Staff

2026 General Staff

Aari Sabnani

Executive Director

Hi! I’m Aari (he/him), and I’m a rising senior at College Prep in the Bay Area. I’ve been doing PF for 4 years and currently serve as captain of my school’s debate team. Over the past few seasons, I’ve qualified to Gold TOC twice and earned 12 bids, and am currently ranked 1st nationally. Some of my best tournament results include winning Berkeley and UKSO, reaching quarterfinals at Glenbrooks and Emory, and semi-finaling Nano Nagle and UNLV. My favorite forms of debate are fast substance rounds and philosophical debates, and I’m comfortable debating as both a first and second speaker. Outside of debate, I enjoy playing tennis, guitar, and hanging out with friends. I’m really excited to work with everyone at NOVA this year!

Elizabeth Chung

Executive Director

Hi! I’m Elizabeth (she/her), and I’m a rising senior at Richard Montgomery HS in Maryland. I’ve competed in PF for 3 years, and I have 11 career bids to the TOC. I’ve reached late out rounds in tournaments like Sunvite, UKSO, and Harvard. I enjoy lay, flay, and technical substance debate and have experience as both a second and a first speaker. Outside of debate, I love music, shopping, and hanging with friends!

Hannah Li

Executive Director

Hi! I’m Hannah (she/her), and I’m a rising senior at Valley Christian in the Bay Area, where I serve as president of the debate team. In my past 3 years of debating PF, I’ve earned 12 bids to the TOC – qualifying every year and being the first debater from my school to attend. Ranked as high as 5th nationally, I’ve champed Milpitas, semifinaled Columbia, quartered UKSO, and bid at several other tournaments like Stanford, Berkeley, and Harvard. I’m primarily a second speaker who likes lay debate, but I’ve also spoken first and enjoy tech rounds. Outside of debate, I enjoy being in nature, swimming, and hanging out with friends. I’m super excited to work with everyone at NOVA this year!

2026 Counselors

Aadi Mishra

Hi, my name is Aaditya Mishra, and I will be a senior entering my fourth year in speech and debate, primarily competing in Public Forum, along with limited prep events. I am a two-time state semifinalist, a multiple-time local champion, a national qualifier, and have a gold bid. I also coach through NOVA Debate Camp, where I enjoy helping students build cases, understand topics, and improve their speaking and strategy. Beyond competition, I especially enjoy teaching newer debaters and seeing their confidence and skills grow over time.

Abby Cai

Hi, I’m Abby, a rising junior at McLean High School. I’ve been competing in PF as a first speaker for two years, with one year of experience on the national circuit. As a sophomore, I qualified to the TOC and reached elimination rounds at multiple tournaments including UPenn, Villiger, Ridge and GMU. I most enjoy flay and lay rounds, but I also have experience debating tech substance, theory and Ks. Outside of debate, I enjoy hanging out with friends, listening to music and going on walks.

Aditya Venkatachalam

Alexander Chen

Hello! My name is Alexander (he/him) and I’m a rising senior at Miramonte High School in California. I’ve competed in PF for 3 years and am a captain on my school’s debate team. I’ve qualified to the NSDA Nationals and the Tournament of Champions, earning 4 TOC bids in total. I am heavily experienced in both lay and traditional tech debate. I have experience with progressive arguments, but am still learning and improving! I am comfortable with both speaker positions. I teach middle schoolers both PF and parliamentary-style debate. I love playing and watching tennis. A close second is skiing with family and friends. I do Mock Trial, and our team has been in the top 3 for 3 consecutive years. I love any Bay Area sports team- GO WARRIORS! Lastly, I’m a huge foodie! I’m super excited to work with everyone at NOVA this year!

Amanda Lee

Hi! I’m a sophomore at College Prep and have competed in Public Forum for 4 years. Over the course of my career, I have earned 1st place at MSTOC, Stephen Stewart Invitational JV, and Western JV Novice Championship. In the varsity division, I’ve reached elimination rounds at tournaments including the National Speech and Debate Season Opener, Jack Howe Invitational, Nano Nagle Invitational, Quarry Lane Invitational, Peach State Classic, Alta Silver & Black, Golden Desert UNLV Invitational, and Cal Invitational, while also earning multiple speaker awards along the way. I’m so excited to teach at NOVA, help debaters grow, and build connections within the debate community!

