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BOSTON DEBATE LEAGUE

EIN 59-3789722 ROXBURY XING, MA

Revenue 2024
$2,021,618
Expenses 2024
$2,435,975

Program services were 65.8% of total expenses calculated — Part IX's program-services column over total expenses, both as filed.

As filed

Subsection
03
NTEE code
O50
Classification
2000
Street
1542 TREMONT ST

These codes are the IRS's own and are shown exactly as filed. What each one means is in the Business Master File documentation (opens in a new tab).

Mission and programs · 2024

Mission

THE BDL'S MISSION IS TO PREPARE YOUNG PEOPLE FOR COLLEGE, CAREER, AND ENGAGEMENT WITH THE WORLD THROUGH DEBATE-INSPIRED LEARNING IN THE CLASSROOM AND BEYOND.

  • IN THE AFTER-SCHOOL DEBATE PROGRAM, GREATER BOSTON'S MIDDLE AND HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS JOIN DEBATE TEAMS WHICH ARE COACHED BY TEACHERS IN THE SCHOOL AND COMPETE IN CITY-WIDE BDL TOURNAMENTS AND OTHER DEBATE EVENTS. AT TOURNAMENTS, STUDENTS WORK IN TEAMS OF TWO TO DEBATE REAL-WORLD POLICY QUESTIONS, FACING OPPONENTS FROM OTHER SCHOOLS AND USING COLLEGE-LEVEL TEXTS AS EVIDENCE. TO MAKE DEBATE ACCESSIBLE TO STUDENTS OF ALL SKILL LEVELS, THE AFTER-SCHOOL DEBATE PROGRAM OFFERS THREE INCREASINGLY RIGOROUS DIVISIONS AS WELL AS A SPANISH-LANGUAGE DIVISION. DURING THE 2024-25 SCHOOL YEAR, AFTER-SCHOOL DEBATE SERVED MORE THAN 740 STUDENTS AT 35 MIDDLE AND HIGH SCHOOLS.

    Expenses $1,174,052 · Revenue $537,770

  • THE DEBATE-INSPIRED CLASSROOMS (FORMERLY EVIDENCE-BASED ARGUMENTATION) INITIATIVE PARTNERS WITH SCHOOLS AND COHORTS OF TEACHERS, SUPPORTING TEACHERS IN ALL DISCIPLINES. BDL STAFF SERVE AS INSTRUCTIONAL COACHES AND PLAN AND FACILITATE FACULTY PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT. RESEARCH INDICATES THAT STUDENTS LEARN BETTER WHEN THEY TALK MORE - AND WITH EACH OTHER - IN THE CLASSROOM, SO DEBATE-INSPIRED CLASSROOMS CENTERS INSTRUCTION ON STUDENT VOICE BY OFFERING A COMPREHENSIVE SET OF TOOLS THAT TEACHERS CAN USE TO ENGAGE STUDENTS IN ACADEMIC CONTENT. WITH DEBATE-INSPIRED CLASSROOMS COACHING, TEACHERS CREATE CLASSROOM ENVIRONMENTS WHERE STUDENTS ENGAGE WITH CONTENT AND EACH OTHER IN WAYS THAT ARE MEANINGFUL, ENERGIZED, AND ALIGNED WITH REAL-WORLD PROBLEMS; WHERE STUDENTS PARTICIPATE IN EVIDENCE-BASED DISCOURSE; AND WHERE STUDENTS LEAD AND LEARN FROM EACH OTHER. DEBATE-INSPIRED CLASSROOMS REACHED 3000 STUDENTS AND 250 EDUCATORS IN PARTNER SCHOOLS AND THROUGH PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT DURING THE 2024-25 SCHOOL YEAR.

    Expenses $429,477 · Revenue $107,550

As filed on the 2024 return. The filer continues this part on Schedule O, which is not shown here.

Officers and directors · 2024

As listed in Part VII of the 2024 return, in the order the filer printed them. Each return names its own; this is not a roster the organization keeps with us.

  • KIMBERLY WILLINGHAM

    EXECUTIVE DI

    Total calculated
    $186,854
    From this org
    $170,000
    From related orgs
    $0
    Other
    $16,854
    Hours/week
    45

    Schedule J breakdown matched by us

    Base
    $170,000
    Bonus
    not reported
    Other
    not reported
    Deferred
    $16,854
    Nontaxable benefits
    not reported
    Filer's total
    $186,854

  • KIMBERLY BARTLETT-RA

    DIR OF OPERA

    Total calculated
    $163,457
    From this org
    $126,500
    From related orgs
    $0
    Other
    $36,957
    Hours/week
    40

    Schedule J breakdown matched by us

    Base
    $126,500
    Bonus
    not reported
    Other
    not reported
    Deferred
    $36,957
    Nontaxable benefits
    not reported
    Filer's total
    $163,457

