CoLab Debate's Summer Institute for Debate and Advocacy
A Full Scholarship Opportunity for Brooklyn Debate League Students
What is SIDA?
CoLab Debate's week-long Summer Institute for Debate and Advocacy (SIDA) invites you into the world of community advocacy by combining speech and debate education with training in key organizing skills like coalition building, media literacy, strategy, and conflict resolution.
SIDA says they're not like your typical debate camp. Instead of competition, they focus on transforming the way you think about debate and activism. Obviously we're friends.
Program Details
Dates: July 18–25, 2026
Location: Lewis & Clark College, Portland, Oregon
Cost: $1,600 but somebody's getting a full ride!
What's Included: All meals, housing, curriculum, and activities
What Makes SIDA Different?
At SIDA, you'll be immersed in advocacy education built on CoLab Debate's core curriculum:
Arguing for Better Futures
Learn how to frame arguments that center community impact and systemic change.
Building Consensus & Cooperation
Master the collaborative skills that turn opponents into allies.
Collaborating for Community Impact
Put your debate skills to work for real-world change in communities you care about.
Transferrable Advocacy Skills You'll Learn
Skills you won't find at any other debate camp (except maybe the BDL's):
You'll learn from lead faculty (CoLab's executive staff), skilled instructors, and guest instructors from CoLab's broad network of former debaters who are currently making a difference in their communities.
A Typical Day at SIDA
Here's a sample daily schedule to show you what your week looks like:
Who Can Apply?
CoLab provides all-inclusive SIDA scholarships to Systems-Impacted Youth (SIY) who want to use their debate skills to change their communities for good.
Open to high schoolers and recent high school graduates (~20 years old)
What does Systems-Impacted Youth mean?
SIY are students who have been failed or actively harmed by social and governmental systems. SIY often experience trauma (physical, emotional, relational, and/or financial), which is caused or compounded by disability, poverty, and other forms of systemic violence or marginalization.
Examples include students who:
- Have an incarcerated parent
- Have an immigrant family
- Live in foster care
- Have experienced homelessness
- Have experienced domestic violence or bullying
- And/or have other experiences of systemic marginalization
If you identify with any of these experiences and want to use collaborative advocacy tools to build change in your community, you're encouraged to apply.
How to Apply
Write a 500–1,000 word essay addressing these four questions:
- Do you identify as a Systems-Impacted Youth? (based on the definition above)
- What is a specific community or issue important to you?
- How has being part of or an ally of that community affected your interest in becoming an effective advocate?
- What do you hope to learn at SIDA that will help you become an effective collaborative advocate?
You can write in any format you choose—just make sure you address all four questions.
Ask a teacher, coach, or mentor to write a letter addressing:
- Your debate background
- Your advocacy/activism experience
- Your collaborative mindset
- Your engagement with the community/issue you identified in your essay
Important: Have your recommender email the letter directly to CoLab Executive Director Emily Cordo at emily@colabdebate.org.
Submit your essay and confirming you've arranged your letter of recommendation via the CoLab form below.
📅 BDL Scholarship Deadline: May 17, 2026
The CoLab application itself is due June 1, but the BDL scholarship opportunity closes May 17. Apply early to make sure you're considered for our full scholarship!
Questions?
📄 Check out the full FAQ on CoLab's website
💬 Talk to a BDL coach or faculty member—we can help you think through your application!