Chicago Debates

Chicago Debates is proud to be one of three recipients of Impact Grants Chicago's $40,000 Merit Grant!

On May 27th, Chicago Debates Executive Director Anthony Bolden was invited to attend Impact Grants Chicago's Grants Award Celebration, along with Chicago Debates alumni and Governing Board member Sharone Mitchell. The two were given the opportunity to present our work to the Impact Grants members, and share how the grant would affect our programming. These funds will go directly towards our mission to provide accessible, life-changing debate programming to all Chicago Public Schools students. Thank you Impact Grants for this amazing honor!

This May, we sat down with Chicago Debates' new Governing Board Chair, Amit Bindra, to talk about what Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month means to him. Check out the article to learn more about Amit and how debate has impacted his experience as an Asian American: www.chicagodebates.org/news

Last week's storytelling showcase gave 13 students the opportunity to speak their minds and tell their own stories. Thank you to The Goodman Theatre for helping us to make space for the student voice and to all of those who came out to support our community. Read more about the event here: www.chicagodebates.org/news

Check out the Lindblom Math and Science Academy debate team in this morning's edition of the Chicago Tribune! Co-captains Darius Rencher and Twila Bietila discuss their efforts to rebuild one of the league’s oldest programs after stagnation during Covid. Read the article here: https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/05/11/lindblom-high-school-debate-team/?share=mgsli0cm2lbne1n1iiih

Our middle school Debate en Español conference held its end-of-season Campeonato, and this year's 2025-2026 champion is Hernandez Middle School! Congratulations to all our middle school DEE students on a spectacular season: 75% of students who attended at least one tournament went on to attend all three. Read more about the Campeonato here: chicagodebates.org/news