Marie McCrary sat down with CoLab Debate to discuss her experience of advocacy both as a lawyer and as an advocate for her daughter’s medical needs within the health care system.

Neil Blackmon sat down with CoLab Debate to discuss how debate prepared him to build a coalition of food pantries collaborating to expand equitable food access and reduce food waste.

CoLab Debate creates space. CoLab students connect across schools, regions, and identities. They learn from experienced organizers, share strategies, and build networks that last beyond a single protest or policy cycle. That kind of collaboration doesn’t happen by accident; it happens when we invest in it.

Political  theater  and  policy  debate—when  committed to both intellectual rigor and openness to criticism—provide  space  for  advocates  to  better  understand  both  the  injustices and the emancipatory potentials of public life.

CoLab will fulfill what community-minded students and instructors want and need from debate education: channels into organizations driving social impact advocacy in local, state and national communities now; skills like cooperative culture, conflict de-escalation and resolution, and campaign-building; ethical examination and meaningful use of communication technologies; and tools to examine traditional ways of organizing and experiment with new ones.