About Us

Ava Vargason, PhD

Board Chair
Project Programming Committee Chair

Ava Vargason has been a WDI Board member since 2015 and transitioned to the Board Chair position in 2023. She graduated from the University of Kentucky in 2017 with a degree in Chemical Engineering. At UK, she competed on the policy debate team for three years and earned a First Round Bid to the National Debate Tournament in 2016. She is currently a Program Manager at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, where she received her PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences in 2022.

Jyleesa Hampton

HS Institute Programming Committee Co-Chair
Director of WDI Mobile Programs

Jyleesa Hampton is the HS Institute Programming Committee Co-Chair and Director of WDI Mobile Programs and summer Policy Lecture Series. She is a Phd candidate in Public Administration and assistant debate coach at KU. She is also the Director of Speech and Debate at Presentation High School. Jyleesa is native to the Kansas debate community, participating in debate and forensics in high school (Shawnee Mission South) and debating in college (KU), where she earned first round standing, national recognition and awards, most dear to her the Baby Jo Debater of the Year. She began coaching HS at her alma mater following graduating and in the decade since coached countless teams in Kansas and across the country to compete at a high level and qualify for State, DCI TOC, NSDA, NCFL, NDCA. Her NDT/CEDA collegiate coaching career as a Jayhawk has been exceptional, helping multuple teams earn first rounds, Copeland rankings, tournament wins and national championships. Her coaching and argumentation expertise has been recognized with the Rebecca Galentine Female Coach of Year, Matt Grindy Graduate school coach award and MidAtlantic Critic of the year, amongst others. 

Squid Monteith

Community Development
Committee Chair

Squid Monteith is the Community Development Committee Chair and a certified trainer for the Women’s Debate Institute. Squid is an Assistant Professor of Practice and Director of Debate at the University of Northern Iowa. Squid received their MA in Communication Studies at Kansas State University and a BA in Critical Communications from Emporia State University. They have a wealth of debate experience, competing for all four years of high school in extemporaneous, congressional, policy and Lincoln Douglass debate. As a former Emporia State University debater for four years and coach at Kansas State and Emporia State for three years, Squid has reached many competitive milestones including qualifying to the National Debate Tournament and participating in elimination debates at the CEDA National Debate Tournament. As a coach, they have helped students excel at the local and regional levels of debate and qualify to multiple postseason national tournaments (TOC, NSDA).

Christi Siver, PhD

HS Institute Programming
Committee

Christi Siver, Ph.D., is a member and past Committee Chair of the HS Institute Programming Committee. Christi is Professor of Political Science at the College of St. Benedict/St. John’s University in St. Joseph, MN. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Washington, where she coached the parliamentary debate team for nine years. She competed in policy debate at Lewis & Clark College in Portland, OR and at Sunset High School in Beaverton, OR.

Una Kimokeo-Goes, PhD

HS Institute Programming Committee Chair

Una Kimokeo-Goes (she/her) has worked with the WDI for five years, focusing on University Sponsorship and High School Programming, as well as teaching at the Institute for several years. This is her first year serving as a Board member. Una got her Ph.D. in Rhetoric from Penn State and teaches in areas including rhetoric and identity, argumentation and public speaking. She has been involved with speech and debate for twenty years, including several formats and international debate. Most recently, she has been involved with Worlds Style Debate (also called British Parliamentary), hosts collegiate and high school tournaments and frequently serves as the Equity Officer at events. Una currently is the Director of Forensics at Linfield University in McMinnville, Oregon.

LaToya Green

Director of Collegiate Scholars Program

LaToya Green’s captivating and authentic style captivates audiences while introducing listeners to tips and techniques that foster a stronger foundation of purpose. LaToya believes that “inspired people, inspire people” and threads that idea through all of her lectures and presentations. LaToya, founder of Higher Definition Leadership & Empowerment Coaching, brings over 14 years of experience in community and academic organizational leadership and 19 years of competitive debate and argumentation experience. Simply put, she is versed in persuasion, advocacy, strategic planning, and leadership development. She has presented before audiences at Columbia University, Morgan State University, the University of Kansas, the University of Texas at Austin, and the University of Kentucky. She holds a BFA in Communication-Public Relations and an MA in Communication-Rhetoric, and is currently a Professor and Director of Debate at California State University, Fullerton. LaToya is celebrated as one of the best performance debate scholars and judges in the activity.

