Last month, Spencer Chaisanguanthum, Founder & Chief Executive Officer of Eloquence Academy, was featured in the New York Times Upfront in the Q&A Corner section.

Published by Scholastic in collaboration with The New York Times, the New York Times Upfront reports politics, science, and global news for high school students. It combines high-quality journalism with educational, teen-friendly content, boosting nonfiction reading, critical thinking, and civic engagement for over 1.3 million readers in 15,000 classrooms nationwide. Stories are written by Times reporters and correspondents or adapted from the pages of The New York Times. In particular, the Q&A Corner is a recurring feature that highlights inspiring teenagers and newsmakers through brief, interview-style profiles.

New York Times Upfront

For the May 11 edition of the magazine, Chrisanne Grise interviews Spencer, who shares his social impact journey, describes his favorite programs, and gives his best tips for aspiring public speakers. He notes that “[I love] bringing debate into international rural schools. We’re one of the only organizations—if not the only one—teaching debate to students in Somaliland in Africa.”

During Spencer’s tenure, Eloquence Academy has launched all of its existing programs. An outspoken voice for educational equity, Spencer shares his social impact journey across four of Eloquence Academy’s social media platforms, with 250 posts, 75,000 words, and 1,073,274 impressions. He has cultivated 60 young leaders in early-stage nonprofits, including four debate equity organizations. His mentorship has led to the donation of 30,000 items (hot meals, winter coats, and menstrual health products) and removal of 500 pounds of trash from the ocean, impacting over 15,000 individuals across all 6 inhabitable continents. Previously, Spencer served on the Student Leadership Council of the National Speech & Debate Association, Student Advisory Council of the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, and collaborated with the United States federal government, the State of New Jersey, and the New York City Department of Education.

Read today by searching for “Q&A Corner: Teaching Teens to Debate.”

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Eloquence Academy, Inc. is the world’s largest youth-led 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and 509(a)(2) public charity dedicated to increasing equitable academic debate opportunities for rural and historically underserved students. The Academy has offered live debate programs for 3,600 students, partnerships with 116 schools and nonprofit organizations, and online debate resources for 16,084 students. EA has prepared students across 50 states and 102 countries for college readiness, career engagement, and community impact. Follow on Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube.