People

Dr. Richard C. Harris is a Professor of Communication at Southerastern University in Florida, USA, where he is the Lead Speech Professor and faculty advisor for the Speech and Debate Team. He is also a TEDx speaker, a pastor, and an award-winning author. He is a Certified World-class Speaker Coach, and holds graduate degrees both in communication and pastoral ministry, as well as a doctorate in adult higher education.

Richard is a regular Incubate Debate judge in the USA.

Bryce is an Associate Attorney with Marks Gray, P.A. who primarily focuses his practice on matters involving medical malpractice and commercial litigation. In addition, he handles a wide variety of other civil litigation claims.

Bryce graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of North Florida, majoring in Business Management. He furthered his education by earning a Juris Doctor from the University of Florida, Levin College of Law in 2021. Bryce is an active member of the Jacksonville Bar Association, serving on the Board of Directors for the Young Lawyer’s Division. Additionally, he serves on the Board of Governors for University of North Florida Alumni Association and volunteers his time to the All Nations Soccer League (ANSL) Jacksonville, Fl.

Bryce is a regular Incubate Debate judge in the USA.

Dr. Richards Plavnieks is a historian of 20th century totalitarianism. His book is about the Holocaust in Nazi-occupied Latvia and its political reverberations through the Cold War and has been published in Latvian translation.

He has been teaching at the college level since 2013 and at Florida Southern College, where he is Associate Professor, since 2018. As all scholars should be, Dr. Plavnieks is committed to the discovery, understanding, and widest possible communication of knowledge of the past in order to understand the present and maintain the hope of a better future.

Richards is a regular Incubate Debate judge in the USA.

Patrick M. Connelly is a dedicated public affairs officer currently serving with the U.S. Army’s 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne), a specialized unit trained for rapid, airborne deployment.

Growing up in Saudi Arabia, Patrick gained a unique global perspective that now shapes his work in bridging the gap between the Special Forces military community and the public. Patrick’s journey—from an expatriate youth to a key communicator for one of the U.S. military’s most respected units—showcases his adaptability and commitment to service.

Patrick is a regular Incubate Debate judge in the USA.

Tom Browning currently serves as a Commissioner for the City of Valparaiso, Florida, marking his second term in this role.

A retired U.S. Air Force veteran with 20 years of service, he concluded his military career in 2006 and returned to Valparaiso in 2010. Since then, he has continued supporting the Air Force as a contractor, working first at Hurlburt Field, an Air Force installation, and later at Eglin Air Force Base. In addition to his role as Commissioner, Tom has served as the Planning Commission Chair for Valparaiso. He holds a Master’s degree in Organizational Management.

Tom is a regular Incubate Debate judge in the USA.

Casey Gasbarro is a dedicated Graduate Student Clinical Intern currently pursuing her Master of Social Work (MSW) at the University of West Florida, set to graduate in 2025.

With a strong passion for mental health advocacy, Casey is committed to enhancing mental health resources and reducing stigma surrounding mental health care. Her unique background as a United States Air Force medic adds a valuable combination of clinical skills and leadership experience to her social work practice.

deputy head welfare, St Edwards School, Oxford; associate lecturer in philosophy, The Open University

Dr Jim Panton is deputy head welfare at St Edward’s School, Oxford, and an associate lecturer in Philosophy at the Open University. He was previously the founding head of senior school at Wellington College International Bangkok; head of upper sixth and head of Politics at Magdalen College School, Oxford; and lecturer in Politics at St John’s College, Hertford College and Balliol College, Oxford, where he was also responsible for setting up the tutorial teaching training programme for the Department of Politics and International Relations, University of Oxford.

He has campaigned around politics and civil liberties. He was a founding member of the pressure group The Manifesto Club, and he was instrumental in establishing the PROTest movement in defence of animal research at Oxford. Jim has a BA, MSc, and DPhil from the University of Oxford, and an MPhil from University College London. He is the author of a number of works on politics and education, most recently as contributing co-editor of From Self to Selfie: A Critique of Contemporary Forms of Alienation (Palgrave, 2019). He has lived and worked in the UK, Cuba, Guatemala, and Thailand.

head of communications, 1. FC Union Berlin

After 14 years in the cinema business Christian Arbeit joined his favourite football club 1. FC Union Berlin on a professional level in January 2009. He quickly developed a communications department that would fit the needs of a football club writing one of the most impressive success stories in Germany since then. The last 15 years have seen Union Berlin’s rise from a 3rd division club to a top flight club and Champions League participant of the 23/24 season. The club is not only a football club anymore but a multi channel entertainment asset with a huge following on various platforms.

Arbeit also set the sails for two remarkable media projects: Germany’s high profile football journalist Christoph Biermann was given the chance to join the men’s football team as a staff member for the club’s very first Bundesliga campaign in 2019/20, publishing his experiences in a book Germany’s football had never seen before.

Two years later German film maker and director Annekatrin Hendel joined the club for two and a half years to discover not the secrets of the sporting side of football but digging deep into the daily workloads of the people who run the club. The documentary made it to the big screes of German cinemas in spring 2024.

As the future is unwritten next already stories wait to be told soon.   

prospective parliamentary assistant BBB, European Union

Gerlof Bierma ran as candidate number 4 for the Dutch BoerBurgerBeweging (Farmer-Citizen Movement), and – starting from July 16 – will likely be supporting the BBB delegation in the European Parliament in Brussels.

Gerlof has a background in European law from Leiden University and began his career as a lawyer at Bird & Bird, followed by a position as a legal advisor for Rabobank, a major Dutch bank. He then transitioned to Germany, where he worked for Trade Republic. For nearly two years, he has been an independent legal consultant, assisting companies in obtaining financial licenses in the Netherlands, while also engaging in political activities. In the recent European elections, he ran as candidate number 4 for the BBB. Starting from July 16, he will likely be supporting the BBB delegation in the European Parliament from Brussels.

author, academic and consultant, MCC Brussels

Dr. Adamson is an author, academic and consultant for MCC Brussels, an organisation committed to providing a home for critical debate about the future of Europe. He has a PhD in Sociology from the London School of Economics (LSE) and is the author or 6 books and 20 articles, mainly in the field of multiculturalism and social cohesion. His overarching question is: What makes a society work, and what makes a society crumble?