Meet the SPEAK Team
Put your passion to work.
Meet the SPEAK Team!
Students, Volunteers, and Teachers.
SPEAK is fortunate to have a collection of dedicated teachers, directors, and community instructors. Read more about our story here.
Interested in being part of the team? Find out more here!
So many of the most important elements of education come from the bonds that are formed between students and teachers. SPEAK prides itself by offering a team of well-trained, highly qualified instructors who are each deeply dedicated to the work that we do and the people that we serve.
Some of our instructors come from a background of extensive, rigorous competitive debate training on the university level. These skills make up the core of our program, and the experience that they bring to the table is invaluable. Others are professionals and students engaged in advanced studies, whom each bring a unique skill set and perspective to the classroom.
You can find information about each of our instructors below, as well as a list of our board members and community consultants.
If you are interested in working with our team to sponsor a specific program, please contact Jessica Bullock.
SPEAK Inc. Executive Officers:
Founder & President of the Board of Directors: Jessica Bullock
Secretary: Alexander Dean
Treasurer: Bruce Bullock
SPEAK Inc. Board of Directors:
Helen Morgan
Luke Dodge
Charlie Gliserman
Toni Dutil
SPEAK Inc. Community Consultants:
Robert Sand, Professor of Law, Vermont Law School
Greg Johnson, Director of Legal Writing, Vermont Law School
Mark Oettinger, Esq., Montroll & Backus
Kathy Fox, Professor, University of Vermont
Shirley Jefferson, Associate Dean for Student Affairs and Diversity, Vermont Law School
SPEAK Executive Committee and Board of Directors:
Jessica Bullock
Founder & President of the Board of Directors
888-734-7475
JessicaBullock@speaksolutions.org
Jessica is the Founder and Chair of the Board of Directors for SPEAK. As a former college debater and former teacher, Jessica values the way that SPEAK's programs encourage participants’ confidence in both public speaking and the power of their own voices. While a student at the University of Vermont (UVM), Jessica was Co-President of UVM’s Lawrence Debate Union. As a member of the debate team, Jessica enjoyed competing at national and international debate tournaments. After graduating, Jessica spent two years teaching in Baltimore, Maryland through the Teach For America program. Jessica is passionate about education and enjoys bringing her love of teaching to SPEAK training sessions. Jessica holds a B.A. in English from UVM, a M.S.Ed. from Johns Hopkins University, and a J.D. from Vermont Law School. She loves exploring Vermont's many hikes and cross-country skiing trails with her husband and their dog!
Alexander M. Dean
Secretary
almichaeldean@gmail.com
Alexander “Al” M. Dean started his work with SPEAK in 2014 as part of the organization’s founding chapter at Vermont Law School. Al currently serves as Secretary of SPEAK’s Board of Trustees. He is a civil litigation attorney at the firm of BarrSternberg in Bennington, Vermont. He currently serves as President of the Bennington County Bar Association and as President and Trustee of the Samuel Blackmer Law Library Fund. Before practicing law, Al clerked for the Honorable Kathy C. Qasim in the New Jersey Superior Court’s Chancery Division. In law school, Al was an active member of the National Moot Court Team and taught workshops for legal writing and constitutional law. Al graduated from Vermont Law School in 2017 and earned a Bachelor of Engineering degree from Stony Brook University in 2014.
Bruce Bullock
Treasurer
Louis “Luke” Dodge is a longtime participant in SPEAK’s programming and now serves as a member of the Board of Directors. Luke participated in SPEAK’s inaugural program at the Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility, after which he taught numerous courses at that facility. Luke previously served as SPEAK’s Assistant Director for Communications, in which role he spearheaded SPEAK’s online presence and social media strategy and aided in the organization’s strategic planning. In college, Luke was an active member of UVM’s Lawrence Debate Union, and subsequently served as an Americorps*VISTA volunteer for the Vermont Affordable Housing Coalition.
Luke is also an attorney, partner, and proud cat dad. He holds a J.D. from Seton Hall Law School and a B.A. in Political Science and Economics from the University of Vermont. He currently lives in New Jersey with his partner and cats, Orwell and Fitz.
Toni Girardi Dutil
Board of Directors
Toni is an attorney in private practice in Rutland, Vermont. She is a founding member of SPEAK, Inc. and began as a volunteer when SPEAK was just a student group at Vermont Law School. As a student, Toni was awarded an Albert Schweitzer Fellowship in 2016 for SPEAK’s work with incarcerated women in Vermont's Department of Corrections. She currently serves on SPEAK’s Board of Directors.
Toni is a West Rutland native and graduate of West Rutland High School in Vermont. She volunteers as a panel hearing member on the Rutland County Community Justice Center's Reparative Restorative Justice Program and serves on the board of BROC Community Action in Southwestern Vermont. Toni serves pro bono as a guardian ad litem for children in family court matters. Toni is passionate about her community and helping others navigate difficult, often traumatic experiences that have led to their interaction with the legal system.
Charlie Gliserman
Board of Directors
Charlie Gliserman has worked in social justice-centered policy, advocacy, and organizing since 2014. She joined AARP Vermont as Associate State Director, Advocacy & Outreach in February 2023.
Charlie holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies from the University of Vermont. As a student, Charlie competed nationally and internationally with UVM’s Lawrence Debate Union and began volunteering with SPEAK.
She lives in Burlington, Vermont with her partner and two rambunctious cats.
Helen Morgan
Board of Directors
Helen Morgan Parmett, the Edwin W. Lawrence Endowed Professor of Forensics, is an Associate Professor in the Department of English and Affiliate Faculty in the Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies Program at the University of Vermont. She is also Director of the University of Vermont’s intercollegiate debate team, the Lawrence Debate Union. Helen's research and teaching centers on critical media studies, where she focuses especially on relationships among media, identity, and space/place.