February 24, 2025 – The Brewer Foundation and New York University recently announced the advancing "Sweet 16" teams competing in the 2024-25 International Public Policy Forum (IPPF) — the first and only debate contest that gives high school students the opportunity to engage in written and oral debates on issues of public policy.
By advancing into the "Sweet 16" round, the teams remain eligible to win an all-expenses-paid trip to the IPPF Finals in New York City, where the IPPF World Champion will be awarded a $10,000 grand prize. The 2024 – 25 IPPF topic resolution is: “Resolved: Equitable access to pharmaceuticals should be prioritized over protecting intellectual property rights.”
"These teams dedicated months to analyzing a complex public policy issue and crafting written advocacy on both sides of the question," says William A. Brewer III, chairman of the Brewer Foundation and founder of the IPPF. "The upcoming round is pivotal, as it decides which teams earn the opportunity to travel to New York and face off in the ultimate test of oral advocacy.”
The advancing teams are:
AfterSkool Learning Centre from Singapore, Singapore
Akademeia High School from Warsaw, Poland
Alpha Co from La Crescenta, California
Alpharetta High School from Alpharetta, Georgia
Blue Valley High School from Stilwell, Kansas
Carroll Senior High School from Southlake, Texas
duPont Manual High School from Louisville, Kentucky
Ethos Academy from Vancouver, BC, Canada
Kealakehe Public High School from Kailua-Kona, Hawaii
North Allegheny Senior High School from Wexford, Pennsylvania
Peak to Peak Charter School from Lafayette, Colorado
Rowland Hall from Salt Lake City, Utah
Slovak Debate Association from Bratislava, Slovakia
The Westminster Schools from Atlanta, Georgia
Westwood High School from Austin, Texas
William Mason High School from Mason, Ohio
The IPPF's 24th annual contest began in October 2024, when 283 teams representing schools in 26 countries submitted qualifying round essays affirming or negating the IPPF topic. A committee reviewed those essays and determined the “Round of 64” teams based on the overall quality of each 3,000-word essay.
In November, the “Round of 64” teams began a single-elimination, written debate tournament. Each team was assigned a position (affirmative or negative) and then volleyed papers back and forth with another team via email. A panel of judges reviewed the essays in the order they were presented and selected the advancing 32 teams, who then engaged in another round of debates against new opponents.
The "Sweet 16" round is now underway and will conclude in late March with the announcement of the advancing final eight teams. To learn more about the IPPF, visit www.ippfdebate.com.