OUR COACHES
At Beacon, we hire coaches who are some of the most competitively successful debaters in their fields, and also all have coaching experience.
Just see for yourself!
So far, we have coaches in PF, LD and Congress. If you don't see a coach for your style of speech or debate here, let us know and we'll do our best to find someone.
"Thank you thank you for being able to create such a special learning environment for our son. You have been able to do something that his teachers over the years have failed to do: you have been able to tap into his confidence!" - M.A.
Kaley Pillinger, founder
Kaley is a native New Yorker, coffee-lover, and student at Yale University. She competed in Public Forum for her four years at Hunter High School and during her career championed the Princeton and Big Bronx invitationals, semi-finaled at Yale and Harvard, and qualified to the TOC three times (and broke once!). Her senior year, she and her partner were ranked as high as second in the nation and she was the top-ranked female debater. She served as novice director of Hunter and has coached three different schools (currently coaching Princeton HS) and at three different camps. She has been the Assistant Camp Director at the NYC Urban Debate League's Harlem Camp for the past three years. In college, she is a member of the Yale Debate Association.
In addition to coaching at Beacon this summer, she will continue to help run the UDL Harlem Camp and is working on Dan Koh's congressional campaign in Massachusetts.
David Yaffe, co-founder
David grew up in New Jersey, close to the Turtle Back Zoo where he could find his favorite animal—Red Pandas. He is now a student at the University of Chicago. He did Public Forum debate for all of his four years at Millburn High School and was captain in his senior year. He championed Harvard among other tournaments and ended the regular national season in his senior year ranked 2nd in the nation. He served as debate instructor at NDF as well as the UDL Harlem Camp and the Millburn Debate Camp. In addition to debate, David loves computer science. In the past, he has done research on cancer using machine learning, and this summer will be working as a software engineering intern at DataRobot.
"Last year I struggled with making round-winning summaries. But I wasn’t sure where I should start. David helped me. Weighing is now something I incorporate into all of my rounds. The work David did with me is what has allowed me and my teammate to win more rounds." - A.M.
"David not only brings his vast knowledge about debate from years of success on the national circuit, but unyielding enthusiasm to every practice." -H.F.
David Maluf, PF coach
David debated for Hunter College HS for seven years: three years of parliamentary debate and four years of public forum in high school. He served as novice director for two years—coaching incoming novices on the basics of debate—and went on to be the captain of the public forum team. His junior year, he reached octafinals of the Tournament of Champions and won 4th speaker. David is primarily interested in topics about domestic policy, particularly ones that have to do with poverty. His two favorite topics were ‘To alleviate income inequality in the United States, increased spending on public infrastructure should be prioritized over increased spending on means-tested welfare programs’ and ‘The United States Federal Government ought to pay reparations to African Americans.’ He currently attends American University in Washington D.C. and double majors in political science and economics. This past summer, he coached at Lumos Debate Camp, and he is currently an assistant coach for the Walt Whitman debate team.
“Asher is a fabulous coach who helps students understand both the specifics of the topic along with general debate tips…. Aside from being very knowledgeable and a good teacher, what really makes Asher stand out is that he cares about the debaters he coaches.” -N.S. and A.E.
Asher Spector, PF coach
Asher Spector debated for Horace Mann High School and amassed 7 career bids to the Tournament of Champions. As a junior, he qualified to the TOC and placed 6th at the 2016 NSDA National Tournament. As a senior, he co-led the HM debate team and was ranked as high as 4th in the country. Asher currently serves as the assistant debate coach at the Hackley School in New York, and he has also taught at national camps like the National Debate Forum (NDF) and the National Symposium for Debate (NSD). Currently, Asher is studying applied math and statistics at Harvard College. Outside of debate and math, Asher’s interests include philosophy, classical music, and competitive ping pong. Asher is excited to teach at Beacon this summer!
“Being coached by Danny was an incredible experience. His analytical skills and charismatic attitude toward Debate has not only elevated my debating skills, but it has taught me how to get the most out of the activity.” - H.D.
Danny Siegel, PF coach
Danny Siegel competed Fort Lauderdale High School from 2013-2017. While competing, Danny broke at the Tournament of Champions three years in a row and finaled at the State of Florida Tournament twice. Danny has championed the Early Bird Wake Forest University Tournament, the National Debate Coaches Association tournament (NDCA), and the Blue Key Round Robin. Danny has semi-finaled at Glenbrooks, quarterfinaled at Blue key, finaled at the Sunvitational, and made it to elimination rounds at tournaments such as Blake, Emory, and Crestian. Over his four years as a debater, he has accumulated eight bids to the TOC. Danny is currently the Assistant director of PF at Durham Academy where his teams have received bids at tournaments including Laird, Glenbrooks, Apple Valley, and Blue Key. Danny currently attends the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill studying Peace, War, and Defense. He hopes to one day be involved with international organizations like the United Nations, World Bank, and International Monetary Fund.
