Spencer Chaisanguanthum founded Eloquence Academy out of his Tenafly bedroom in eighth grade after realizing Title I and rural schools were being priced out of academic debate. Four years later, the student run nonprofit has reached students in every state and more than 100 countries, and it is still run almost entirely by teenagers.
He Was 13 and Didn’t Want to Go to Debate Camp. Now He Runs the World’s Largest Youth Debate Nonprofit.
Spencer Chaisanguanthum was not exactly thrilled when his parents signed him up for a week long debate camp. He went anyway, and it changed the direction of his life. Struck by how much he enjoyed the experience and how noticeably his confidence and critical thinking improved afterward, the Tenafly native asked to join a debate club on a more regular basis, and within a few years had identified a problem serious enough to build an entire nonprofit around solving it: Title I and rural schools were routinely priced out of competitive debate, unable to cover tournament fees or staff the programs needed to compete at all.
Founded in 2022, in the Middle of Eighth Grade
Chaisanguanthum established Eloquence Academy in 2022 while still in eighth grade, just 13 years old, building what has since grown into one of the largest youth led nonprofit debate organizations in the country. “Debate is an inaccessible activity,” he has said. “A lot of competitions and in-person events happen in urban areas, so it’s particularly hard for students that are attending rural schools to get to these events.” Beyond the geography problem, he identified a second, quieter barrier facing rural and underserved schools, a genuine lack of information about how to even sign up for tournaments or prepare students to compete once they got there.
The organization Chaisanguanthum built operates on a near peer to peer mentorship model, managed almost entirely by students under 18, a structural choice he has been explicit about wanting to preserve even as the organization has scaled internationally. “Youth-led organizations should always stay youth-led,” he has said, a philosophy that shows up directly in Eloquence’s own leadership roster, which includes teenage directors running dedicated chapters in Canada, Vietnam, Singapore, and Indonesia alongside its core New Jersey operation.
A New Jersey Footprint That’s Grown Alongside the Global One
Even as Eloquence Academy has expanded into a genuinely global organization, its home state impact has scaled right alongside it. In New Jersey specifically, six schools currently receive fee waivers and curriculum support through the program, and more than 1,000 New Jersey students participate directly in Eloquence’s classes and camps. Nationally, the organization has built structural partnerships with 122 schools, delivered live debate instruction to more than 3,600 students, and supplied free online learning resources to over 20,000 learners spanning all 50 states and 102 countries.
A Curriculum Built to Take a Beginner to Competition Ready
Eloquence’s course structure moves students through a deliberate, sequential progression, rather than dropping beginners straight into competitive rounds with no foundation.
Rhetoric Rookies
An introductory course exploring the fundamentals of speech through Aristotle’s rhetorical triangle: ethos, pathos, and logos.
Argument Architects
A structural deep dive into Public Forum logic, case building, and real-time evidence sourcing.
Debater’s Workshop
An advanced track covering meta-weighing, backlining, and judge adaptation techniques.
Team X
The academy’s most rigorous mastery track, requiring intensive out-of-class research and preparation.
Beyond the classroom curriculum, Eloquence runs its own Charitable Fund, directing a share of the organization’s tournament entry fees toward local civic action and community service, tying competitive debate directly to tangible community impact rather than treating the two as separate pursuits.
Fall Tournaments Open to Beginners by Design
Eloquence’s fall 2026 tournament schedule reflects the same accessibility mission driving the rest of the organization. The Eloquence Autumn Invitational, running October 17th and 18th, is a fully virtual, multi division tournament covering Public Forum and Lincoln Douglas debate formats, with registration fees entirely waived for every participating Title I school. The New Jersey Accessibility Cup follows on November 14th, a hybrid regional tournament built specifically for middle school and novice high school speakers, pairing live workshops with actual competitive rounds so newer debaters can build skills and compete in the same event.
Schools looking to receive free curriculum kits, tournament fee waivers, or direct student mentorship need to meet a short list of requirements, holding Title I federal funding or a rural district classification, designating a faculty advisor responsible for student safety during online sessions, and keeping any Eloquence supported program completely open to every student, with no tryouts or participation fees allowed. Applications run directly through Eloquence Academy’s own website.
Still a Teenager, Still Applying to College
Chaisanguanthum is now a rising senior at the Dalton School in Manhattan, co-captain of the school’s own Public Forum debate team, and a two time member of the National Speech and Debate Association’s national Student Leadership Council. He was recently honored with the regional Russ Berrie Gen Z Making a Difference Award for his work expanding debate access, recognition that sits alongside his own competitive record qualifying for the UK Tournament of Champions in both his freshman and sophomore years. Even while juggling college applications this fall, Chaisanguanthum has said he plans to remain Eloquence’s CEO throughout his undergraduate years before eventually passing the organization on, a deliberate choice to keep the nonprofit’s leadership genuinely young for as long as he possibly can.
