OUR STAFF
15 Diverse Instructors with Experience Across 7 Debate Formats
10 USA Debate Team Members
5 National Champions in LD, Congress, & Worlds
3 Harvard Students
1 highest-ranked female debater in the world
MEET OUR TEAM
Brian Zhou
Founder
Brian Zhou is a Harvard student and the Founder of Project Dialogue. As a two-time national LD champion, Brian won in 10th grade the Woodward National Championships and in 11th grade the Tournament of Champions. Brian was a 2-year member of USA Debate, captaining his team in the Germany EurOpen Invitational to 2nd place and reaching quarterfinals at Harvard, Croatia, and Slovenia.
Anh Cao
Founder
Anh is an incoming first-year at Harvard College. In high school, she was captain of the U.S. National Debate Team. Anh competed at the Debating World Championships twice, and in 2019, she was the top-ranked female speaker worldwide. Anh was a two-time state champion in Congress and IX. She is the assistant coach of the Greenhill School and assists Team USA in their training.
Miles Wang
Director of Finance
Miles is a rising senior at Dreyfoos School of the Arts who competes in World Schools Debate for his school and as a 2-time member of the USA Debate Team. His debate accomplishments include placing 3rd at Croatia’s Winter Holiday Open twice (2nd place speaker) and 1st at Stanford. He is looking forward to meeting and working with everyone at Project Dialogue!
Selim Kim
Director of Technology & Media
Selim Kim is a rising sophomore at Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire and debates in both the Parliamentary and Lincoln Douglas format. She has ranked in the top 10 speaker rankings across many New England parliamentary circuits. Selim has also competed in multiple Tournament of Champions bid tournaments this past year. She has also had prior experience with Public Forum and Oratory in middle school.
Ashley Shan
Director of WS Operations
Ashley Shan is a rising senior at Greenhill School, competing in World Schools Debate for Greenhill and USA Debate. She championed NSDA nationals in 2020, NDCA nationals in 2021, Stanford, Greenhill, and Delores Taylor Arthur, and reached finals at TFA State. Outside of debate, Ashley serves as the president of her school’s East Asian Affinity Group, Project Dialogue Club, Student Culture Committee, Model UN team, and Political Action Club, as well as serving as a representative on the Dallas Youth Commission. Ashley is extremely excited to return to Project Dialogue for another summer, and can’t wait to meet everyone!
Varsha Gande
Director of LD
Operations
Varsha is a rising junior at Greenhill and has participated in Lincoln Douglas. Varsha has done well on national, state, and local circuits: she cleared at UT Austin, Colleyville Heritage, and TFA State, made it to the finals of the Newman Smith Spontaneity and PESH, and reached the semifinals of Hebron, Colleyville Heritage, and Jesuit. As a sophomore, she qualified to the Texas state tournament and reached the doubles round (top 32). Varsha is also passionate about advocacy and frequently attends marches like the Dallas Women’s March and Climate Change rally.
Abbey Xu
Director of WS Education
Abbey is excited to be joining PD this year as a rising senior at St. Paul’s School. She is currently a two-year member of Team USA and she will also be representing the USA at Online WSDC this summer. Her competitive accomplishments include placing second at NSDA Nationals, championing Stanford, and placing third at Harvard and Winter Holiday Open.
Kelly Meng
Director of LD Education
Kelly Meng attends the University of Southern California, and debated at Greenhill School with experience in both Policy debate and Lincoln-Douglas debate. She has a bid to the Tournament of Champions, is a double octo-finalist at the TFA, and cleared at NSDA as a two-time national qualifier.
Ranen Miao
World Schools Division
Ranen (he/him) is a sophomore at Washington University in St. Louis studying political science and sociology. In high school, he was president of his debate team and a two-year member of the USA Debate Team. He was ranked 1st in the United States for Congressional Debate, winning the TOC, Harvard, and Glenbrooks, and won international championships in Slovenia, California, Texas, and New York. He’s excited to return to Project Dialogue this summer to mentor and support students!