Amrita Dhillon

Hi! I’m Amrita (she/her), a rising senior at College Prep in the Bay Area. I’ve been debating for 3 years and qualled to TOC twice, semifinaling Nano Nagle, and quarterfinaling + second speaking Golden Desert. I’m primarily a first speaker and I enjoy lay debate or a fast substance round. Outside of debate, I love dancing, hanging out with friends, my dog, and the beach! I’m so excited to coach at NOVA this summer!

Anushka Dingare

Hi! My name is Anushka and I am a varsity debater at Alliance Academy for Innovation I have 2 tournament wins and serve as vp of debate at my high school as well as a teachers assistant at Ivy Bridge Academy. I love teaching debate as well as reading and playing tennis!

Ava Zahtila

Hi! I’m Ava (she/her) and I’m a rising senior at Summit High School in New Jersey. I have been competing in PF on the national circuit for 3 years and have 7 total career bids. I’ve reached outrounds at multiple tournaments, including Florida Blue Key, Harvard, Princeton, Yale, and others. I love all kinds of debate, including lay debate, fast tech substance, and K rounds. Outside of debate, I like to play softball, go down the shore, and hang out with my friends!

Baylen Shi

Hi! I’m Baylen and I’m a rising senior at Canyon Crest Academy in San Diego. I have debated on the national circuit for three years now and in that time I have qualified to the TOC twice, accumulated 6 bids, and made it to NSDA nationals. During my time debating, I have been both a first and second speaker. As a captain for my school’s public forum team, I’ve taught novices as well as coached new varsity members to breaking at multiple tournaments. Outside of debate I enjoy playing basketball with my friends, reading random wikipedia articles, and sleeping.

Benjamin Grabel

Hello everyone! My name is Benjamin Grabel and I am a rising senior competing for BASIS Phoenix PG. I have participated in this activity for 3 years now and am the captain of my schools debate team. Over my past season I’ve gotten 6 bids to the TOC and broke to doubles in Gold. Ranked as high as eighth nationally, I have made deep runs at several competitive tournaments including Glenbrooks, Columbia, Harvard, and Blake. I’m mainly a first speaker who really enjoys tech substance rounds but also like teaching lay/flay debate. Outside of debate, I enjoy watching movies with my family, cooking, and playing pickle ball with my friends.

Caroline Zhang

Hi, I’m Caroline and I’m a rising junior at Evergreen Valley High School. I’ve been debating for 2 years and qualified to the TOC, quartering at UKSO and was 5th speaker at ASU. I’m most experienced as a second speaker for lay and substance debate. Outside of debate, I also like listening to music and hanging out with friends!

Conor Boscardin

hi i’m conor! i debate at college prep and i’m going into my second year on the circuit. i have 2 bids and am super excited to work with y’all. outside of debate i like to listen to music, eat taco bell and play fortnite.

Crystal Chen

Hii I’m Crystal, and I’ve been debating in Varsity PF for about 2 years now, and broke to triples at James Logan. I have experience with mentoring students in my school’s debate program, and am excited to meet new people who are passionate about debate! Aside from debate, I play the piano, dance, and bake really good banana muffins 🙂

Eddie El-Fadil

What’s up debate crew! I’m Eddie (he/him) and I’m a rising senior at Iowa City West High, where I serve as head captain of the speech & debate team. Being ranked as high as 5th nationally, I’ve champed CSU and Apple Valley; semi’d Dowling; quartered TOC digi #3, Badgerland, and SeattleU; and octo’d the TOC, Blake, Columbia, and UKSO.Throughout my career, I’ve amassed 9 bids, semifinaled state in policy, and have gotten multiple speaker awards (1/142, 8/196, 17/568). I prefer tech rounds, specifically K debates, but I also love a good lay round. When I’m not in round, you can catch me playing pickleball, going out with friends, or hitting the gym. Sorry for the yap, I’ll see you guys in lab!

Emily Zheng

Hi! I’m Emily and I debate for Interlake high school, where I serve as squad captain. This year, I acquired 3 bids to the TOC, with my highlights of the season being champing Seattle U, Octafinaling Stanford and more. Outside of debate, I like jasmine milk tea, oil painting, and getting food with my friends.