"Kevin is caring, attentive, and works with you to not only improve you as a debater but to help you navigate anything that may come your way whether in the debate world or otherwise." -A.P.
Kevin Hautigan, PF coach
Kevin Hautigan is a first-year student at Georgetown University and is studying Government. He debated in Public Forum Debate at Fort Lauderdale High School in Florida for four years. As a sophomore, Kevin reached elimination rounds at tournaments including semifinals at Glenbrooks and octafinals at The Tournament of Champions. During his junior year, Kevin reached quarterfinals at Blue Key, finals of the Florida State Championship, elimination rounds at The Tournament of Champions, and championed NDCA Nationals. His senior year, Kevin earned five bids to the Tournament of Champions, championed the Forensics Early Bird at Wake Forest, and reached octafinals at The Tournament of Champions. Throughout his career, Kevin has received eight TOC bids and has broken at other tournaments including Bronx Science, Emory, and the Crestian Tradition, while receiving numerous speaker awards including top speaker at the Florida State Championship two years in a row. Kevin was president of his team his senior year and has worked closely with students of varying grade levels. He has also coached students at multiple summer camps. He looks forward to working at Beacon this summer!
“Cale’s coaching was undoubtedly the most important factor in our improvement as debaters this year--with his help, we've championed almost every local tournament we attend and collected two bids to the TOC.” -R.J.
Cale McCrary, PF coach
Cale McCrary currently coaches Corona del Sol public forum debate in Arizona, and formerly served as the captain of Saint Mary's Hall speech and debate in Texas. As a competitor, Cale was consistently ranked top 30 in the country for Public Forum, achieving late out rounds at national tournaments like Harvard and Grapevine. In his first year as a coach, Cale's has had teams qualify to the Tournament of Champions, notably with a win at the Golden Desert Tournament. Cale studies International Politics and Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Utah Honors College, where he has been ejected from several intramural basketball games and hosts an alternative rock radio show.
Abie Rohrig, PF Coach
Abie is a senior at Stuyvesant High School where he is the Captain of the Public Forum debate team. Throughout his debate career Abie has championed the Harvard Round Robin, finaled at Columbia and Harvard, semi-finaled at Bronx, Glenbrooks and Yale, quarterfinaled at the Tournament of Champions and CFLs, and received 7th place at the NSDA National Tournament. He received the top speaker award at Glenbrooks, Blake, and Scarsdale. Abie has coached at Lumos Debate Camp and the Harlem Educational Activities Fund. Outside of debate Abie loves playing basketball, listening to old Kanye West, and discussing Peter Singer.
“Abie's assistance in debate has helped me grasp a firm understanding of strategy in debate and has allowed me to feel much more comfortable and confident in round.” -J.L.
Celia Silver, PF Coach
Celia Silver competed for Princeton High School for 4 years. As a senior, she was the co-president and Public Forum captain of her team. She qualified for the TOC both her junior and senior years, and was ranked as high as 4th in the nation. She has quarterfinaled at Yale and Princeton, octafinaled at the TOC and competed in the Harvard Round Robin. In her free time, she cooks, listens to Bon Iver, and hikes. She plans to study English and history after taking a year off to work and backpack in Europe. She is looking forward to coaching this summer!
"Celia is a disciplined and determined debater that is eager and enthusiastic about sharing her wide knowledge."
-O.B.
Daniel Ju, PF Coach
Daniel is currently a senior at Stuyvesant High School in NYC where he has debated for four years--serving as the captain of public forum and junior varsity director as a junior and senior. Competitively, Daniel has accrued fifteen bids to the tournament of champions and was named top speaker at two major national tournaments: Princeton and Blake. He also championed the Harvard round robin and finaled at the Glenbrooks tournament in Chicago and the Harvard Invitational. Above all, Daniel believes that the essence of debate lies in crafting a narrative, almost like a story, and communicating that persuasively and confidently to the audience. Debate has played an instrumental role in helping him find his voice and overcoming the language barrier he faced as an immigrant. He is incredibly excited to share his love for debate, public speaking, and public policy with campers this summer!
"Daniel is one of the most knowledgeable and instructive people I know. He has helped me tremendously in debate and has helped me grasp a firm understanding of strategy as well as allowed me to feel much more confident in round." -J.L.