  • JACKNEY JOSEPH

    DIR EXTERNAL

    Total calculated
    $162,427
    From this org
    $125,500
    From related orgs
    $0
    Other
    $36,927
    Hours/week
    40

    Schedule J breakdown matched by us

    Base
    $125,500
    Bonus
    not reported
    Other
    not reported
    Deferred
    $36,927
    Nontaxable benefits
    not reported
    Filer's total
    $162,427

  • SARAH MAYPER

    SR. INSTRUCT

    Total calculated
    $136,355
    From this org
    $121,000
    From related orgs
    $0
    Other
    $15,355
    Hours/week
    40

  • MARISA SUESCUN

    DIR OF PROGR

    Total calculated
    $136,228
    From this org
    $130,500
    From related orgs
    $0
    Other
    $5,728
    Hours/week
    40

  • KENNETH DEVEAUX

    BOARD MEMBER

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    2

  • NIKHEEL DHEKNE

    TREASURER

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    2

  • MARY DIBINGA

    BOARD MEMBER

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    1

  • ALISON EGGERS

    BOARD CHAIR/

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    3

  • CHARLES GRANDSON

    BOARD MEMBER

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    1

  • ELBERT HARDEMAN

    BOARD MEMBER

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    1

  • JOHN ISSAACSON

    CHAIRMAN EME

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    1

  • MARISA KELLY

    BOARD MEMBER

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    1

  • JULIE KURD

    BOARD MEMBER

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    1

  • MADELEINE RODGRIGUEZ

    BOARD MEMBER

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    1

  • MATT SCHNALL

    SECRETARY

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    2

  • STONE WISKE

    BOARD MEMBER

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    1

Compensation is as filed in Part VII: reportable pay from this organization and from related organizations, other compensation, and hours per week. The total, marked calculated, is our sum of the three dollar columns, with a blank column counted as $0; the form itself has no total. On a Form 990-EZ the columns are Part IV's instead, and on a Form 990-PF Part VIII's — compensation, contributions to benefit plans, and expense account — and the total sums those. A Schedule J breakdown is as filed: base pay, bonus, other, deferred compensation and nontaxable benefits from this organization, with any from related organizations beside each, and the filer's own total. It is shown with the Part VII listing of the same name on the same return. The form gives no key between the two, so that pairing is ours, and is marked matched by us. Earlier years are each on their own filing page.

Filings

  • 2024
    Revenue
    $2,021,618
    Expenses
    $2,435,975
    Contributions
    $1,347,084
    Grants paid
    $0
  • 2023
    Revenue
    $2,012,251
    Expenses
    $2,517,665
    Contributions
    $1,298,062
    Grants paid
    $0
  • 2022
    Revenue
    $3,194,922
    Expenses
    $2,397,834
    Contributions
    $2,617,646
    Grants paid
    $0

The four totals the IRS asks for on Part I of the Form 990, as filed. A dash means the figure was not present on the return — not that it was zero.

Other returns filed

  • 2021 · 990

    Revenue
    $2,256,752
    Expenses
    $2,038,937
    Assets (EOY)
    $1,568,535

  • 2020 · 990

    Revenue
    $2,166,368
    Expenses
    $1,918,967
    Assets (EOY)
    $1,599,642

  • 2019 · 990

    Revenue
    $2,459,944
    Expenses
    $1,862,386
    Assets (EOY)
    $1,330,032

Nonprofiteer parses Forms 990, 990-EZ and 990-PF, in a window of recent tax years. These returns are recorded from the IRS e-file index, so their figures were extracted by that index rather than read from the return here — treat them as a different source from the filings above, not as more of the same record. A dash means the index carries no figure; Form 990-T listings carry none at all.

Grants made

No itemized grants to organizations. Schedule I is filed only by organizations that granted more than $5,000 to a recipient, so most filers have none.

Grants received

The 10 largest by cash amount. The API serves every itemized grant.

Other IRS files

Auto-Revocation List

Not listed. The IRS publishes this list for organizations whose exemption was automatically revoked for failing to file for three consecutive years.

Publication 78

Listed as of 13 October 2026, under deductibility PC.

These are two separate IRS files on two separate schedules, shown as published and not reconciled with each other. Neither is a statement about whether a contribution is deductible today: 19,245 organizations appear in Publication 78 while the IRS's own revocation file lists them as currently revoked, more than half of those revoked before 2019. Absence from Publication 78 is evidence of nothing, and presence is not evidence either. Verify current status with the IRS before relying on it.

What this page reflects

The registration facts above come from the IRS Business Master File published 13 October 2026 and read 29 October 2026, for every organization at once. Returns through tax year 2024, the newest we have parsed for this organization.