Nirupan has won many MUN awards in all different levels of competition in Canada and abroad. As the managing director of the Canada-Japan Research Group, Nirupan is charged with the challenge of coordinating students across Canada and Japan with the collective goal of supporting our rural populations.
Nirupan’s areas of interest are in public policy, politics, and community engagement. He was the campaign director for TDSB Trustee Parthi Kandavel, and has represented Scarborough-Agincourt at the City Youth Council of Toronto.

Sam is a business consultant to various businesses who provides strategic advices to executives, makes high-stake decisions on what and how to drive business objectives, and leads business initiatives to add more values to operations. He spent four years as a member of the Innisdale DECA Chapter, serving as a Chapter Vice-President for two of those. As Vice-President, Sam gained experience teaching business concepts and public speaking skills to high school students. Over the course of his DECA career, Sam won a total of thirteen competitive awards, including two podium finishes and six awards for excellent written scores. Sam received a Certificate of DECA Leadership at the 2013 International Career Development Conference, and attended the 2015 ICDC in Orlando as a competitor representing DECA Ontario.

Jenny has been in competitive debate for 8+ years, having broken at numerous national as well as international competitions with various speaker awards and team awards. In university, she was the head of training at McMaster Debate and worked to establish some of Hamilton’s first youth debate programs. As a former White Oaks Debate Executive, Jenny has coached students of various age groups through summer workshops and year-round programs in many different formats of debate and public speaking. Additionally, Jenny has demonstrated high academic achievement, coming in at the top of her class in IB Biology, Geography, and History. Academically, Jenny holds a MSc Global Health and completed her undergraduate at McMaster University in Health Science with interests in knowledge translation, anatomy & physiology, and intersectional health advocacy. She is currently working with global NGOs to support the World Health Organization in research knowledge translation.

Angad is currently pursuing his Health Sciences degree at McMaster University. At White Oaks Secondary School, he was an International Baccalaureate student and the Vice President of the White Oaks Debate Team. Outside of school, he has experience in creative writing for screenplays and novels. He’s fond of all types of storytelling and has an appreciation of literary techniques in popular literature and media.

Miranda Brant is deeply passionate about teaching and sharing her enthusiasm for the French Language to all ages and levels.  While earning her Bachelor of Music Education and Bachelor of Education from the University of  Toronto and Ontario Institute of Studies in Education (2009-2015), Miranda spent her summers on university credited-exchange programs in either Quebec or France studying French to build confidence in Reading, Writing, Speaking, and Listening.

Most notably, Miranda participated on a one-year university exchange program studying Music in French and French Linguistics at Université Lumière Lyon 2 in Lyon, France, the gastronomical capital of France.

Additionally, in July of 2017, Miranda travelled to Annecy, located in the heart of the French Alps, to participate on a French course specifically designed for French Teachers at the Institut Français des Alpes.

Currently, Miranda teaches Grade 2 French Immersion at St. Angela Merici Catholic Elementary School in Brampton. Every class, Miranda strives to create a safe learning environment that facilitates French language acquisition through fun and engaging activities and assignments for all types of learners.  Enchantée et A bientôt!

Tianzhi Yang (pronounced tan-zee) graduated from the Schulich School of Business with a degree in Business Administration and has been debating for over 8 years. She was the former President of York Debate Society and was on the White Oak’s Debate executive team. As a debater, she has broken at numerous university debate competitions at University of Toronto, McGill, Queens, and more. During her time at YDS she has served as the Tournament Director for York’s High School Debate Tournament and the Canadian High School Women’s Debate Championships.

Dr. Hamada K. has an MA and PhD degrees in literature from the University of Essex, UK. He has recently moved to Canada and joined Linkedkey to teach literature and writing. He previously worked at the American University of Sharjah as an adjunct faculty between 2012 and 2014 and as a visiting assistant professor of English between January 2018 and June 2019. He has taught composition, advanced academic writing, professional communication for engineers, IELTS, business writing, public speaking, and literature. He specialized in nineteenth-century U.S. literature, history and politics, particularly Mark Twain’s career and greatest works. He has participated in international literature and compsition conferences in the USA and UK, and his work has been published in the Mark Twain Annual, Mark Twain Journal, and Elmira College Center for Mark Twain Studies.