"Pranav is extremely motivational, encouraging, and generous with his time, giving me guidance whenever I need it" - S.M.
Pranav Baskar, PF Coach
Pranav is a senior public forum debater at Princeton High School. In his four years of competing, he qualified to the Tournament of Champions thrice—reaching octafinals at the tournament last year. This past year, Pranav has been ranked as high as fourth in the nation, reaching quarterfinals at the Yale Invitational and the Princeton Classic. In his junior year, he was named the top speaker at the New York City Invitational, the fourth speaker at the Wake Forest Invitational, and the sixth speaker at the Tournament of Champions. In addition to coaching novices on his own team, Pranav worked at the Lumos Debate Institute where he got to help middle schoolers learn about debate. When he isn’t working on PF, Pranav enjoys reading books, writing, and spending time with his friends. Next year, Pranav plans to study journalism and political science at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.
Jillian Fried, PF Coach
Jillian Fried is a senior at Hunter College High School in New York City. She has been debating for four years and is now the captain of Hunter’s public forum team. Throughout her high school debate career, she has been ranked as high as the #1 female debater in the nation, and has qualified to the Tournament of Champions in her sophomore, junior, and senior years. Additionally, she is the captain of her high school’s softball team and plays for a national travel softball team. For the past 3 summers, she has volunteered as a coach for the NYC Urban Debate League, which provides a free summer debate institute and tournaments during the school year for children in Harlem.
"Jillian is a one of a kind debate coach who with her articulate explanations and superb teaching tactics has taught me everything I know about debate, and has shown genuine investment and care for my success and growth." -A.A.
Thomas Benson, PF coach
Thomas graduated from Hunter College High School in New York City this year and will attend the University of Chicago in the fall. He has debated widely on the national public forum circuit. This past year he was a Bronx Octafinalist, Yale Semifinalist, and was ranked as high as 5th in the country on VBriefly. He hopes to help debaters prepare to make the best strategic decisions in round, and emphasizes working with a purpose.
"Thomas was a great teacher, and I had great fun working with you all while learning more about debate. My public speaking skills have definitely improved thanks to him." -A.G.
"Deika is indubitably one of the sole reasons why my novice year was amazing. Because of her willingness to spend her time editing my cases and helping me understand arguments and even helping us during mock rounds against her by giving me tips, my debating skills greatly improved." -A.M.
Deika Albert, PF coach
Deika Albert graduated from Newton South High School, near Boston, MA, and will be attending the University of Pennsylvania in the fall. Deika was one of the co-captains of the Newton South debate team, and throughout her career in public forum debate, she enjoyed numerous national successes: Deika recently championed the Columbia University debate tournament, as well as reached late elimination rounds at the Yale Invitational, National Forensics League Competition, Princeton Invitational, New York City Invitational, Lexington Invitational, and Milo Cup. Apart from her high school team, Deika has years of coaching experience under her belt, helping tutor a variety of students—from high schoolers preparing for their Public Forum debate tournament in China, to middle schoolers trying debate out for the first time. She has worked at previous debate camps, both as an instructor and as a manager, to teach students the skills of public speaking and argumentation. Outside of debate and coaching, Deika is also a nationally ranked fencer and hopes to fight for social justice causes through political activism. She is looking forward to spending this summer competing in USA fencing nationals, travelling, hanging out with friends, and of course, teaching for Beacon Debate!
"Keshav is a great coach and and even better guy who helped me take my debate skills to next level" -A.P.
Keshav Kundassery, PF coach
Keshav Kundassery competed in Public Forum for 4 years at Mission San Jose High School in California where he captained the PF team. He reached the final round of the TOC, won the Harvard Round Robin, won the University of the Pacific tournament, co-championed the Presentation Invitational and Presentation Round Robin, and reached quarterfinals at the NCFL National tournament, the California State Tournament, the Glenbrooks, Apple Valley, Stanford, Harker, and the Kandi King Round Robin. He received speaker awards at the TOC, Stanford, Berkeley, and Presentation. In the 2017-18 season, he coached the Capitol debate team to nine total bids including semifinal appearances at the George Mason and Laird Lewis Invitationals. He will be going into his second year at Vanderbilt University. His hobbies include reading, watching movies, and playing pickup basketball.
"You are the best teacher, accomplishing a rare blend of fun and learning" - E.M.
