About Us

We provide our members with opportunities to develop leadership, enhance communication skills, and serve others. Sea Dragons Gavel Club members are learning to become confident leaders through differentiated education in communication and leadership. Through community service, they are building an inclusive environment that connects people and supports society.

Learn more about our story and our team and our causes!

Our Mission Statement

We provide a supportive and positive learning experience in which members are empowered to develop communication and leadership skills, resulting in greater self-confidence and personal growth.

See how Gavel Clubs have made a difference in the next generation worldwide

Kareena Hassan

Gavel Club helped Kareena transform from a shy teen to a confident speaker, enhancing her university and professional presentations.

HEAR KEREENA’S STORY

Leilei Bao

As President of Words Worth Gavel Club, Leilei aims to inspire new members and help them develop leadership skills.

HEAR LEILEI’S STORY

Charles Kalungi Clever

Charles, through Gavel Clubs, explained how hormones affect love and stressed self-love’s role in healthy relationships.

HEAR CHARLES’S STORY

Max Hu

Through Gavel Club, Max gained the confidence to start a youth public speaking group, helping teens overcome communication anxiety.

HEAR MAX’S STORY

Afreen Macksood and her mother

Afreen honed her public speaking skills in Gavel Club, culminating in her victory at the Global Youth Gavaliers World Championship at age 13.

HEAR AFREEN’S STORY

Bruce Yu

Bruce founded Sea Dragons Gavel Club to bring Toastmasters’ supportive community and leadership opportunities to his schoolmates.

HEAR BRUCE’S STORY

We work differently

Our Education
  • $0 — completely free. Except for some minimum costs for educational materials, speech contests, and events.
  • Studying Toastmasters’ Traditional Education Program, a program that has existed and been improved for many decades. Learning by doing various enrichment projects in a long-term system.
  • Learning by doing, learning speeches while speaking, improving from feedback from peers, and taking charge of a role in every meeting to assume leadership responsibilities.
  • Development of speaking, leadership, confidence, live feedback, interpersonal skills; strong soft-skills value often under-valued but very durable.
Other Education
  • Varies: similar public speaking courses are on average $100 per hour in China; some are even more expensive, up to $150. One-off semesterly payments can be up to $1,000+.
  • Varies: Most of them are singular curricula for a specific speech competition and do not truly focus on the improvement of oneself as a person in society and in life.
  • One-sided education from a teacher or tutor under classroom pressure. No experience of working collaboratively, nor of learning in a sense of community.
  • Mostly for competitions and college applications. Students often aim just to win, with public speaking focused on contests rather than real-world communication or leadership.

Core Values

  • Integrity – We match our actions with our words, demonstrate honesty and trustworthiness, communicate with sincerity and thoughtfulness, have the courage to acknowledge our mistakes, and always strive to do the right thing.
  • Respect – We treat all with dignity, welcome diverse perspectives, acknowledge all contributions, believe that all have positive intent, practice mutual accountability, and critique but never demean.
  • Service – We strive to provide high-value, exceptional support by being responsive, attentive, and passionate in fulfilling our duties as individuals and as an organization to all.
  • Excellence – We consistently strive to meet or exceed expectations by upholding the Toastmasters Promise, nurturing a collaborative environment, innovating to deliver creative solutions, and optimizing quality to produce superior service.