Tripp Rebrovick, PhD
Workshop Director
Tripp Rebrovick, PhD, is the Coach of Debate at Harvard College and the Director of the Harvard Debate Council. He has been teaching and coaching debate every summer for over 20 years and has been director of the HDCSW since 2017.
Kim Shanahan
Residence Director
Kim is a longtime teacher and debate coach from Dracut, MA and has been the residence director since 2022.
She currently teaches at the Lowell Community Charter Public School, where she has worked for 15 years. Kim taught Kindergarten for many years and now teaches a course in World Cultures.
She was an instructor at the Wake Forest Summer Debate Workshop and the Dartmouth Debate Institute for 20 years. Kim is uniquely qualified both professionally as a teacher and mother to ensure the safety and well being of our students at HDCSW.
Ed Williams
Operations and outreach director
Ed Williams is the Head Coach of World Schools Debate at The Westminster Schools in Atlanta and an Assistant Debate Coach with the Harvard Debate Council. With over 30 years of experience, Ed is a nationally respected debate educator known for building high-performing teams and fostering inclusive, globally minded debate communities.
He previously served as Director of Operations at the Global Debate Symposium Summer Workshop for six years before joining the Harvard Debate Council Summer Workshop in 2024. Ed has led successful programs at Charlotte Latin, Calhoun, Pace Academy and Woodward Academy, and other schools, with each qualifying for the Tournament of Champions under his leadership. His students have earned top honors at national tournaments including Greenhill, St. Mark’s, the Glenbrooks, the Barkley Forum, and the Harvard Round Robin.
Ed’s work also reaches international audiences. He has facilitated professional development workshops for students and educators in Tanzania, India, and China, and has judged at the World Schools Debate Championships in Thailand and Mexico City. His workshops emphasize argument literacy, argument construction, effective public speaking techniques and civic engagement.
As an experienced educator, Ed has taught at summer debate institutes hosted by Bates College,Dartmouth, Emory, Stanford, Wake Forest, and other top universities. He is a member of the Georgia Forensics Coaches Hall of Fame and the Barkley Forum Key Society.
Kristy Thomas, EdD
dei director
Dr. Kristy Thomas is a DEI consultant who also considers herself to be a lifelong educator. She received her DEI Certificate from Cornell University in 2020 and has jumped head first into the work. She started Thomas DEI Consulting in an effort to give organizations a safe outlet to address their concerns. Kristy believes that through education we can open and expand the way that we work together in our business organizations so that all people are represented, included, and feel as though their workplace is exactly where they belong and want to be. She is committed to strengthening communication and relationship building on topics dealing with DEI in work organizations. Her strength comes from her background as an educator with over twelve years in the high school and college classrooms. Kristy has worked with educational institutions, non-for-profit organizations, board members, created videos to address school districts’ work toward creating equality for all, workshops with teen leadership groups, executive counsels, human resource and recruiting officers and hopes to continue expanding her reach to other groups in need of her services.
Kristy presently lives in Los Angeles, CA and is working on her EdD in Higher Education. She operates Always Writing 4 U, a writing and publishing business. A core piece of her discussions is based on the idea that the information she shares with all of her clients is for them to take in and use within their organizations like a teacher would with their students.
The Harvard Debate Council believes it is important to immerse students in a safe, supportive, and structured atmosphere that balances the rigor of learning with fun and free time in one of the oldest academic atmospheres in America!