the ippf advisory board
WILLIAM A. BREWER III
Founding Partner
Brewer, Attorneys & Counselors
Mr. William Brewer co-founded the national litigation firm of Brewer, Attorneys & Counselors in 1984. Since that time, he has earned a national reputation as one of the most successful lawyers in the United States practicing exclusively in the field of complex commercial litigation and dispute resolution.
Mr. Brewer is also a co-founding partner of the Brewer Foundation. A former debater himself, Mr. Brewer helped found the IPPF. He has previously been named the “Communicator of the Year” by the National Speech & Debate Association (formerly the National Forensic League).
MIHA
ANDRIČ
Director
Educational Center Argument
Mr. Miha Andrič is an international communication, speech and debate teacher, philosopher, and sociologist based in Slovenia. He is currently the director of Educational Center Argument, an executive board member at IPO (International Philosophy Olympiad), and a board member at Dialexicon.
In the recent past, Mr. Andrič was the director of the National Debate Organisation Slovenia, a board member at IDEA, president of the Society for the Development of Humanities, and Head of the International debate program Bežigrad. He was the convenor of the International Philosophy Olympiad (IPO) in 2020 and 2021 and has served as program director of several international debate academies, including YAV Africa, DSA Russia, and ESU Turkey.
DAVID
BAKER
Director of Admissions
St. Mark's School of Texas
Mr. David Baker is the Director of Admission and Financial Aid at St. Mark’s School of Texas. Prior to taking this position, he spent 16 years teaching public speaking at the school and serving as coach of the St. Mark’s Debate Team.
Under his direction, the St. Mark's Debate Program was named one of the ten most successful programs of the 20th century and his debate team won the high school National Championship in 1990.
Mr. Baker was elected to the National Speech and Debate Association’s Hall of Fame in 2003, and to the Texas Forensic Association Hall of Fame in 2006. Commissioned following his retirement from debate, “The Baker Cup” is awarded annually by the National Debate Coaches Association to the nation’s most successful high school debate team.
WILL
BAKER
Director
NYU Global Debate Program
Mr. Will Baker is the Director of the NYU Global Debate program housed at the Leonard N. Stern School of Business. He also serves as Chief Information Officer for Baker Consulting Associates based in Dallas, Texas.
As a student at Cornell University, Mr. Baker won over 100 speech and debate awards and was named a Venephe Wilson Scholar, the team's highest student honor. After Cornell, Mr. Baker worked at the International Association for Religious Freedom before becoming a social entrepreneur. He founded both the New York Urban Debate League and the Malcolm X Prison Debate Initiative at Riker's Island.
In 2003, as head of NYU’s policy debate team, Mr. Baker became the first African American director to win the national championship since Melvin Tolson of Wiley College in 1935. Since then, Mr. Baker has overseen top national finishes for nearly 20 years in a row. His team was honored with the 2022 National Public Debate Award by the Cross Examination Debate Association. The award recognizes his team's work with the Brewer Foundation and other partners to share the transformative power of debate worldwide.
MAGGIE BERTHIAUME
Director of Debate
Woodward Academy
Ms. Maggie Berthiaume is the director of debate at Woodward Academy where she coached the 2012 National Debate Coaches Association champions.
Ms. Berthiaume served on the board of the National Debate Coaches Association for six years and is a former member of the editorial board of the Contemporary Argumentation and Debate: The Journal of the Cross Examination Debate Association.
She previously debated for Dartmouth College and the Blake School in Minneapolis, MN. While at Dartmouth, she was twice a first round at-large invitee to the National Debate Tournament, reaching the quarterfinals of the NDT and the Semifinals of the CEDA Nationals.
DAVE
HUSTON
Debate Coach
Jasper High School
Mr. Dave Huston has coached debate for over 30 years and has been a part of the IPPF competition since its second year. He has had three teams compete in the final round of the IPPF. Mr. Huston serves on the IPPF Topic Committee and has judged the IPPF written and oral competitions for years.
In addition to his IPPF activities, Mr. Huston has served two terms on the National Speech and Debate Association (NSDA) Board of Directors. He has been a district chair for the NSDA in Iowa and Texas. He is highly skilled at tabulating debate tournaments, serving as the tabulation director for the Glenbrooks tournament, the Tournament of Champions, Greenhill, and the Texas Forensics Association State Tournament.