Sarah Spond

Sarah Spond is licensed attorney in the state of Missouri and earned her J.D. from Washington University School of Law in May 2025. She joined the WDI Board of Directors in 2023, after attending the 2023 WDI as our Head Resident Assistant. Sarah competed for the policy debate team at Kansas State University and qualified for the National Debate Tournament in 2022.

Sarah Partlow Lefevre, PhD

Sarah Partlow Lefevre, Ph.D., is a Professor in the Department of Communication, Media and Persuasion and has been the Director of Debate at Idaho State University since 2001. Dr. Partlow Lefevre began her involvement in debate in 1991 at the University of Utah where she completed her undergraduate degree. She then pursued both her M.A. and Ph.D. in Communication Studies at the University of Kansas where she was an Assistant Debate Coach.

Margaret Strong

Rhian Love, RN

Leah Castella, J.D.

Leah Castella, J.D. is the co-founder of the WDI. Leah started her debate career at Duncanville High School in Duncanville, Texas where she competed in LD, exempt, and oratory for four years. She went on to compete as a policy debater for four years at Lewis & Clark College. While there, she won numerous awards, including a quarterfinal finish and a third-place speaker award at the 1995 CEDA National Tournament. After finishing at Lewis & Clark, Leah went on to attend law school at the University of Texas School of Law and graduated with honors in 1999. While there, Leah coached the debate team at Southwest Texas State University. Leah is now a full-time litigator. She has been practicing in the San Francisco Bay area since 1999, and is a partner at Burke, Williams & Sorensen. In addition to her work with the WDI, Leah is on the Board of Directors of the Bay Area Urban Debate Commission.

Susan Cridland-Hughes, PhD

Susan Cridland-Hughes, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Secondary Education and English at Clemson University. Susan is a longstanding Board member and focuses her expertise on assisting our educational assessment efforts.

Rae Lynn Schwartz-Dupre, PhD

Rae Lynn Schwartz-DuPre, (Ph.D., University of Iowa) is a Professor in the Department of Communication Studies and on the Executive Board of the Women, Gender & Sexuality Studies Program at Western Washington University in Bellingham, WA. Her research and teaching centers on postcolonial, rhetorical, feminist, race and cultural studies, in primary U.S. contexts. She is author of Curious about George: Curious George, Cultural Icons, Colonialism, & U.S. Exceptionalism (University Press of Mississippi, 2021) and the editor and contributor to Communicating Colonialism: Readings on Postcolonial Theory(s) and Communication (Peter Lang, 2014) and her scholarship has appeared in journals such as Feminist Media Studies, Critical Studies in Media Communication, Textual Practice, Communication, Culture & Critique and The Journal of Contemporary Argumentation and Debate. Dr. Schwartz-DuPre is Co-Chair of Western Washington University’s Social Justice & Equity Committee and has participated in facilitator trainings on diversity, equity and harassment, queer safety zoning, the psychological dynamics of oppression and privilege, anti-violence green dot, racial microaggressions & cross-cultural communication skills, talking with children & youth about race, social media & justice, and implicit bias. Since 2017, she has been a Talkin’ Race Facilitator at universities in Washington and taught implicit bias in elementary public schools. Dr. Schwartz-DuPre was a nationally competitive debater for the University of Vermont and coached National Debate Tournament qualifying teams for the University of Vermont, Wake Forest University and The University of Iowa. As a WDI Board member (since 2007), Dr. Schwartz-DuPre served a variety of roles including teaching instructor, finance committee, professional development, curriculum and public relations.