Meet Our Instructors

Core Team

Paul Rose

Founder

Nina Rose

Director of Operations

Charles Boles

Director of Development

Brad Lewinski

Team Manager

Bay Area, CA

Sophie Cheung

Marc DeJager

Aditya Bagga

Mercedes Tamayo

Jack McKinnon

Abhay Acharya

Boston, MA

Liam Cruz Kelly

Adrián Muñoz Krans

Carter Stewart

Isaac Jirak

 

As Co-founder and CEO, Paul heads teacher training and development at Rose Institute.

Paul is a two-time national debate champion. He holds national accolades in competitive Drama, Impromptu, and Platform Speaking.

In his free time, Paul enjoys singing, baseball, and classic cars.

Nina Rose has a passion for teaching and communications. She qualified for the Stoa Nationals in all four years of debate in high school, ranking 2nd place in the nation for Team Policy Debate. She has won numerous tournaments in both Team Policy and Parliamentary Debate in both Stoa and the California High School Speech Association. Nina has more than eight years of teaching experience, coaching with Rose Debate for four years, as well as tutoring piano.

Nina studied English at UCLA and graduated Summa Cum Laude in June 2020. In her spare time, Nina enjoys reading, hiking, and camping.
Charles Boles is the Director of Development and an experienced instructor at Rose Institute, where he has taught hundreds of students in the Bay Area, Boston, and online for the past four years. His confident and charismatic personality makes him a perfect fit for teaching public speaking. Charles developed and utilized his public speaking skills in high school as a finalist in Poetry Out Loud, student government and leadership roles, and master of ceremonies at school events. He was also an avid thespian (Shakespeare) and musical theatre enthusiast, performing in several leading roles.

In his spare time, Charles likes to play basketball, follow Los Angeles sports teams, and play with his nieces and nephews.

Brad is a coach, future law student, and acclaimed competitor. While a student at Santa Clara University, he won several awards as an attorney in AMTA mock trial competition, which taught him the importance of confidence and attention to detail in public speaking. Brad started teaching in the fifth grade and has continued to teach, coach, and tutor ever since, including returning to SCU to mentor their mock trial team. He hopes to share his passion for public speaking through helping others achieve their goals and become more confident versions of themselves.

 

In his free time, Brad enjoys watching movies, reading and writing fiction, debating sports, and playing esoteric board games.  
Sophie Cheung is an undergraduate business student at Santa Clara University. She competed in speech and debate during middle and high school, serving as head captain of her school’s team. While Sophie competed in over 7 events over 5 years, she especially excelled in limited preparation events. In 2022, she was California’s top 5 impromptu speakers, after double-qualifying to the state competition in impromptu and extemporaneous speaking. Outside of debate, Sophie has used her love for teaching young learners through babysitting and her math tutoring business. In her free time, Sophie enjoys rollerblading, playing ragtime piano, using Photoshop, and spending time with her rescue cats and dog.

Marc DeJager competed in national speech and debate competitions for five years, winning several national awards for both speech and debate. Some of his greatest competition accomplishments include placing 6th in Duo Interpretation at the Stoa National Tournament of Champions and 12th in Monologue. He has coached speech and debate for six years. Marc’s day job is as a Digital Accounts Manager, where he manages media campaigns for non-profit clients across the country. In his spare time, Mr. DeJager enjoys skiing, surfing, climbing, and anything outdoors. 

Aditya Bagga is a senior at Cupertino High School passionate about the crossover between business and education. Growing up with a strong understanding of money management, he dedicated himself to pioneering engaging financial education access for the next generation of youth. He founded Finatic, an international 501(c)(3) nonprofit partnered with Bank of America that has taught thousands of students. Outside financial education, he serves as his school’s Speech and Debate Club Vice President and has competed competitively for six years, ranking as high as Top 32 nationally and Top 30 statewide in Public Forum debate. Aditya loves to explore coffee shops and play pool in his spare time.

Mercedes Tamayo is a senior at San Jose State University double-majoring in Political Science and Philosophy and a member of her university’s Bioethics Debate Team. Mercedes’ background in cheerleading has taught her the importance of confidence and presence in front of a crowd. Last year, Mercedes coached 3 of her debate teams into the top 8 at the Rose Debate Spring Invitational Tournament, despite her students being among the youngest at the tournament and newest to debate. In her spare time Mercedes enjoys reading, movies, and learning music. 

Jack McKinnon is an undergraduate student at Stanford studying Philosophy and Classics. He hopes to study both theology and philosophy at a graduate level. Jack has been involved in public speaking since his toddler days, being a child actor for various commercial companies. He also has had an extensive background in speech and debate through his high school league, of which he was the Captain during his senior year. Jack enjoys playing golf in his spare time.

Abhay Acharya is a senior at Cupertino High and part-time student at De Anza College, focusing on Business Law. He has been involved in competitive speech and debate for 4 years, achieving success at both state and national levels. In middle and high school he competed in Public Forum debate, Impromptu speech, and a variety of supplemental events, qualifying and placing Top 32 at the Tournament of Champions in 2021 as well as attending the California State Championship in Public Forum debate. Abhay is also the President of his school’s speech and debate team, directing administrative activities for over two hundred competitors. In his free time, Abhay loves spending time with his puppy and reading.
Liam Cruz Kelly is passionate about education and communication. He graduated from UCLA with a BA in English and Classical Civilization, and is currently earning his PhD from Boston University in Medieval Literature. When Liam is not coaching speech and debate, Liam invests in his passion for theatre as both an actor and director.
Adrián Muñoz Krans is a student at Harvard University, concentrating in the social studies department. During high school, he earned awards in more than three international Model United Nations conferences and stood out among more than 1,000 students at the annual Harvard Model Congress simulation. In college, he has worked with multiple organizations to teach young students about world issues and foster their leadership, public speaking, and debating capabilities. In his free time, he enjoys video games, poetry, fiction, and exercising!
Carter Stewart is a student at Harvard University studying Classics and Statistics. He competed in the National Circuit in Public Forum Debate and Extemporaneous Speaking and was president of his high school speech and debate team. He has been working for Rose Debate since his senior year in high school and loved every minute. In his spare time, Carter enjoys reading, weightlifting, and playing club lacrosse.
Isaac Jirak is an undergraduate at Harvard University studying Mechanical Engineering, with hopes of continuing to graduate design school. Coming from a rural high school, Isaac was heavily involved in student leadership and speech competitions despite limited opportunities in debate. He has presented at national competitions and, in 2021, placed 1st in the Kansas State Discussion Meet. He has had plenty of practice in the classroom, devoting two summers to working with kids through structured classes and prepared speeches.

In his spare time, Isaac enjoys reading philosophy, finding new coffee shops, and doing anything outdoors.

We’ve had 1000s of Happy Students

"Anthony enjoys the class and likes the teachers. He was happy every time after the class.
He reads to me every week day and has tried to remember speeches assigned to him. ... Thanks a lot!"

– Lingling Sun

"Rose Debate's class was really fun and engaging. I learned a lot as a public speaker, and the tournament was REALLY well organized and enjoyable."

– Isabelle Shi

"Rose Institute helps our students fine tune their public speaking skills and
students are eager to attend and return each year."

– Fabienne Esparza, Principal, St. Catherine School