UPLIFT FOUNDATION
OUR TEAM
The Uplift Foundation team hails a wide set of backgrounds and are from all over the country. They are united by their passion to use education to better the world
AARON JOY
Founder and CEO
As a high school student at Phillips Exeter Academy, Aaron has a strong desire to help those in need and understands that education is one the greatest gifts that can be given. To meet these goals, Aaron founded the Uplift Foundation. As a competitive debater with over 4 years of experience, he has competed in both Public Forum and Parliamentary Extemporaneous formats of debate. He has won numerous regional and state championships and placed in the Top 8 in the country in the NSDA Middle School National Finals and broke to elimination rounds in the NSDA High School National Finals. He loves sharing his passion for education with your students.
ANYA TANG
Vice President - Public Speaking and Debate
Anya is a sophomore at Phillips Exeter Academy. She has three years of high school debate experience, and has had much success along the way. As Indiana’s 2019 State Championship Finalist in Policy Debate and a 2019 NSDA National Qualifier (where she debated to elimination rounds) Anya has experience with both the national and local circuits of debate. Now at Exeter, Anya does Public Forum, where she has qualified for NCFL Nationals and has broken to elimination rounds at national circuit tournaments like Georgetown International and Lexington.
MAX TAN
Vice President
Max is a junior at Phillips Exeter Academy and is originally from Upstate New York. He started debate 3 years ago and hasn't look back. He debates in a variety of styles from Parliamentary to Public Forum to Oregon CX. Outside of debate, his other interests include physics, playing cello, and tennis.
CHARLES STEWART
Essay Writing Curriculum Developer and Instructor
Charles Stewart is a teacher who is deeply committed to the field of education. Currently, he is a teacher at the Nysmith School for the Gifted, where he teaches 8th-grade Language Arts in addition to two electives, one focused on reading and analyzing global literature and another that is focused on honing one's creative writing skills. He graduated from GMU with a degree in English and a focus on language and writing. He understands the importance of making education more accessible and is excited to join the mission in helping children further their education and, more importantly, their mental health and growth.