Annual startup competition awards grants to student founders. The winners of the 2021 i3 Harvard College Innovation Challenge are four student startup teams that exhibited outstanding ingenuity and extraordinary perseverance.

WeAreGenZ spoke to Co-Founder Tessa Holtzman and Program Director Sagie Tvizer about Debate Spaces’ pedagogical approach. Their ultimate vision is to foster community building where people from around the world can engage in empowering dialogue. Beyond traditional classroom debate skills, the Debate Spaces team teaches youth about self-empowerment and advocacy. “Young people hold a lot of power to enact change,” says Tessa. From this group of Gen Z’ers to their younger counterparts- you heard it here first!

Harvard Law student creates an extracurricular program to foster civic engagement and bridge social divides.

Matt and Tessa discuss the story of Debate Spaces, the way that their international experiences led them to start the organization, and the ways that debate enables student participation in democracy and a unique kind of friendship. Matt and Tessa are both graduate students at Harvard University, and they close out the episode with advice for high school debaters.