Grant is currently an investment professional at H.I.G. Capital, a private equity investment firm where he specializes in investing in, professionalizing and supporting the growth of emerging businesses.

Grant graduated from the Stern School of Business at New York University with a B.S. in Business and a minor in Mathematics. Grant debated at NYU for a year and a half and then transitioned to become an assistant debate coach at the Ransom Everglades School in Miami, FL. Grant helped a team from Ransom Everglades qualify to the Tournament of Champions.

Grant started off as a debater at Foothill High School in Henderson, NV and then transferred to Green Valley High School in Henderson, NV. At Green Valley, Grant qualified to the Tournament of Champions and was ranked as one of the top 25 teams in the country in the HS Impact Coaches Poll.

Kelly is currently a senior analyst at Kaiser Permanente, where she focuses on using strategy analytics to drive decision-making in healthcare. 

Kelly graduated from the University of Chicago with a B.A. in Political Science and a minor in East Asian studies. Kelly became interested and started participating in debate in college. She mainly competed in the British Parliamentary style, receiving regional and national success.

Kelly has extensive non-profit building experience. During college, Kelly worked in legal content development for Shakti, a non-profit providing information and resources to survivors of domestic violence in India through chatbots. She worked to aid the development and expansion of the organization, assisted with budget allocation, executed growth strategies and helped secure funding through grant applications. 

Dr. Ann Schulte is an Education Professor Emerita and the Director of Civic Engagement at California State University, Chico. Her work focuses on developing civic-minded students through university-community partnerships, with a special interest in rural education. Her most recent publication is as co-author of Teaching in Rural Places: Thriving in Classrooms, Schools, and Communities.  

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Previous to graduate school, Dr. Schulte taught middle school and coached high school forensics in South Dakota. In Mitchell, SD, she ran the George McGovern Debate Tournament and qualified several students for the National Forensic League Tournament. 

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She looks forward to being an outreach ambassador for RuDI. 

Joe participated in policy debate for 4 years at St. Edward High School and 3 years at John Carroll University. Joe reached the top 64 teams at the CEDA National Tournament as a senior in College, and was the full time coach for Queen’s College while pursuing his Masters degree. He currently coaches at Wooster High School in Ohio.

Joe has 29 years of teaching experience as an adjunct faculty member at Ashland University, North Central State College, Lakeland Community College, the Ohio State University, and Franklin University. There are only a handful of schools in Ohio with a policy debate program and Joe looks forward to reviving policy debate in Ohio through this new partnership.

Jared is a rising sophomore at Emory University majoring in political science. An avid high school debater, Jared participated in policy debate all 4 years of high school, where he championed the California State Tournament, placed second at the NSDA National Championship, and reached the quarterfinals of the Tournament of Champions.

Now at Emory, he has continued to compete with Emory’s nationally competitive team while simultaneously volunteering with the Atlanta Urban Debate League and working as an Assistant Debate Coach. Jared is excited to work with the Rural Debate Initiative as a Program Development intern to expand access to debate nationwide.