Gavin Hui

Wassup, I’m Gavin (he/him) and I’m a rising senior at Northwood High School. I’ve been debating for 3 years, starting with two years of LD before switching to PF this past year. In my first year of PF, I earned 4 bids and fully qualified to gold TOC, broke at nearly every tournament I attended, and semi finaled the Cal State Fullerton Invitational. I am familiar with increasing proliferation of progressive arguments in PF, but I’m strongest with policy style debate. Outside of debate, I enjoy playing tennis, eating food, hanging out with the bois, and listening to music. I’m super excited to get to work with everyone and hope to make a positive impact on the debate community!

Gia Jhaveri

Hi! I’m Gia and I am a rising junior at College Prep. I have been competing in PF for 2 years and have qualified to TOC once, earning top 15 speaker awards at UNLV, Alta, ASU, and Peach State and reaching elimination rounds at 9 nat-circuit tournament. I am most experienced in fast substance and SV rounds but I love both tech and lay debate. Outside of debate I like hanging out with friends, thrifting, and playing tennis. I can’t wait to teach at NOVA this summer!

Jacob Auerbach

Hi! I’m Jacob (he/him), and I’m a rising Junior at Scarsdale High School. I’ve been debating in PF for 2 years, and primarily debate as a 2nd speaker. I qualified for NSDA Nationals and the TOC this year and reached outrounds at multiple other national circuit tournaments. My favorite types of rounds are fast substance debates or friv theory rounds. Outside of debate, I love hanging out with friends, playing volleyball, or frisbee. Super excited to work with everyone this summer.

James Moon

Hey, I’m James! I’m a rising sophomore @ Phillips Exeter Academy. I did Public Forum for ~a year, and have done Lincoln-Douglas for the past year and a half. I got to semifinals at Harrison and went 6-0 and 2nd speaker at DSDS #1. I like cutting, reading, and talking about weird arguments, whether the subject is the Psychoanalysis K, trivialism, or Derrida’s thoughts on nuclear weapons. I tend to enjoy K/Phil debate the most. Outside of debate, I like to write poetry and perform in plays!

Jerry Li

Hey, I’m Cooper, a rising senior at Montgomery Blair High School. This year, I ended the season as bid leader and ranked as high as 1st in the nation. Additionally, I champed Harvard RR, Ivy Street RR, Durham, FBK RR, and Bronx. I finalled Emory, UKSO, and Dowling Catholic. I’m excited to teach at NOVA this summer!

Jessica Ma

Hi! I’m a rising junior who has 2 years of debate experience. I have semifinaled a Varsity tournament and was one round away from a TOC bid. I currently serve as an officer in my schools debate club where I have mentored four debaters past elim rounds in Varsity Tournaments. In her free time, she enjoys playing tennis, watching shows, and exploring her city.

Jiayi Meng

Hi! I’m a junior at Syosset High School, where I also serve as a captain. I’ve competed for three years, during which I’ve gotten a few bids and taught at some camps. Outside of debate, I enjoy playing music and reading!

Josh Zhou

Hi, I’m Josh and I’m a rising junior! I’ve debated for two years at Vancouver as VDA TZ. During my career, I’ve quarterfinalled the Milo Cup twice, quarterfinalled Peach State, reached Octas at Season Opener and Harvard, bid at Blue Key, Berkeley, and ASU, and won five speaker awards. I’m best at coaching substance and theory, but I’ve got some experience with Ks. Outside of debate, I play volleyball and way too much clash, watch football, and enjoy hanging out with my friends

Kai Pehkonen

Hi, I’m Kai (he/him)! I’m a rising senior at BASIS Phoenix in Arizona! I’ve been debating for 3 years now, and 2 years on the national circuit! During my career, I’ve acquired 7 career bids to the GTOC, and qualified to the NSDA nationals twice! Most notably, I’ve broke at the GTOC, reached deep outrounds at Columbia, James Logan, and Glenbrooks, ultimately being ranked as high as 8th in the nation! Outside of debate, I enjoy partying with friends, late night drives, and listening to music! I’m super excited to coach at NOVA this summer!

Kaylynn Yuan

Hi! I’m Kaylynn, and I’m a rising junior at Richard Montgomery High School in Maryland. I compete in PF and I have 9 career bids to the TOC, qualifying both years. I’ve reached elimination rounds at tournaments like Yale and Bronx, and I’ve also qualified NSDA Nationals. Outside of debate, I like shopping and hanging out with friends. I’m excited to teach at NOVA this summer.