Josh Moriarty, PF coach
Joshua Moriarty is a freshman at Harvard University with experience in both Public Forum and American Parliamentary debate. He is currently a member of the Harvard College Debating Union; in high school, he was a member of the Hunter College High School debate team, serving as the team’s co-President his senior year. As a competitor, Joshua qualified to the Tournament of Champions his sophomore, junior, and senior years of high school, and ranked as high as second in the nation. He championed the Bronx Invitational (2016), Columbia Invitational (2016), and Princeton Classic (2015), was a semifinalist at the Yale and Harvard Invitationals (2014, 2017), was the first place speaker at the Harvard Round Robin (2017), and reached octafinals at the Tournament of Champions (2016). He has extensive experience teaching Public Forum debate. This year, he is coaching a team of debaters from Princeton High School that is ranked 9th in the nation. In the past, he has taught younger debaters as a counselor at the Lumos Debate Institute and the Harlem Debate Institute, and as his high school’s Novice Director his sophomore year. Outside of debate, he enjoys watching TV, reading, and spending time with friends.
Ella Feiner, PF coach
Ella Feiner is a senior at Horace Mann, where she serves as co-president of the debate team. She has reached elimination rounds at Yale, Blake, Lexington, Columbia, Harvard, notably semifinaling at the Blake Invitational her junior year and octofinaling at the Tournament of Champions her senior year. She has also won multiple speaker awards, including top speaker at Yale. Ella is a two-time qualifier to the TOC and is incredibly excited to join the Beacon staff! She will attend Princeton University in the fall.
"Anika really helped me become a better debater. She made me a more comfortable speaker by helping me practice and structure my speeches and helped me research and flesh out" - M.M.
Anika Sridhar, middle school PF coach
Anika Sridhar is a junior at Newton South High School. She has competed on her school’s Public Forum Debate team for the past 3 years, and will serve as a leader of the team during her senior year. Throughout the course of her career, Anika has amassed several local and national awards. In her very first year competing, Anika and her partner were the Massachusetts State Champions in Novice Public Forum, and placed second at the Harvard Invitational in Junior Varsity Public Forum. Since then, Anika has gone on to champion the Lexington and Tim Averil Invitationals, place second at the Yale Invitational, and advance to late elimination rounds at The Blake Tournament and NCFL Nationals. She has been ranked as high as 5th in the nation, and is a two-time qualifier for the Tournament of Champions. In just two years, Anika has accumulated 7 bids to the TOC. On her team, Anika has been helping coach younger teammates to develop their skills by editing cases, listening to practice speeches, judging practice rounds, watching rounds at tournaments, and much more. In addition to debate, Anika is an avid singer, and is the director of her school’s a cappella group. She can’t wait to coach at Beacon this summer!
"Every time I’m upset after a debate round I lose, Jay is always there to help cheer me up, work on speeches with me, and in general help me improve." -A.F.
Jay Garg, middle school PF coach
Jay is a junior at the Newton South High School and a third year PF debater. When not prepping, he enjoys long romantic walks on the beach… but also playing violin, learning about science, and wasting inordinate amounts of time locked in his room with a book. As a sophomore, Jay amassed four gold bids to the Tournament of Champions (and a ghost silver bid!), winning the Tim Averill Invitational and the Lexington Winter Invitational. He also reached quarterfinals at the NCFL National tournament and semifinals at the Massachusetts State Tournament. In terms of speaking, Jay was the top speaker at both the Wake Forest Invitational and the Tim Averill Invitational, and he received the 6th place speaker award at the Harvard Invitational. This year, Jay and his partner reached finals at Yale, finals at the Tim Averill Invitational, and semifinals at Lexington, receiving 4 bids to the TOC. In the past, Jay has worked extensively with novices and varsity from his own school. He also worked at both the Lumos Debate Summer Camp and the Lumos Debate Workshops in Newton, MA. He is extremely excited to work at Beacon!
Amala Karri, middle school PF coach
Amala is a junior at Hunter College High School and has received seven career bids to the Tournament of Champions. In the past two years, she has reached semifinals at the Harvard Invitational and Princeton Classic, quarterfinals at the Yale Invitational and finals at the University of Pennsylvania Liberty Bell Classic. She has also championed the Villiger Invitational and won several speaker awards, including 2nd place at the Ridge Debates and 3rd place at both Princeton and the Lexington Winter Invitational. Over the past few summers, she has coached elementary and middle school students at camps hosted by the New York City Urban Debate League. In her free time, she enjoys listening to Taylor Swift.
"Amala helped me get better at debate through drills and practice rounds. She is always very helpful and informative." -E.M. and J.W.
