At SIDA, debaters will be immersed in advocacy education built on CoLab Debate’s core advocacy curriculum:

1. Arguing for Better Futures

2. Building Consensus & Cooperation

3. Collaborating for Community Impact

Debaters will learn from lead faculty (CoLab’s executive staff), skilled instructors, and guest instructors drawn from our broad network of former debaters currently making a difference.

Skills sessions will include a diverse array of transferrable advocacy skills you won’t learn at any other debate camp: 

• Debating community solutions 

• Active listening

• Power analysis

• Strategic planning & adaptability

• Communication & narrative framing

• Conflict navigation & resolution

• Mobilization & turnout

• Coalition building

• Media & communication technology 

• Law & public policy

For more information on our curricular influences and sample activities, check out the FAQ at the bottom of this page.

Here is a sample daily schedule.

• 9:00–9:20 AM — Morning Assembly

  • Daily welcome, announcements, and community grounding activity.

• 9:20–10:00 AM — Morning Impact Speaker

  • A practitioner in advocacy, law, journalism, or community organizing shares insights and takes student questions.

• 10:10–11:20 AM — Subject‑Matter Lab Rotation #1

  • Students rotate through specialized labs (argumentation, research, public narrative, policy literacy, etc.) based on their track.

• 11:30 AM–12:30 PM — Practical Skills Session #1

  • Hands‑on workshops such as evidence evaluation, persuasion drills, cross‑examination practice, or collaborative problem solving.

• 12:30–1:30 PM — Lunch & Informal Networking

  • Students eat together, meet faculty, and connect with peers across tracks.

• 1:30–2:40 PM — Subject‑Matter Lab Rotation #2

  • A second deep‑dive session with new instructors and new content focus.

• 2:50–3:50 PM — Community Networking Meetings

  • Discussions with community leaders, scholars, and public advocates.

• 4:00–5:00 PM — Practical Skills Session #2

  • Applied practice: advocacy simulations, case‑building, collaborative exercises, or community engagement scenarios.

• 5:00–6:00 PM — Dinner Break

  • Residential students dine on campus; commuters may stay or depart and return for evening programming.

• 6:00–7:00 PM — Optional Office Hours & Study Hall

  • Coaches and staff available for feedback, research help, and one‑on‑one support.

• Evening Activities (7:00–9:00 PM)

  • A rotating schedule of community‑building and enrichment options, such as:

    • Advocacy Film Night & Discussion

    • Student‑Led Debate Showcase

    • Game Night / Outdoor Recreation

    • Open Mic & Storytelling

    • Self-Care Strategies for Sustainable Advocacy

    • Quiet Study & Reflection Space

• Students wind down and return to housing by 9:00 PM (residential) or depart campus (commuters).

CoLab provides all-inclusive SIDA scholarships to systems-impacted youth who want to use their debate skills to change their communities for good.

CoLab Debate defines Systems-Impacted Youth (SIY) as students who have been failed or actively harmed by social and governmental systems. SIY often experience trauma (physical, emotional, relational, and/or financial), which causes or is compounded by disability, poverty, and other forms of systemic violence or marginalization. Examples of SIY include a student who has an incarcerated parent, has an immigrant family, lives in foster care, or has experienced homelessness, domestic violence, or bullying. SIY have the experience and motivation to use the collaborative tools we teach to build change in their communities.

If you think you may qualify and are interested in a fully funded spot in our camp, reach out using the form below.

Instructor in Debate and Public Advocacy    

CoLab Debate Summer Institute for Debate and Advocacy 

July 19-25

Lewis and Clark College, Portland, Oregon 

Compensation: $26/hour plus meals and on-campus lodging

• W2 Position, includes overtime pay 

• Total compensation (including withholdings, meals, lodging) around $2500

• 3 hours virtual training

• Instructional staff time is 56 hours over 7 days

• No overnight RA responsibilities

Application Deadline: May 1, 2026

CoLab Debate, an Oregon-based nonprofit learning center for collaborative debate and organizing education, will host our pilot Summer Institute for Debate and Advocacy July 2026 at Lewis and Clark College in Portland. We are seeking an enthusiastic, creative, team-oriented instructor to work with our Director of Instruction and Curriculum, our Executive Director, and our pilot cohort of high school students attending the workshop. 

Formed in 2024, CoLab Debate’s mission is to facilitate debating that is collaborative, format-and-media-diverse, and geared toward concrete community engagement. The Summer Institute for Debate and Advocacy (SIDA) will teach debating in the context of coalition building, media literacy and strategy, and conflict resolution, rather than in an explicitly competitive format.

You’re an ideal candidate for this position if you have a solid debate résumé and you appreciate what debate gave you, while carrying an honest awareness of where it fell short and how it can change. You have at least some experience working on public campaigns, advocacy, and organizing alongside people who never set foot in a debate round, and you value what those collaborations taught you. You see debate as a way of making community, building coalitions, and practicing the skills of shared power. You’re generous with your knowledge and steady in your values, offering students tools they can shape into their own forms of leadership. You welcome formats that center cooperation and care. You believe students need spaces where argument becomes collective power, and you’re ready to help them build that together. You’ve visited the colabdebate.org website and like what you see. 

Essential Functions: coaching, lab instruction, feedback, group lectures, research support, student supervision. 

Required Qualifications: competitive debate experience, debate coaching/instructional experience, competence in standard educational technology.

Preferred Candidates: live (or will be living during the contracted period) in the greater Portland, Oregon area, and have experience in organizing, campaigning, or public advocacy. 

There will be three hour-long meetings/staff orientation sessions prior to the institute. These meetings will take place on Zoom and will not require in-person attendance. 

Working Environment: Busy, with frequent movement between classrooms and shared spaces, regular interaction with students and staff, and periods of focused preparation alongside moments of high student energy. The environment includes collaborative group work, facilitated discussions, and occasional outdoor transitions between buildings. Noise levels vary throughout the day, and instructors are part of a team that supports a dynamic, youth‑centered learning space.

Physical Activities: Consistent with in‑person classroom teaching, including facilitating discussions, moving around the room to support small‑group work, writing on whiteboards, and carrying light teaching materials. Activities may involve adjusting between different classroom setups, and participating in low‑intensity movement associated with youth programming. Reasonable accommodations will be provided to ensure instructors can perform essential teaching functions in ways that work for them. 

Work Schedule: Instructors will work 8 hours per day inclusive of instruction, student supervision, and preparation. Meals will be provided to instructors at the university dining center during lunch and dinner consistent with the camp schedule and will be considered break time. 

Application Deadline and Materials: To be considered for this position, please apply before midnight Pacific Time on May 1, 2026, by emailing CoLab Executive Director Emily Cordo at emily@colabdebate.org. 

Please include the following documents: cover letter, résumé, and the names and reliable contact information of 3 references. Because we’ll be working on a college campus with minor students, the contract will require a background check. 

Please contact CoLab Debate’s Director of Instruction and Curriculum, Matt Stannard, at matt@colabdebate.org with any questions. 

CoLab Debate is an equal opportunity contractor and employer and does not discriminate and prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, ancestry, age, religion, creed, disability, sex (including sex stereotypes, sex characteristics, sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression), marital family, and parental status, pregnancy, genetic information, military enlistment, or veteran status, and any other class of individuals protected from discrimination under federal, state, or local law, regulation, or ordinance. 

CoLab Debate is a fiscally sponsored project of Inquiring Systems, Inc. EIN: 94-2524840