Meet Our Team
Meet your officers for the 2026-27 season — the people who help our amazing team run smoothly every day :D! Whether you have a question about an assignment or anything regarding S&D they will always be there for you. Whether the weather is cold, whether the weather is hot, we’ll be together whatever the weather whether we like it or not.
President of Speech
Anika Tandon
President of debate
Ian Gao
Secretary
Anushka Iyer
Secretary
Emily Chen
VP of Platform
Angelica Liljenstam
VP Of Spontaneous
Tara Sundaralingam
VP OF INTERPRETATION
Aviv Yereslove
VP Of Congress
Avni Harsh
VP Of COngress
Hrishita Diwan
VP of LD debate
Shivansh Sathya
VP of PARLIAMENTARY
Melody Chong
VP Of PARliamentary
Sathvik Konduru
vp of Policy DEBATE
Sophia Liao
VP of Policy Debate
Nolan Tsai
VP of Public Forum
Krishay Madhav
VP of Public Forum
Vishnu Rao
Head of Spirit Committee
Creighton Voon
Spirit CommiTtee
Anushka Iyer
Spirit CommitTee
Yeseul Cheon
SPIRIT COMMITTEE
Saesha Pal
head of Art Committee
Angelica Liljenstam
ART COMMITTEE
Jiyun Yun
ART COMMITTEE
Katherine Zhu
head of fundraising committee
Lara Kadir
FUNDRAISING COMMITTEE
Anoushka Naik
FUNDRAISING COMMITTEE
Elise Fondeur
fundraising committee
Emma Huang
Coaches
jon joey (jj) telebrico
Email: jtelebrico@sjusd.org
Jon Joey “JJ” Telebrico is the head coach for Leland Speech and Debate, with the 2026–27 school year being his first year as head coach. He previously coached at Palo Alto High School, Crystal Springs High School, and Archbishop Mitty High School. JJ attended Mitty, where he was well known on the circuit and competed in Parliamentary Debate, Lincoln-Douglas, Public Forum, Original Oratory, Informative Speaking, Program Oral Interpretation, and more. He later attended Claremont McKenna College, studying philosophy, and recently earned his master’s degree in philosophy from American University.
GAY BRASHER
Email: gay.brasher@gmail.com
Gay Brasher is a coach for Leland Speech and Debate, and was the head of the Leland Speech and Debate Program for more than 20 years. She is recognized as a seven-diamond coach by the National Speech and Debate Association and is a lead member on the board of the Coast Forensic League. To see her students utilize exercises and rely on tactics they learned from Speech and Debate in college and in their careers is Mrs. Brasher's motivation to continue her efforts. In addition to her work with Leland, Mrs. Brasher has extensive relationships with the Speech and Debate programs at Bret Harte Middle School, Burnett Middle School, Horace Mann Elementary School, and the California Migrant Education program.