His debate teams have won numerous state, regional, and national competitions. Mr. Huston is an Emory University/Barkley Forum Key Coach, a member of the Texas Forensic Association Hall of Fame and the NSDA Hall of Fame.
JOHN
SEXTON
President Emeritus
New York University
Dr. John Sexton is President Emeritus of New York University, having served as president from 2001 through 2015. Before being named NYU’s president, he was dean of the university’s law school for fourteen years.
He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and has served as the chairman of the board of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
He has received numerous awards including "Outstanding High School Debate Coach of the Last 50 Years."
ALEX
POUILLE
Zone Europe Chief Financial Officer
Anheuser-Busch InBev
Mr. Alex Pouille is the Zone Europe Chief Financial Officer for the world's largest brewer, Anheuser-Busch InBev, and is based in Brussels, Belgium. Mr. Pouille has over 13 years of financial experience in Control, Tax, Business Planning, Treasury, and Mergers and Acquisitions. His geographic scope in his current role includes Europe and the Middle East.
Mr. Pouille was an award-winning high school debater at the Alexander W. Dreyfoos, Jr. School of the Arts of Florida. With his help, his school won the IPPF in 2006 and 2007. Mr. Pouille now heads the IPPF Circle of Champions - an IPPF alumni organization.
CHRISTINA
PHILLIPS
Director of Debate
Notre Dame High School
Ms. Christina Phillips is the director of debate at Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks, California, an NDCA Board member, and a member of the policy advisory committee for the Tournament of Champions. Her students have reached the elimination rounds at many leading tournaments, including the NSDA Championships, NDCA Championships and Tournament of Champions.
Ms. Phillips was a four year CEDA/NDT debater at the University of Southern California. A
long with serving on the IPPF Advisory Board, Mrs. Phillips is a long-time member of the IPPF Topic Selection Committee. She coached the 2019 IPPF World Champions, the 2011 second place and 2010 third place IPPF teams.
NOEL
SELEGZI
Director of Development
KeraLink International
Mr. Noel Selegzi is the Director of Development at KeraLink International, where he leads a team of professionals who are dedicated to developing solutions for corneal blindness in underserved countries. With over 30 years of experience in the non-profit sector, Mr. Selegzi has a proven record of securing millions of dollars for humanitarian causes, building strategic partnerships, and managing diverse programs and projects.
Mr. Selegzi helped found the International Debate Education Association and, for many years, directed the Open Society Foundations’ Network Debate Program. He has helped establish debate programs in over 40 countries around the world, and has coached debate at Hunter College High School for over 30 years.
Mr. Selegzi is a graduate of Amherst College and Columbia University.
TREY
SMITH
Executive Director
East Mountain High School
Mr. Trey Smith is the executive director of East Mountain High School, one of the nation's top charter schools.
Mr. Smith served as the New Mexico District Chair of the National Speech and Debate Association (NSDA) for over a decade and coached multiple teams to the Elite Eight rounds of the IPPF.
A two-diamond coach with the NSDA, Mr. Smith has coached over 100 students to the National Tournament, including multiple national finalists.
Mr. Smith is serving as host chair of the 2029 NSDA Tournament, scheduled to be held in Albuquerque.
MELISSA
MAXCY WADE
President
Glenn Pelham Foundation
Ms. Melissa Maxcy Wade, M.A., M.T.S., Th.M. is the president of the Glenn Pelham Foundation for Debate Education. She is also the former Executive Director of Forensics at Emory University. From 1972-2015, Wade oversaw the growth of one of the most dynamic intercollegiate debate and education programs in the U.S.
Ms. Wade was a principle founder of the Urban Debate League, a national education movement targeting secondary students from socio-economically challenged schools in more than 20 major U.S. cities.
She coached Emory to over thirty-five national college championships, and has received every major college coaching and service award in her field.
ippf executive director
ANDREA SADBERRY
Executive Director
International Public Policy Forum
Andrea Sadberry has served as the executive director of the Brewer Foundation/New York University International Public Policy Forum (IPPF) since 2011.
In addition to her work within the Brewer Foundation, Ms. Sadberry serves as a senior manager of public affairs in the Dallas office of Brewer, Attorneys & Counselors.
Prior to joining Brewer, Ms. Sadberry worked as a television reporter at the NBC affiliate in Dallas / Fort Worth, Texas.
Ms. Sadberry has a bachelor's degree in journalism from The University of Kansas and a master's degree in communication from The University of Texas at Arlington.