Meet the Pod
Our Staff
Emily Cordo
Executive Director
Emily has been a passionate advocate, educator, and organizer since volunteering for her first ballot measure campaign at age twelve. She brings fifteen years of experience serving and leading community impact organizations, including running nonprofits with missions ranging from creating equitable and sustainable local food systems to securing justice for survivors of gender-based violence. Emily has taught writing, debate, and law, as well as classes on pro se legal advocacy for survivors of domestic violence representing themselves in family law cases. She was recognized by the Cross Examination Debate Association as an Academic All American Debater. She has degrees in politics, law, and creative writing, and is a co-founder of CoLab Debate.
Matt Stannard
Director of Instruction and Curriculum
Matt is an accomplished debate educator, community organizer, and organizational strategist. Over his twenty-five years of coaching and instruction experience, Matt has helped countless students transform themselves through speech and debate. His leadership in debate education is rooted in the United States (where he has coached multiple national champions), and extends to experience teaching speech and debate in South Korea, China, and Iraq. Matt has advised and assisted political candidates, advocacy groups, and community organizers on strategy, policy, law, and media. He has degrees in law and philosophy, and is a co-founder of CoLab Debate.
Our All-Star Advisory Board
Our advisors are former debaters, now experts in organizing, education, law, media, and more.
Lilia Toson
Chair of the CoLab Debate Advisory Board
Attorney-in-Charge of Civil Citywide Units at the Legal Aid Society of New York City
Calvin Abassi
Director of Narrative and Communications at PICO California; former communication strategist for political campaigns and organizations
Lindsey Cormack
Speaker and author of How to Raise A Citizen; Associate Professor of Political Science at Stevens Institute of Technology
Lucy Cortez
English Language Development Teacher, currently pursuing a PhD in trauma-informed education; experienced director, instructor, and administrator
Russell Arben Fox
Professor of Political Science at Friends University and scholar on community and cooperation
Korry Harvey
Debate Instructor at Western Washington University; recipient of the Cross Examination Debate Association’s National Public Sphere award
Gordon Mitchell
Award-winning scholar on debate, rhetoric, advocacy, and public address; Associate Professor of Clinical and Translational Science at University of Pittsburgh
Deano Pape
Media literacy advisor; Coordinator for Public Speaking and Argumentation at the Harvard Debate Council Summer Workshops
Ravi Rao
Co-founder of the St. Louis Urban Debate League; Development Director at Northside Youth and Senior Service Center
Stephen Stetson
Alabama State Director at Planned Parenthood Southeast; longstanding state legislative affairs specialist and organizer
Katie Thomas Carroll
Director of Energy and Environment Programs at the Congressional Progressive Caucus Center; former policy advisor to elected Congressional officials
CoLab Debate is a nonprofit program operating under the “fiscal sponsorship” of Inquiring Systems, Inc. (ISI).
With more than 45 years of experience supporting social impact programs, ISI provides expert oversight and supported autonomy, enabling CoLab Debate to uphold the highest standards in its management, accounting, ethics, and legal compliance.
Our relationship with ISI helped us hit the ground running, rather than waiting a year or more for 501c3 status before launching. The future is coming fast, and we want these students to be ready!
CoLab’s contract with ISI costs a fraction of what it would cost to pay staff for this back-room support, freeing up CoLab’s staff and Advisory Board to do our real jobs: raising the funds and fulfilling the mission.