Nishvith Sudhakar

What’s up I’m Nish a junior at Northwood High School in California. I started PF in 9th grade at Iowa City West and moved to Cali my sophmore year. Debates has been quite fun for the past 3 years, but besides that I’ve managed to do alright, amassing 6 career bids so far breaking at pretty much every tournament. Outside of debate you can catch me grabing food with friends, or prolly at the beach surfing. Can’t wait to meet you guys and hopefully make ya’ll better.

Owen Falk

Hey I’m Owen. I’m a rising senior at College Prep and have doing PF for 3 years. This year, I’ve had a lot of success but the coolest accomplishment was probably 2nd speaking and winning Cal. I’ve also bid at 9 of the 10 tournaments I’ve gone to this year and peaked at 2nd nationally. I’m cool to help with anything but am probably best for substance or theory. Outside of debate, I do taekwondo and enjoy listening to music. I can’t wait to teach at NOVA!

Pingkang Qian

Hi! I’m Pingkang, a rising senior at Cranbrook Kingswood Upper School. Ive been debating for 3 years now on the national circuit and serve as president on Cranbrook’s debate team. I’m super excited to work with everyone this summer!

Pranay Kalra

Hi! I’m Pranay (He/Him), and I’m a rising Junior at Walton High School in Marietta, Georgia. I’ve competed in PF for two years, where I’ve cleared at bid tournaments such as Stanford, Digital Debate Series, and Georgetown. I’ve run Kritiks before, but I am most experienced with tech substance and lay debate, which is what I’m most comfortable teaching. Outside of debate, I like spending time with my family, playing basketball, and reading. Looking forward to meeting everyone!

Ronan Hechema

Hi! I’m Ronan (he/him) and I’m a rising senior at Durham Academy in North Carolina. I’ve competed in PF for 2 years. I’ve won the NC State Championship, Quarterfinaled NCFLs, Semid TOC-Silver, and have reached out rounds at tournaments like Blue Key, Jack Howe, and Harvard. I enjoy all styles of debate but especially focus on rhetoric-heavy lay debate and flay debate, with experience as both a first and second speaker. Outside of debate, I love cooking, listening to music, and playing basketball. Super excited to get to work with everyone this summer!

Ryna Dholakia

Hi, I’m Ryna, a rising junior at Millburn High School with experience competing in Public Forum Debate at the local, state, and national level. I’ve qualified for the Tournament of Champions, championed the 2025 New Jersey Speech and Debate League State Tournament, placed 3rd at the New Jersey District Tournament with an 8–0 record to qualify to NSDA Nationals, and was 5th Speaker at Princeton. I love both lay and tech debate, and my favorite speech is second rebuttal. Outside of debate, I love baking and spending time with my friends. I can’t wait to meet all of you!

Samuel Shi

Hey! I’m Sam and I am a rising junior at Langley High School in Virginia. So far, I have bid to the TOC and been ranked as a top 3 team in the state. I have reached elimination rounds at several tournaments and gold bid to the TOC. I am the head PF captain for my school’s debate team and have experience on both local traditional circuits and progressive national circuits, but specialize in fast technical debate. Outside of debate, I love lifting and listening to music. I’m excited to teach at NOVA this summer!

Sophia Patel

Hi! I’m Sophia, a rising junior at Fairmont Prep. I’ve been a part of the Fairmont debate program for 3 years, and have accumulated 10 bids to the TOC. I’ve reached late outrounds at a few national circuit tournaments, including Berkeley, the TOC digitals, and Stanford. I’m most experienced as a first speaker and enjoy both flow and lay debate rounds. When I’m not debating, I’m at the beach, playing tennis, or baking. My favorite parts about debate are both meeting new people and travelling all over the country with the team. Debate has been such an enjoyable activity for me, and I’m excited to teach at NOVA again this year!

