Meet the Coaches

So far in his second year as Director of Debate at Georgetown (2022-23), Brandon “BK” Kelley has coached one team to a Dartmouth Round Robin invitation (top 7) and a second team to the top 20. In his first year, he coached two young teams to the elimination rounds of the National Debate Tournament—the first time that Georgetown had accomplished this feat since 2015—as well as the Quarterfinals of both the CEDA and ADA national championships. BK was also awarded the Outstanding New Director Award at the American Debate Association’s National Championship in 2023.

Prior to serving as Director, BK served as the Associate Director of Georgetown Debate for several years under Mikaela Malsin, coaching the NDT Finalists and NDT Top Speaker in his first year (2018); a First-Round At-Large Bid recipient in 2020; and NDT elimination round participants every year. BK debated in college for Georgetown University under Jonathan Paul, qualifying to the NDT in 2017, and debated in high school at Rankin High School in West Texas.

BK is currently a graduate student in Georgetown’s Center for Security Studies, and holds a B.S. in Science, Technology, & Int’l Affairs from the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service.