Congressional Debate
Congressional Debate Team
Quest Sandel
CEO & Curriculum Director
Quest Sandel
CEO & Curriculum Director
Head Coach at James Logan HS and the winningest Congressional Debate coach in the U.S. His students have won NSDA Nationals (2019, 2023), TOC (2020, 2022, 2023), and multiple state titles.
Tyler Luu
CMO & Congress Coach
Tyler Luu
CMO & Congress Coach
Three-year Ascend alumnus who achieved the 2023 "Triple Crown" — California State, TOC, and NSDA National Champion. Focuses on helping debaters leverage their unique personalities.
Aditya Chordiya
COO & Congress Coach
Aditya Chordiya
COO & Congress Coach
Three-time Ascend alumnus, NSDA finalist, and Harvard finalist. Specializes in argument creation, refutation, and personalized coaching tailored to each student's strengths.
Adrian Baek
Congressional Debate Coach
Adrian Baek
Congressional Debate Coach
Stanford student with 25+ TOC bids and top 10 at NSDA Nationals five consecutive years. Emphasizes clarity, strategy, and helping students develop their unique voice.
Emily Donaldson
Congressional Debate Coach
Emily Donaldson
Congressional Debate Coach
UNC senior and five-year Ascend coach with 12+ TOC bids, ranked as high as 5th nationally. Specializes in crystallization, refutation, and building debater confidence.
Lulu Burnside
Congressional Debate Coach
Lulu Burnside
Congressional Debate Coach
Dartmouth freshman with 20 TOC bids and North Carolina state champion. Focuses on speech structure and refutation while helping debaters adapt across competition circuits.
Vincent Nguyen
Congressional Debate Coach
Vincent Nguyen
Congressional Debate Coach
2025 California State Champion and 3-time NSDA Nationals finalist with 9 years of experience. Has mentored two National Finalists and focuses on making debate mechanics intuitive.
Sashank Balusu
Congressional Debate Coach
Sashank Balusu
Congressional Debate Coach
UC Berkeley student and Archbishop Mitty graduate. Top 3 at California State three straight years. Emphasizes personalized approaches that blend speech and debate techniques.
Extemporaneous Speaking
Extemporaneous Speaking Team
Chance Boreczky
Extemp Coach
Chance Boreczky
Extemp Coach
UC Berkeley graduate in Political Science. Won the Barkley Forum in Extemp and placed 2nd at CHSSA State. Eight years coaching at James Logan HS with multiple state finalists.
Kate Liu
Extemp Coach
Kate Liu
Extemp Coach
Berkeley freshman and Ascend's first Extemp alumni instructor. Won Glenbrooks and the Texas State Tournament, with top finishes at Harvard and the Extemp TOC.
Isaiah Sohn
Extemp Coach
Isaiah Sohn
Extemp Coach
Brown University student and 2024 California State Champion in Extemp with 20+ TOC bids. Designs workshops and mentors students in building confidence and competitive skills.
Public Forum
Public Forum Team
Niranjan Ashok
Public Forum Coach
Niranjan Ashok
Public Forum Coach
UCLA Economics & Political Science major. 2nd at NSDA Nationals, top 20 at Gold TOC, with 10+ TOC bids. Students have earned multiple gold bids and deep elim runs.
Sameet Das
Public Forum Coach
Sameet Das
Public Forum Coach
UC Berkeley Business & Data Science major. 2nd at NSDA Nationals with 10+ TOC bids. His students have earned 15+ bids and deep elims at Glenbrooks, Apple Valley, and more.