Former Executive Director Blake Johnson (Far Right) with the Fremont Federation of High Schools Debate Team.

For the past two years, the BAUDL has operated under the dedicated leadership of founding Executive Director Blake Johnson.  After countless hours of service, Blake will be handing over the reins of the BAUDL to pursue a law degree.  The BAUDL will be sorry to say goodbye to such a talented leader and friend; still, his departure comes with our assurance to all of our supporters that nothing will change with respect to the BAUDL’s mission and programming.

Along these lines, we are excited to announce an expansion in our organizational capacity: we have launched a nationwide search for two full-time positions, an Executive Director and a Program Director.   We encourage you to spread word of our search widely to qualified candidates.  For more information about these positions, please visit our Join Us page!

In the meantime, BAUDL is pleased to announce that Dmitri Seals has accepted an offer to serve as interim Executive Director while we conduct these searches.  In addition to his role as a founding member of the BAUDC Board of Directors, Dmitri led the push to establish the urban debate league in Oakland, and has been deeply involved in all aspects of the program from its inception.  Through the innumerable volunteer hours he has dedicated to this organization - among other things spearheading teacher professional development, volunteer training, and program evaluation for the league - he has proven both his devotion to the BAUDL mission and his skill in advancing that mission.