Matt is a product of the University of Toronto’s English, Philosophy, and Sociology programs, he is well versed in multiple writing disciplines and carries a long tradition of high standards and strong results into the classroom. Matt has taught students of all ages and skill levels how to elevate their written work, inspiring a passion for writing that his students carry with them through post secondary education and into their professional lives. His expectations are high but fair, Matt goes to great lengths to adapt his lessons to accommodate the needs of individual students and ensure their success, through patience and persistence he instills in his class not just a love of writing, but also the discipline required to do it well.

James Y. is a DECA coach for LinkedKey. He has had 3 cumulative years of experience and has qualified for ICDC (International Career Development Conference) in two of those years. In his Grade 11 year he placed in the Top 10 at ICDC with the highest scores in the preliminary round. He has also taught DECA to novice competitors both as a club executive and as a professional coach.

He will bring his experience as a competitor and as a coach to the classroom.

She is currently pursuing her Business degree at the University of Toronto, Rotman Commerce. Jessica is specializing in Finance and Economics. As one of Rotman Commerce’s top students, she has had the pleasure of representing Rotman Commerce and the University of Toronto in multiple finance related competitions. In her most recent competition, she led a team of students in representing Rotman Commerce as well as Ontario in the Canada Learning Bond Champions contest, organized by the Employment and Social Development Canada. Additionally,she has had the pleasure of consulting with non-governmental organizations and micro-enterprises in South Africa, sponsored and organized in part by the University of Toronto. She is incredibly passionate about fostering growth and development in the next generation of adult students interested in communication, business and finance.

Ivy is currently a Juris Doctor candidate at University of Toronto Faculty of Law (10th best university for law according to Times Higher Education’s 2020 World University Rankings). She graduated with a BBA degree in undergrad and worked for two years in management consulting. Ivy has won the Best Lawyer and Champion at Undergraduate Mock Trials Canada’s 2018 Civil Division. Other than her stunning Mock Trial achievements, Ivy is also a very successfully debater, both in high school and university. She was selected to be on Team China for World Schools Debating Championships. Her most notable university debating achievements include winning Hart House IV, and making semifinals at North American Womxn and Gender Minorities Debate Championships and Cornell IV. She has been teaching, coaching and running training lessons at various levels.

Chris Braithwaite is a long-time member and former president of the University of Waterloo Debate Society. He graduated from UW with a degree in Philosophy and a minor in Economics. As a debater, he was a Central Canadian Semifinalist and a North American University Debating Championships quarterfinalist. He broke at numerous other competitions as a competitor as well.
As a judge, he has served on the adjudication cores of Seagram, Leger, and Mac Pro-Am. He has also broken as a judge at HHIV, BP Champs, and numerous other majour North American tournaments.
Chris has experience training and giving feedback to high school and university level debaters for more than 6 years.

Dj is coach and former assistant coach of Indian Debate Team. As a debater,he has represented Indian Debate Team to attend multiple Debate Tournement around the world in 2016-2018.
He was the first ever English as a Second Language speaker to be adjudged best speaker in the world in 2018.
In 2019,he leaded Indian Debate Team to win The Champion of 2019 WSDC(World School Debate Championship).

Melissa, Debate Coach at LinkedKey. Having been a competitive debater for 7 years, her accomplishments include having finalled at NAW*DC in 2019 (North American Womxn and Gender Minorities Debating Championship), semifinalling at CP Nationals in 2019 and winning novice NAUDC in 2017 (North American University Debating Championship). She also serves as a debate coach at a private Toronto High School for the past year, helping students to improve in tab rankings by over 100 spots each. Melissa is also very passionate about English, spearheading an English tutoring program at her high school, and winning the award for Writer’s Craft for her creative writing.

Jun has been debating for over 8 years, dedicating many hours to competing, coaching, and organizing many tournaments. He has placed in the top 8 in North America after reaching the Semi-Finals of the North American University Debating Championships and was also in the grand finals of the Canadian Parliamentary National Championships. As a coach, Jun has been teaching for more than 3 years teaching students across Canada and has previously served as the President of the University of Western Ontario Debate Society.

Zack H.is currently pursuing his life science degree at McMaster University. During his high school debating career, Zack is a Western semi-finalist and top 10 speaker, Waterloo semi-finalist, and 14th speaker and part of the 3rd breaking team at Hart House. Additionally, he has breaks at various high school tournaments, including Thornhill and Iroquois Ridge. As a university debater, Zack is a semi-finalist and top 10 speaker at the Central Novice Tournament, and 6th novice team at the Hart House Intervarsity. Zack is also an experienced judge, having judged tournaments including Thornhill, Iroquois Ridge, Appleby Novice, and the McMaster Pro-Am Tournament, where he judged the final. Zack has also spent his years in debate coaching younger debaters at the high school and university levels.

