Walter Paul Obote | Founder & Chairman

Walter founded Engaging Voice in 2017 and presently serves as its Chairman. As a high school speech and debate competitor at Creighton Preparatory High School in Omaha, Nebraska, Walter won two state championships: congressional debate in 2012 and extemporaneous speaking in 2014. He placed sixth nationally in persuasive speaking and was the first Nebraskan in history to win the National Speech & Debate Student of the Year award. Walter credits speech and debate for his other milestones, including his election as Nebraska’s 2013 Boys’ State Governor, becoming the first immigrant in the state’s history to do so, and his election as student-body president of Carleton College, where be obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science and international relations and a minor in Arabic. Walter graduated from Yale Law School in 2022. He currently practices law at the international law firm Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP as a litigation attorney. Walter enjoys cycling, basketball, and attending community events. He often contributes op-Eds for the Hyde Park Herald.

Engaging Voice completed its pilot program with a temporary Board of Directors in 2025 and is now seeking new Board directors who will serve terms of four years beginning 2027-2031, and will help expand the program in earnest. We are especially interested in professionals with a background in speech and debate, civic education, Chicago Public Schools, middle school or high school teaching, financial management, or non-profit or for-profit executive leadership. If you are interested, please complete the form below.