Our Team

Our dedicated team from three countries is ready to spread the club's love of debate to the rest of the world. Without them, GYP Speech & Debate would not be where it is today.

Meet some of our core executive members below.

Founder and President of GYP Debate & Speech Club

Ryan Li

Ryan Li is a freshman at Georgetown University. As founder and president of GYP Speech + Debate, he spends his time working to reach as many youths across the globe as possible to spread his love of debate. He is well-immersed in the debate world, being president of his school’s debate club as well as an instructor at Canada’s top debate and public speaking institution, FDT Academy. A few of his accomplishments include:

Champion, FDT Winter Invitational 2020,
Champion, Stanford Worlds Invitational Novice 2021
Top Speaker, Stanford Worlds Invitational Novice 2021
Runner-Up, Asian Worlds Debate Tournament 2021
#2 Speaker, Asian Worlds Debate Tournament 2021
Semi-Finalist, Canadian BP Nationals 2022
Finalist, #4 Speaker, Cambridge Finals Day 2022-23
Multiple time nationally-qualified debater, has represented Canada in international tournaments

President & Lead Instructor

Nina Zhan

Nina Zhan is a 11th-grade student from Chicago, USA. She has attended many debate tournaments at the state and national levels. Her achievements include:

• 1st place in CCTV National Speech Competition

•1st place in state-level recitation and speech competitions

• Finalist in State Debate Tournament

• 3rd Place in an Illinois Congressional Debate State Tournament

• Spokesperson and host for a national English competition

• Charity leader for a Pearson English Reading Organization

Her teaching experience includes:

• Taught around 30 students to prepare them for English Vocabulary Competitions for years, along with teaching private lessons, which allowed her to gain experience in collaborating with others, along with knowing how to help them gain confidence in their skills.

Other achievement(s)：

• Earned the Gold Medalist achievement in the senior level of figure skating

Vice president & Lead Instructor

David Qiao is a grade 11 student living in Leduc, Alberta. A student at Christ the King School, he likes many activities including: art, video games, movies, music, taekwondo, and, most importantly, debate. With a decent win streak in debate tournaments since he started debating and public speaking two years ago, he has received around ten awards ranging from champion of the 2021 Junior High Cougars Debate tournament to #1 speaker in the self-authored category in the 2022 Edmonton Speech Tournament. He has extensive experience teaching beginners stemming from his long involvement in GYP Debate Club.

David Qiao

Ashley Wang

Vice president & Lead Instructor

With a background in Impromptu Speaking, Ashley is the Co-Captain of the Branson Debate Team where she provides policy debate training and enhances the interest in debate on campus. She competes in state-level and nationwide speech and debate tournaments on topics regarding the U.S. government and international policy.

Awards include: Cal Invitational UC Berkeley Octafinalist in Policy Debate (2024), Online Policy League First Place (2023), Online Policy League 3rd Place Speaker (2023), Golden Gate Speech Association Policy Debate Undefeated (2022 and 2023), Margie Burke Speech Tournament All Around Champion (2022)

Lead Instructor

Tiffany Li is a Grade 12 student living in Calgary, Alberta, who attends Webber Academy. She enjoys debate, dance, art, and music. Tiffany has been doing debate since she was in Grade 8, she has participated in provincial, national, and international competitions, receiving numerous team and personal awards including:

• 2021 ADSA Debate Provincials Champion

• Champion & #1 Speaker, 2021 ADSA Debate Regionals

• Champion, 2021 Impact Debate Academy Snow Open Tournament

• Qualified for BP Nationals and CNDF Nationals in 2022

• Runner-up, 2021 Jack Howe World Schools Debate Tournament

• 6th place, ADSA 2022 CNDF Regionals

• 6th place, ADSA 2022 CNDF Provincials

• 12th place, Harvard World Schools Debate Tournament 2022

• 3rd place, 2022 Ernest Manning Debate Tournament

Tiffany Li

Lesson Leader & Instructor

David Qiao is a grade 9 student living in Leduc, Alberta. A student at Christ the King School, he likes many activities including: art, video games, movies, music, taekwondo, and, most importantly, debate. With a decent win streak in debate tournaments since he started debating and public speaking two years ago, he has received around ten awards ranging from champion of the 2021 Junior High Cougars Debate tournament to #1 speaker in the self-authored category in the 2022 Edmonton Speech Tournament. He has extensive experience teaching beginners stemming from his long involvement in GYP Debate Club.

David Qiao

Eason Xie is a student at Lower Canada College in Montréal, Québec. A professional tennis player ranked 260th nationally, he's also won competitions in robotics, architecture, and most importantly: debate. Eason has attended numerous debate tournaments such as Harvard Worlds 2022 and the Quebec Provincial Debate Tournament 2022. He is eager to teach students with his large amount of experience and expertise.

Outreach Director & Instructor

Eason Xie

Mia Liu is a high school student with a passion for reading, writing, and dabbling in random topics that pique interest. Through philanthropy, journalism, and other writing techniques, she wishes to put her limited knowledge to the test and try something new every time. She resides in Ontario, Canada.