Jack Briody, LD Curriculum Director and Coach
Jack Briody is a rising sophomore at Washington University in St. Louis. He went to Byram Hills High School in New York and debated in Lincoln Douglas from 2013-2017. He received bids at Lexington and Emory his senior year and was 30th speaker at the Tournament of Champions. He coached a senior at Byram, Arjun Goyal, and cut cards for Lindsey Perlman, a Byram junior, over the course of the past year and coached at Lumos Debate camp last summer. He is excited to be an instructor at Beacon! As a debater, Jack was mainly interested in framework, T, theory, and tricks. He mainly read Nietzsche and Deleuze and Guattari, but has a wide range of knowledge regarding other authors as well (Aristotle, Levinas, Heidegger, Schopenhauer, Butler, etc.) and is happy to do some reading with whatever fits your interests. Outside of debate and school, Jack spends the majority of my free time playing piano and trumpet, so feel free to talk to him about that too!
“Jack is extremely intelligent and his knowledge base regarding debate is quite expansive. He is very well versed when I.T comes to philosophy and theory arguments, and is super helpful in drilling and cutting good prep. He is also really friendly and approachable which makes him fun and easy to work with.” -A.G.
Zoe Ewing, LD Coach
Zoë is excited to be coaching at Beacon this summer! So far this season, she has coached debaters who have won and reached elimination rounds at several major bid tournaments. As a debater for Scarsdale High School, she qualified twice to the TOC, reached TOC elims her senior year, and received 9 career bids. She reached finals of the New York City Invitational, Princeton (twice), Columbia, the Valley Round Robin, and the Hockaday Round Robin. She now attends Columbia University, where she is a member of the debate team and is interested in philosophy, sociology, and political science.
“Zoe has been one of the most supportive coaches I’ve ever had; from casing to drills to even pep talks before rounds, she is definitely the best!” -L.P.
Ananta Wadhwa debated for Scarsdale High School for four years and served as Lincoln Douglas Captain in her senior year. Ananta consistently broke at national tournaments throughout her career, finishing in octo-finals at the 2017 Princeton Classic and triple octo-finals at the 2017 Blake Invitational and the 2017 Yale Invitational. Throughout her junior and senior years, she also served as a novice officer on the Scarsdale Debate Team and helped teach freshmen the fundamentals of debate. She was a Lab Leader at the Urban Debate League last summer. Outside of debate, Ananta loves music and is a classically trained singer
"Ananta is a clear and effective teacher; she makes complicated philosophical language easy to understand and has a good sense of how people understand the lesson." -Z.S.
Ananta Wadhwa, LD Coach
"Trent was the distinct coach who helped me develop my own style and work on every single aspect, from speaking to prepping, to help me become a true Congressor." F.A.
Trent Kannegieter, Congress Curriculum Director and Coach
Trent Kannegieter is a Congressional Debate coach for Beacon Debate. Starting the debate team at Bayside Academy in Daphne, Alabama as a junior, he earned a TOC bid at his first ever Congressional Debate tournament, placing 6th at Isidore Newman, and going on to win Champion Presiding Officer at the Tournament of Champions that season. In his 13-month high school career, he garnered eight bids with runner-up finishes at both the Crestian Tradition and Isidore Newman, 3rd place at the Sunvitational Round Robin, and NSDA Deep South (AL) District titles in Senate and Lincoln Douglas Debate. Along with his private coaching, Trent has coached at the Invicta Debate Institute and the Southwest Speech and Debate Institute (SWSDI). Trent currently studies history and political science at Yale University. In his free time, he enjoys competing with the Yale Debate Association, discussing Venezuelan history, and watching obscure stand-up comedy. He is working with Beacon this summer because he will be studying abroad in Madrid and continuing his historical research—he appreciates Beacon’s adaptability to any logistics as much as any student!
"Emma's skills as a communicator are only surpassed by her intellect, it's easy to look up to someone as a role model when they engage with you instead of talking down to you." -S.S.
Emma Lin, Congress Coach
Emma competed for Southlake Carroll Senior High School in Congressional Debate, graduating in June 2017 and serving as Team President during her junior and senior years. She earned 21 career bids to the Tournament of Champions, and has finaled/placed at many national tournaments including Harvard, TOC, NCFL, and NSDA. She was the runner-up at the 2017 Harvard tournament, and has been ranked among the top 5 congressional debaters in the nation. She has been coaching speech and debate for the last two years, and some of her students are national finalists.
She is now a student at Harvard, concentrating in Government with a secondary in either Philosophy or Economics. Talk to her about nature documentaries, national security, or extraterrestrial life!
In addition to coaching with Beacon, she'll be in Kuala Lumpur this summer organizing a 700-person conference to discuss Asia-Pacific issues.