Assistant Travel Team Coach | Cornell University

Nikhil Daniel
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Nikhil Daniel

Assistant Travel Team Coach | Harvard University

Anuraa Venkat
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Anuraa Venkat

Assistant Travel Team Coach | Columbia University

Connor Chun
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Connor Chun

Assistant Travel Team Coach | University of Michigan

Shuarya Shah
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Shuarya Shah

Assistant Travel Team Coach | Case Western Reserve University

Do you want to work at CDA?

We put our coaches first. Always!

Shape Future Leaders

Guide students in developing critical thinking, persuasion, and public speaking skills that will serve them for life.

Freedom in Your Approach

Bring your unique coaching style to the classroom. Design lessons, run drills, and mentor students in ways that feel authentic to you.

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Your Voice Matters

We actively seek input from our coaches on curriculum, tournaments, and program direction — you're a true partner at CDA.

Grow Your Career

Access professional development, attend national competitions, and gain recognition in the debate community as part of our team.

Excited to work with our students?

Join a passionate team of educators shaping the next generation of critical thinkers and communicators. At Civic Debate Academy, we value collaboration, intellectual curiosity, and a commitment to student success. Whether you're an experienced debate coach or new to teaching, you'll find a supportive environment where your expertise makes a real impact on young minds.

Three Pathways to Start

This is an opportunity to diversify your coaching toolbox

01

Travel Team (NDC)

  • The #1 ranked travel team in the country comes with the best compensation and opportunity in debate
  • Small lab sizes allow you to tailor your teaching and build a great relationship with your student debaters
  • Coach online, always on your schedule
  • Enjoy optional in-person travel opportunities to TOC tournaments across the country
02

Academy Classes

  • Teach students from beginner to varsity level in a structured, classroom-style environment
  • Focus on fundamentals like research, argumentation, and speech delivery through our proven curriculum
  • Smaller class sizes mean more meaningful connections and personalized instruction
  • Flexible online scheduling makes it easy to coach from anywhere on your own schedule
03

Camps

  • Teach students from beginner to varsity level in a structured, classroom-style environment
  • Focus on fundamentals like research, argumentation, and speech delivery through our proven curriculum
  • Smaller class sizes mean more meaningful connections and personalized instruction
  • These camps are located in person in Chicago
Perks & Benefits

Built for Our People

Flexible Schedule

Work as many, or as few hours as you want. We understand your position and your priorities–build your own schedule

Industry Leading Compensation

We only hire 10% of coaches that apply to CDA. You'll be paid like top talent–seriously, just ask our staff

Supportive Team Culture

We're a team of your peers working towards one goal! You'll have an unparralled network of coaches to learn from.

Career Growth Opportunities

We offer full-time positions with six figures in total annual compensation to work towards. Marketing, sales, engineering–we have it all

Structured Training Program

We know being a first-time coach can be daunting. Our 5 day structured training program gives you a crash course on how to transition from a great debater to a great coach

Meaningful Impact

The best part of working at CDA is your immediate impact on our students. Coaches are not shunned behind meaningless prep work, all coaches have the oppurunity to teach to live students