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. 

Sue graduated from Chico State in 1998, where she competed in both Cross Examination Debate Association and National Debate Tournament competitions for three years.  After graduating, she worked as an instructor at University of Kansas' Summer Debate Institute and University of Michigan Summer Debate Institute for high school competitors and at Middle Tennessee State University's Summer Debate Institute for college competitors.

She moved on to a Graduate coaching position at Pepperdine University and received her MA in Communication Studies in 2001.  She was hired as the Program Director for the Southern California Urban Debate League (SCUDL) for five years, where she worked with high school teachers, college debaters and high school students to start and maintain competitive debate programs in their schools.  She ran the Fullerton Summer Debate Institute for SCUDL students and teachers for three years.  

Sue continues to be involved in debate because of her daughter, class of 2027, who is just getting started in high school debate and because she knows what a life-changing experience debate can be.  At this time, debate skills not only can make students better at argument, but can help to make our communities healthier places.  
 

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.