Spencer Carman

Hey! I’ve debated for three years at Arlington High School in Massachusetts. I qualified for the Gold Tournament of Champions, NCFL Nationals, and NSDA Nationals, finishing the 2024–2025 season ranked in the top 10 of the National Debate Coaches Association rankings. My notable accomplishments include reaching advancing to octofinals at the Gold TOC, semifinals of NCFL nationals, and acquiring 8 TOC bids. I also founded and led his middle school’s debate program, where I taught students essential debate and public speaking skills. For the past two years, I have also taught at Lumos Debate. My favorite part of teaching is helping students develop their unique style and gain the confidence to deliver outstanding speeches!

Sujeev Singh Kapur

Hi! I’m Sujeev, a rising junior at Millburn High School in New Jersey. I’ve been debating on the national circuit for a two years, acquiring 5 career bids to the TOC as well as qualified to Grand Nationals and NSDAs. This season, I have reached elimination rounds at several National Circuit tournaments, notably finals at Princeton and championing Ridge. Additionally, I am a New Jersey State Champion as well as an Octofinalist at Grand Nationals, and I rank #15 in the nation. Outside of debate I enjoy hanging out with friends, playing golf, football, basketball, and sack, as well as reading. I’m super excited to coach at Nova this summer!

Suvas Sureneni

Hi! I’m Suvas, and I am a rising junior at Ardrey Kell High School in North Carolina with 2 years of debating experience. This past season, I have qualified to NCFL and placed in many tournaments this year, a few being breaking at Emory, DSDS, and my District tournament. I have experience as both a first and second speaker and love doing lay debate. Outside of debate, I enjoy traveling, hanging out with my friends, and playing basketball. I’m super excited to meet everyone this summer!

Tanisi Sahai

Hi, my name is Tanisi Sahai and I am a rising junior in high school! I started debating in 6th grade and since then have competed in a variety of different debate styles like public forum, congressional, and speech events. What began as a sixth-grade curiosity has turned into one of my biggest passions! I love the way debate forces me to think on my feet, deepens how I understand the issues shaping the world around me, and constantly puts me in rooms with people who push me to be sharper, kinder, and more curious. Outside of debate, you can find me curled up with a book, baking (with mixed results), or doing advocacy work!

Teagan Bolt

Hi! I’m Teagan and I’m a rising junior at Cary Academy. I started out in PF, but I now do LD, parliamentary, and a bit of world schools. This year, I won Durham and semifinaled Berkeley International Parli. I’ve also won my state tournament in both PF and LD, top-speaking this year. My favorite style of rounds are lay or phil, though I like K debate as well. Outside of debate, I love soccer, backpacking, and photography!

Tolga Ergin

Hi! I’m Tolga and I’m a rising junior at the Horace Mann School where I am the Research Director of our Public Forum Debate Team. I qualified my sophomore year to the Tournament Champions and broke to outrounds at many tournaments including Lexington, Columbia, Villiger and New York States. Although I love having lay debates, I enjoy teaching kritiks, phil, and substance tech. I have experience teaching debate to other members of the Horace Mann Debate team and leading the research meetings to prepare my peers for tournaments. Outside of debate, I enjoy playing Chess, listening to music, and going on runs. I’m super excited to meet everyone at Nova this summer!

Varun Venkateswaran

Hi! I’m a rising senior at Horace Mann School in New York City. I’m president of my team with 50+ students (9th-12th grade) and have been involved with Public Forum Debate since 9th grade. I love coaching younger, less experienced debaters and watching them grow as people and succeed. In my three years, I have qualified to states three times, and had breaking records at tournaments such as State Championships, Harvard, New York City Invitational, Lexington Winter Invitational, and National Qualifiers. In my free time, I love to sleep, play video games with my friends, play piano, and watch TikTok.

Vikram Sinha

Hi, I’m Vikram! I’m a rising junior at Millburn High School. I’m going into my third year of PF, in which I’ve acquired 5 bids to the TOC, finaled Princeton, and octofinaled at NCFL Grand Nationals. I love lay debate and I’m the second speaker to my partner, Sujeev Kapur. Outside debate, I love playing video games and baseball. I’m so excited to teach at NOVA this year!

Ziyad Mattoo

Hi! I’m Ziyad (he/him), and I’m a rising junior at Bronx Science in New York. I’ve competed in PF for 2 years, and I have reached elimination rounds at tournaments like Harvard, Ridge, Villager, and UPenn, and made it to semifinals at my state tournament. I enjoy flay and technical substance debate. Outside of debate, I love music, reviewing food, and hanging with friends!

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