London staff
Our London office is based at the following address:
CAN Mezzanine,32-36 Loman Street,London,SE1 0EH.
In spite of the scale and diversity of our work, the Debate Mate office in London is staffed by a slim team. They are:
Margaret McCabe, Founder and Chief Executive Officer
Margaret has over twenty years’ experience as a commercial barrister combined with two decades in the voluntary sector including Centre Point, NSPCC Justice for Children programme and as an advisor to Human Rights Watch.
Jess Dix, Educational Development Director
Email: jess@debatemate.com
Phone: 020 7922 8008
Jess graduated from the University of Warwick with a degree in Comparative American Studies. As part of her degree she spent a year studying History at UCLA in the USA. Jess is a Teach First ‘07 Ambassador; she worked as an English and History teacher at the Lammas School and Sports College in East London and now heads up Debate Mate's teacher training programme. During her time at the school she was appointed Whole School Literacy Coordinator and was committed to creating a debating community within the school. Jess joined the Debate Mate team in September 2010.
Francesca Hall, Senior Programme Director
Email: fran@debatemate.com
Phone: 020 7922 7918
Fran graduated from the University of Manchester with a degree in Politics, Philosophy and Economics. During her time there she became heavily involved with the Manchester Debating Union, representing them at the European and World Championships and convening their Inter Varsity competition (one of the largest in Europe) for two consecutive years. Manchester was also where she began mentoring with Debate Mate at two schools and since she has taught in Jamaica, Nepal and Hong Kong on Debate Mate international programmes. She has been full time with the team since September 2011.
Seun Iyaniwura, Senior Programme Director
Email: seun@debatemate.com
Phone: 020 7922 8009
Seun graduated from the University of Nottingham with a degree in Politics and mentored at the only Debate Mate school in Nottingham. While at university she became President of the Nottingham Debating Union where she successfully launched a schools programme, and participated in the 2010 Nepal Programme. Seun took the Nepal team to debate in the 2011 WSCDC held in Dundee, before joining the team in September 2011.
Email: scarlett@debatemate.com
Phone: 020 7922 8009
Scarlett graduated from LSE with a degree in History. She has debated since she was at school, representing her university at the World Debating Championships and has been a Debate Mate mentor for the past 4 years, teaching at Petchey Academy, Evelyn Grace Academy and Acland Burghley School. She has worked a lot for Debate Mate internationally in the Middle East, Asia and the Caribbean, and intends to start a training contract at Slaughter and May once she has finished working at Debate Mate.
Benedict Sarhangian, Programme Director
Email: benedict@debatemate.com
Phone: 020 7922 7920
Benedict has been a mentor with Debate Mate since its first year and has taught the programme in over a dozen schools. He won a scholarship to read for a Masters’ in International History at the LSE, having previously read International Relations & History at the same university. At LSE, Benedict founded and edited The London Globalist, an international affairs magazine with chapters across the world. In 2011, Benedict took part in Debate Mate Israel, and before joining the team in 2012, spent a month teaching as part of the Debate Mate Jamaica programme.
Email: yemi@debatemate.com
Phone: 020 7922 7919
Yemi is a graduate of the London School of Economics and Political Science, where he read Management. Growing up in Bristol, he attended a state school and a city college. Before, after and, occasionally, instead of attending his lectures at the LSE, Yemi worked as a mentor for the LSE's Widening Participation programme, project leader for a charity supporting education in Tanzania and a devoted Debate Mate mentor. Yemi has raised thousands of pounds for educational charities and last year was named READ International's Youth Engagement Leader of the year. Yemi discovered Debate Mate last year, loved it and hasn't looked back since.
Advisors
Ben McNelly, Project Coordinator
Email: benmcnelly@debatemate.com
Ben graduated from Queen's University in Canada with a Bachelor's degree in Political Studies and has recently completed his Master's degree at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). During his undergraduate studies, Ben debated and adjudicated for four years at both national and international levels, including at two World Universities Debating Championships (WUDC) in 2007 and 2009. He was Vice President of the Queen's Debating Union at Queens and, while studying for his Master’s, worked as a mentor with Debate Mate at two schools in London. He joined the team in September 2010.
Lewis has been a Debate Mate mentor since it was founded and is a member of the Board of Trustees. He read Politics, Phil
osophy and Economics at the University of Oxford, where he was elected as President of the Oxford University Students' Union. Additionally, representing Oxford, Lewis won the 2008 WUDC held in Thailand. Lewis is an active debating coach, having coached the Hong Kong National Team in 2006 and the United Arab Emirates National team in 2010 and 2011. He is currently the Coach of the ESU England Schools Debating Team.
Will Sharp, Programme Advisor
Email: will@debatemate.com
Will has been involved with Debate Mate since 2008 and served as its Executive Programme Director until 2010. While at school, Will became heavily involved in debating and won the ESU Schools Mace in 2005. Will read Politics, Philosophy and Economics at the University of Oxford, and competed at the 2007 WUDC, held in Vancouver. He is now completing an LPC at BPP Law School, and has been a Programme Advisor since 2010.
