Forensics Forward Incorporated is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt nonprofit in New Jersey that attempts to bridge the socioeconomic divide in the Speech and Debate community by providing free online debate lessons in Public Forum and Congressional Debate to middle and high school students in underserved communities.
Our Mission Statement, which we believe best represents our values, is the following:
Insofar that there exists a massive inequality in speech & debate, Forensics Forward is a non-profit organization that seeks to bridge the gap by providing free afterschool speech & debate classes to middle school students in underserved communities. We aim to inculcate a passion for speech and debate among middle schoolers, hoping to give them the drive to start debate teams in high school and become state-level competitors. In this endeavor, our goal is to provide an equal opportunity for students in NJ and NY who wish to participate in speech & debate in high school.
I’m a rising freshman at Washington University in St. Louis and a Millburn High School class of 2022 graduate. During my time in high school, I was active on the Speech and Debate team, where I was a Congressional Debate captain and competitor. I have competed at 10+ national tournaments over my debate career and developed an expertise in foreign policy issues. Over this time, I’ve had the opportunity to work with both novices – whom I’ve coached over the last two years – and my mentors, most of whom were nationally ranked instructors who helped me hone my skills for competition season.
Outside of debate, I’ve applied core skills I learned in debate to other ventures. In addition to debate, I have also started my own club – the Junior State of America – which was unique for creating a bipartisan space for discussing pressing political issues, often in the presence of guest speakers. I have also worked at the New Jersey Student Climate Advocates, where I helped push forth a carbon-tax effort as part of a coalition, volunteered on campaigns for politicians from the local to the national level, joined the ACLU’s National Advocacy Institute, and explored my interest in the histories of disadvantaged peoples – from writing papers and taking part in discussions at the William and Mary National Institute for American History and Democracy to exploring my town’s historical archive for evidence of exclusion against poor and non-white peoples.
Leo Huang is a freshman at Washington University in St. Louis, and was the President of Millburn High School's debate team in New Jersey. He has five years of Public Forum debate experience. His most prestigious debate accomplishments include Quarterfinals at the 2021 Tournament of Champions, Quarterfinals at the Scarsdale Invitational, Octofinals at the Yale Invitational, going 6-0 at the Harvard Invitational, and many more. Apart from competing, Leo has extensively mentored and coached novice debaters on his team, helping them to achieve great success at tournaments, including winning the 2021 NJ State Championship. Leo is very excited to teach all aspiring debaters!
Hi there, my name is Meher and I’m a senior at Millburn High School. I’m currently the President of the Speech and Debate team, and during my four years as a member, I’ve competed extensively in local, regional, and national tournaments. I’ve championed several locals and broken at national tournaments like Harvard, qualifying to the National Speech and Debate Tournament in the spring of my junior year. I’m currently ranked #7 in the state of New Jersey. As a former Congress captain and current coach to elementary and middle schoolers, I’ve had a lot of experience working with novice debaters. I’m really excited to apply my skills as a member of Forensics Forward because I truly believe debate is an activity that reaps countless benefits.
Hi, I am a junior at Millburn High School and the captain of the Public Forum debate team. I have competed in Public Forum for 3 years, notably winning New Jersey’s state tournament and qualifying to NCFL Nationals. Furthermore, I have championed tournaments in New Jersey and have competed in 10 national tournaments including University of Pennsylvania and Yale. Outside of debate, I teach for multiple organizations that focus on middle schooers. Additionally, as a captain, I coach novices and freshmen who are learning to debate successfully in high school. Now, I am looking forward to applying my teaching and debate experience to help even more students through Forensics Forward.
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