Deborah W. is a third-year student at Trinity College in the University of Toronto. Under a full scholarship, she is pursuing a specialist degree in Political Science with a focus on the political and economic development in the Global South. She is a competitive debater for the Hart House Debating Club and notably one of the currently most successful ones. Some of her achievements include having made an appearance in the grand finals and being crowned the runner-up of the Oxford University Intervarsity Debating Championship in Oxford, England. She was also a part of the top 16 breaking teams at the coveted World Universities Debating Championship in Bangkok, Thailand, making it as a quarterfinalist.
On top of being a full-time student and debater, Deborah spends her limited giving back to the community by coaching a debate team in a local high school here in Toronto. Under her tutelage, a team from The York School successfully broke second at the Cambridge Schools Championship held at Cambridge University, England.

Junielle G. is a graduate of the prestigious University of Toronto and has been writing university level essays for many years. She has extensive experience both in writing and in childhood education, whether tutoring university students or mentoring with the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Toronto, Junielle is in her element when teaching others to excel. Junielle’s standards are rigorous but fair and she is an expert in getting the most out of her students while maintaining a patient and positive classroom atmosphere.

Meehakk(pronounced meh-hek) is a Political Science major that graduated from the University of Waterloo. She has been involved in debate throughout her time at university. She was the President of the Waterloo debate society for three years, where she was responsible for training new debaters and frequently gave in-depth knowledge seminars. Meehakk has a number of achievements in debate as a speaker and a judge. Most recently, she was one of the key organizers and chief adjudicators of 2020 LinkedKey Open Debate Tournament.

Isabella L. is currently pursuing Political Science Degree at the University of Toronto. She was White Oaks’ DECA President (with 400+) members, and won internationally at DECA’s Entrepreneurship Event. Moreover, she has attended several entrepreneurial case competitions and found success there. Isabella loves teaching and helping students, especially in regards to public speaking and business.

Rohan A. is currently persuing Bachelor degree of Commerce at Queen’s University. In high school he had the pleasure of leading one of the largest DECA chapters as President at Iroquois Ridge High School. Having competed at the provincial and ICDC level, he has seen how far this competition can take you! One fun fact about Rohan is that he lived in Beijing for four years:)

Ben F. studied Political Science and Anthropology at the University of Rochester, where he debated for four years in British Parliamentary debate. Before that Ben participated in four years of high school Policy debate as well as on year of Collegiate policy debate. Combining over 20 open breaks across both formats in college, and 6 tournament wins in High School, Ben is passionate about and excited to teach Debate and speech expression in all forms.

Teresa K. graduated with High Honours from the University of Toronto, and obtained her degree through the English, History, and Renaissance Studies departments. While completing her studies, she was nominated for a number of essay awards, served as a volunteer note-taker for thirteen separate classes, wrote letters of recommendation for professors, and published six of her poems through The Gargoyle.

Teresa first discovered her passion and proficiency for teaching while working with students though the University of Toronto’s International English Program (IEP). Over the course of five summers, she worked with and mentored students of all ages and skill levels, and ultimately helped them to discover a lifelong enthusiasm for reading, writing, and literary analysis.

Her writing abilities encompass a versatile range of skills including essay writing, academic writing, creative writing, as well as business and corporate writing. In the classroom, Teresa combines her dynamism and kindness with her passion to help students elevate their writing, grammar, and English comprehension. Her teaching style is characterized by adaptability, academic integrity, and her ability to curate a positive and productive learning environment. While her expectations are high, Teresa’s foremost goal is to curb apprehensions about reading and writing for her students.

Heather is an incoming 1st-year at the University of Oxford and graduating from White Oaks Secondary School’s IB Program. She has been debating since grade 8, most recently serving as the President for White Oaks’ Debate Club. She has taught numerous competitive debaters to national and provincial awards, including a 5th place team at Junior Provincials and a semi-finalist team at BP Nationals. Heather herself has competed and won many debate tournaments, most notably the International Competition for Young Debaters at Cambridge, coming first team and first speaker. She has also been a finalist at Hart House and a quarterfinalist and 6th speaker at Senior Nationals.