Ian Gao

philosophy · politics · policy

Ian Gao wearing headphones at a museum exhibit

About me

Hi! I'm Ian Gao, a senior at Leland High School.

I'm the President of Debate at Leland Speech and Debate, a program of 200+ students ranked third in California and tenth in the nation. This summer I competed at the 2026 National Speech and Debate Tournament, where I placed 19th in the nation in Lincoln-Douglas Debate.

I'm also a student researcher at UC Santa Barbara in policy analysis, where I evaluated the effects of the Collaborative Reform initiative on Use-of-Force Incidents in San Francisco, and at UC Santa Cruz in philosophy, where I closely annotated contemporary philosophers on the many theories of love, contributing to my mentor's doctoral thesis.

Outside of research and debate, I enjoy acting as a cast member in Leland Theatre, interning for political campaigns I believe in, increasing civic engagement among young people through courtwatching, playing basketball, and learning a few songs on the guitar!

Speech and Debate

I compete in Lincoln-Douglas and Policy Debate, Duo Interpretation, and Extemporaneous Speaking. This past year I was Captain of Lincoln-Douglas; I'm now President of Debate at Leland Speech and Debate.

Ian speaking at a podium on stageIan speaking on stage, gesturing mid-sentence
At the 2025 Leland Speech and Debate Performance Night.

Results

TournamentResultYear
NSDA Nationals, LD19th in the nation2026
CA State Championships, LDTop 302026
Philhistorian Invitational, Open LDChampion2024
NSDA Last Chance Qualifier, Open LDFirst seed, undefeated2025 & 2026
Stephen Stewart Invitational, Open LDQuarterfinals2025
Ian at the 2026 NSDA National Speech and Debate Tournament
At the 2026 NSDA National Tournament.
Ian speaking from a laptop stand in a debate round, with a judge seated in front of him
Mid-round.

As President of Debate

  • I lead a nationally competitive team of 200 students, taking them to regional and national tournaments as the best public-school program in our district.
  • I manage registration and communication for all judges, coaches, and tournaments, and oversee our ~20-person student leadership team of VPs and Chairs, heading biweekly leadership meetings and holding the team accountable.
  • I headed and executed a complete overhaul of the team — restructuring from 2 to 5 periods, building a tailored roster by event, and facilitating the transition to a new head coach.
  • As Captain of LD this past year, I wrote lesson plans and assignments for weekly meetings, mentored novice debaters, and led bimonthly topic-research sessions on issues like plea bargaining, the living wage, military intervention, and artificial general intelligence for my team of 20 debaters.

Research

Cambridge Center of International Research

CCIR · Mentored by Oxford Professor Dr. Othon Anastasakis

  • Authored a 15,000-word original research paper, “Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Limits of International State-Building: How Stable Is the Post-Dayton Order?”
  • Analyzed the impact of the Dayton Peace Agreement on Bosnia and Herzegovina’s political institutions, with a focus on ethnic power-sharing, governance, and democratic stability.
  • Presented twice at the CCIR Research Symposium.

UC Santa Barbara — Summer Research Academies

Track 11: Policy Puzzle · June–July 2025 · Mentored by PhD candidate Travis Candeias

  • Earned an A in INT 93LS — Applied Research Methods for Policy Analysis, covering quasi-experimental design and latent-variable modeling for policy evaluation.
  • Co-authored “A Model Policing Agency: Analyzing the Impact of the Collaborative Reform Initiative on Use of Force in San Francisco.”
  • Used R to analyze large SFPD use-of-force datasets from 2018–2023, evaluating the Collaborative Reform Initiative’s effectiveness by incident severity and demographics.

UC Santa Cruz — Science Internship Program

PHI-03 · June 2026–present · Mentored by philosophy PhD candidate Terri Preszle

  • “What is Love? — A Philosophical Inquiry.”
  • Close reading and annotation of ancient and contemporary philosophers on the many theories of love, contributing to my mentor’s doctoral thesis.
Ian presenting an analysis of SFPD use-of-force data at UC Santa Barbara
Presenting our SFPD use-of-force analysis at UC Santa Barbara.

Campaigning

Ian on the Matt Mahan for Governor campaign
Ian with Matt Mahan and fellow campaign volunteers

Matt Mahan for Governor of California

Campaign Intern & Phonebank Lead · Feb 2026 – Jun 2026

  • Led weekly phone-banking sessions with 20+ volunteers, training them to reach tens of thousands of voters.
  • Helped organize town halls, GOTV rallies, meet-and-greets, and an election watch party across the Bay Area.
  • Ran voter outreach — recruiting and managing volunteers for canvassing and literature drops across thousands of homes.

Evan Low for Congress

Campaign Intern · Sep 2024 – Nov 2024

  • Phone banking, canvassing, and literature drops (~200 houses door-to-door).
  • Weekly team meetings on campaign strategy and event planning.

Theatre

I've been part of six productions with Leland Theatre since 2023.

Ian on stage in a red patterned dressing gown, in scene with another actor
Ian mid-scene with the ensemble on a chequered stage floor
Ian in scene with another actor on a set decorated with blossom

  1. Clue: On Stage

    Spring 2026

    Colonel Mustard

  2. Chicago

    Winter 2025

    Set Crew Lead

  3. Mamma Mia

    Spring 2025

    Sky

  4. The Importance of Being Earnest

    Winter 2024

    Algernon Moncrieff

  5. Mean Girls

    Spring 2024

    Kevin G / Ensemble

  6. The Laramie Project

    Winter 2023

    Greg Pierotti, Rulon Stacey · also Aaron McKinney, Shadow & The Bailiff

Ian performing on stage under coloured lights
Ian and two castmates in period costume on stage
Ian and a castmate in metallic gold and iridescent costumes in front of a red curtain

Watch some of my scenes! ↗

Get in touch

The best way to reach me is a short email! — iangao0903@gmail.com