Outreach Director & Instructor

Mia Liu

Iris Li is a grade 11 student studying at Vernon Barford High School in Edmonton, Alberta, who enjoys debate and speech. In the past few years, she has attended and volunteered at multiple debate tournaments. Throughout the years, she has also played piano, badminton, basketball, and more. In her free time, she likes to read books, watch debates, and enjoy movies.

Event Coordinator & Instructor

Iris Li

Amy Zhu is a 18-year-old high school student located in China. She has a passion for reading books, especially in English, such as Oliver Twist, A Tale of Two Cities, and so on. She has taken part in many national speech contests since she was only eight years old! Examples include the FLTRP CUP, China Daily 21st Century CUP, and the CCTV Star of Outlook CUP. She has found massive success in these tournaments, winning many awards such as the First Prize in the National FLTRP Cup. Besides debate, she also enjoys playing the piano, flute, singing, Chinese folk dancing, drawing, playing chess, swimming, traveling, and hiking.

Event Coordinator & Instructor

Amy Zhu

Lesson Leader & Instructor

Raine is a Grade 12 student at Little Flower Academy in Vancouver, and she has been passionate about debate and public speaking since the age of 11. She enjoys learning about the world and has an interest in political science. Raine has leadership experience through LFA’s Debate and Public Speaking Clubs, and she loves being able to share her knowledge in order to help others in their journey. Raine appreciates the opportunities competitions have provided, especially making new friends along the way. In tournaments, she has placed highly on multiple occasions: finishing 3rd out of approximately 200 speakers at the 2022 SFU Worlds Tournament; placing within the top ten at the 2022 Canadian Jr. Speech National competition; and becoming a finalist at the 2022 International Independent Schools Public Speaking Championship in Deerfield, Massachusetts. She also earned the title of BC Provincial Jr. Speech Champion (2022) and recently advanced to compete in the 2023 BC Qualifiers for Team Canada Tryouts. Raine really likes being able to help in her community and have a positive impact.

Raine Gurton

Lesson Leader & Instructor

2020-1 NSDA Qingdao regional championship, middle school division

best speaker

2021 NSDA National Invitational Tournament, middle school division

Top 32 seeds in teams

2022 NHSDLC Spring Online Tournament V, Quarterfinalists in open division
2022 NHSDLC Spring Wild Card Online Tournament, Championship in open division Top speaker rank4
2022 NHSDLC Summer National Invitational Tournament Quarterfinalists in open division Best speaker

HANNAH YIXUAN HE

Lesson Leader & Instructor

Victor Ni is an 12th-grade student from Canberra, Australia. He has attended various debate tournaments, both regionally and at the national level. Some of his achievements include:

1st place in territory regional debate competition. (for 3 years)
Shortlisted for national debate team workshop.
NSDC debate representative, 3rd overall.
Got into the national stage for Voice Competition 2023.
Got into the national stage for the Evatt Model UN competition 2022.
Taught over 50 students, debate captain at school, he has gained lots of experience working with others and teaching.

Victor Ni

Lesson Leader & Instructor

Tomohiro Mochida is a rising Grade 12 student from Tokyo, Japan. Tomo has a passion for activities such as tennis, music, programming, and above all, public speaking. He has been a member of the school's debate team, contributing to the victory of the Kanto Plains Tournament multiple times and earning the Speaker of Excellence Award, which is given to the best speaker of the season. His passion for public speaking extends to an international setting, as he has been privileged to speak at various renowned forums, including the U.S.-Japan Environment Innovation Program and the UN World Food Forum. He also has extensive experience in teaching as he has worked as an assistant teacher for 100+ hours.

Tomohiro Mochida

Lesson Leader & Instructor

I'm in 10th grade at Seven Lakes High School. I love doing debate, especially PF, but when I'm not doing debate, I also like to write and dance!

Semis, 2023 Jordan debate tournament
2nd place, 2023 Victoria east TFA debate tournament
2nd place, 2022 Harvard PSA debate tournament
Other achievements:
National Silver Medal Scholastic writing
Shortlisted, John Locke Writing Institution

Katherine Wu

Lesson Leader & Instructor

I am a Junior Studying at Rancho Bernardo High School in San Diego! I had recently moved from Thailand to the US about 3 months ago. Back in Thailand, I was the captain of my high school debate team that led my team to the semifinals in the Thai World School Debating Championship Novice Category (We had only been to less than 2 tournaments back then, Haha). I was also in charge of my high school's debate club as one of the executives.

Throughout my life, I have always sought the opportunities presented to me, whether that be MUN, Student Council, Engineering, etc. These opportunities serve as an energy catalyst for me to keep my trajectory future forward, unabashed. As someone who sits a lot, I think a lot about philosophy and life. Thus, philosophy became my passion for the last five years since I was still a naive 5th grader. My mission is to be able to make as much societal and humanitarian impact as possible. Consequently, this idea has moulded me into a person electrified with endless motivation to keep pushing myself out of my comfort zone. I am an avid supporter of the saying by Socrates which is, "An unexamined life is not worth living."

Pukaphol Thienpreecha