The National Association For Urban Debate Leagues

Naudl's urban debate national championship (udnc) was held in chicago, il in fy24. Each of naudl's 19 league partners were eligible for two varsity high school debate pairs to compete. Udnc served as a forum to host the annual naudl coach appreciation ceremony, celebrating the commitment and dedication of the nearly 800 coaches in the urban debate network. The debater of the year and seven finalists received small college scholarships. A coach of the year was also recognized with a small stipend.

The naudl fellows internship is a scalable (virtual) workplace skills/mentorship program for qualified urban debate alumni (at least two years of college completed). Projects engage fellows in multiple roles and provide an opportunity to lead an initiative, function or process with naudl or a league. Naudl senior staff provided ongoing oversight, coaching and assessment. Additionally, group roundtables are hosted (via zoom), featuring professional volunteers, in the widely- accepted eight competencies for career-readiness. In 2024, we had 10 fellows internships and spent $50,000. Additonally in fy24, naudl released a restricted grant of $54,050 to support the naudl fellow program through the alumni success program and scholarships/academic support for urban debaters or debaters of extreme financial need. Naudl has been trying to maximize the academic and career success of the students we have been serving in the manner which creates the most benefit for the largest number of students.

Pilot scholarship program for five (5) students -- identified from the boston, chicago, los angeles, minnesota, and bay area leagues to attend annual summer dartmouth debate institute. Selection outreach was based on league partners that have a history of competitive debate, have shown a consistency in responsiveness, and that expressed an active interest to nominate debaters for the scholarship. Expenses covered tuition, room and board, student travel and incidentals.