James Hu
World Schools Division
James debated for Mira Loma High School in California, was a member of the U.S. National Team his senior year, and currently assists the USA Development Team in their training. He placed 4th at NSDA Nationals in International Extemp and was a member of the 2020 WSDC team. James attends Columbia University, where he is involved with the debate society, and hopes to study political science and data science. He worked with Project Dialogue last year and is unbelievably excited to be back on this year’s staff.
Justin Hu
LD Division
Justin Hu is a rising sophomore at Harvard College intending
to major in History & Literature and Computer Science. He has 5 years of policy debate experience. On campus, he is involved in the student radio station (Harvard Radio Broadcasting) and various advocacy + studies organizations. In his free time, Justin enjoys reading, biking, exploring music, and practicing martial arts.
Guyberson Pierre
World Schools Division
Guyberson is a graduating senior from Dreyfoos School of the Arts, and is a member of the USA Debate Team. He is a two-time state champion, having also championed Greenhill, Delores Taylor, and Harvard-Westlake, and has reached outrounds at Europen and Harvard. He’s incredibly excited to work with you all this summer!
Ranen Miao
World Schools Division
Ranen (he/him) is a sophomore at Washington University in St. Louis studying political science and sociology. In high school, he was president of his debate team and a two-year member of the USA Debate Team. He was ranked 1st in the United States for Congressional Debate, winning the TOC, Harvard, and Glenbrooks, and won international championships in Slovenia, California, Texas, and New York. He’s excited to return to Project Dialogue this summer to mentor and support students!
James Hu
World Schools Division
James debated for Mira Loma High School in California, was a member of the U.S. National Team his senior year, and currently assists the USA Development Team in their training. He placed 4th at NSDA Nationals in International Extemp and was a member of the 2020 WSDC team. James attends Columbia University, where he is involved with the debate society, and hopes to study political science and data science. He worked with Project Dialogue last year and is unbelievably excited to be back on this year’s staff.
Elaine Li
Director of Business
Elaine is currently a senior at Cornell University majoring in Finance and Strategy and a minor in Information Science. She did debate back in high school and is excited to help with the camp. Elaine believes that her high school debate experience had helped substantially, especially being a women of color in a male dominated space in Finance. She is currently pursuing a career in the Finance sector. In her free time, Elaine likes photography, videography, playing basketball, and playing video games.
Victor Tong
World Schools Division
Victor Tong debated for Phillips Academy in Massachusetts since his freshman year. He currently serves as the co-president of his school team. Additionally, Victor competed on behalf of the USA Development for three years, during which he championed the Bluebonnet Invitation and the Blake tournament, reached quarterfinals at Europen while simultaneously earning third top speaker in his division, and reached quarterfinals at the Harvard World Schools Tournament as the top seed. He is incredibly excited to be a part of the Project Dialogue community!
Nikitha Thoduguli
LD Division
Nikitha is a rising junior and has been debating for 6 years. As a sophomore, she broke at several bid tournaments– UT, Blake, Harvard-Westlake, and St. Marks. At Harvard-Westlake, she was 2nd top seed, going undefeated. She has qualified for the TFA State tournament for the past two years, and in 2021, was one of two sophomores in LD quarters . Additionally, Nikitha won Top Speaker and was Runner-Up in 2nd Year LD at the National Championship at Woodward Academy.
Cassandra Berlin
World Schools Division
Cassandra Berlin is an incoming freshman at Emory University as a Goizueta Scholar, where she plans to major in Finance. After winning NSDA Nationals in World Schools in 2019, Cassandra competed for Team USA, speaking in final rounds at EurOpen, Greenhill, Harvard Westlake, among others.
Shruthi Krishnan
Lincoln Douglas Division
Shruthi Krishnan is a rising junior at Cornell University. She is a 3-time national champion and was the #1 ranked LD debater in the country. Shruthi won the NDCA National Championships twice, the Woodward Academy National Championship, and 9 other national circuit tournaments. Shruthi has taught at the Global Debate Symposium and Cornell’s China Debate Foundations Workshop.
