Engaging Voice is committed to building an informed and active citizenry through nonpartisan civic education and speech and debate programs. The soft skills and educational benefits students gain from these activities — self-confidence, on-demand critical thinking, comprehensive research, intellectual accountability, effective writing, zealous advocacy, and civil argumentation — are more important now than ever considering the dominance of social media and other technologies as students’ primary sources of knowledge and training.

We understand well the value of civic education and public speaking. But speech and debate programs are expensive. Every year, schools must budget thousands of dollars to train students and send them to intrastate, regional, and national tournaments. They must also hire coaches and supply their team with performance materials and access to research databases.

The financial and operational burdens are manageable for well-resourced schools and communities. Those with limited budgets struggle to meet the demands, however, meaning student potential is going to waste. An investment in civic education and public speaking training is an investment in the future growth of our students and the country’s.

Access to proven educational opportunities should not depend on one’s address or socioeconomic status. The human voice is the most powerful instrument. Let’s help all students fine tune it.

We are working to level the playing field so students from every neighborhood can develop an engaging voice as early as middle school through quality civic education and fully-funded speech and debate programs.

Welcome, and thank you for your support.

Sincerely,
Walter Paul Obote

Founder & Chairman