Description
Tony Damico, M.A.
Adjunct Professor | Community Strategist | Civic Storyteller
For more than fifteen years, Tony Damico has lived at the intersection of rhetoric and real-world change. He teaches Elements of Public Speaking, Argumentation & Debate, and Group Communication at Long Beach City College and Mt. San Antonio College, where his courses are known for turning theory into action.
Outside the classroom, Tony co-directs Long Beach Fresh, the nonprofit championing equitable food systems across Southern California. His work there—and through the Long Beach Time Exchange community network he co-founded—shows students how persuasive communication can mobilize volunteers, influence policy, and build coalitions that last.
Tony began his community-focused approach in 2009 when he launched Shift Long Beach, producing 50 salon-style events that blended the arts with spirited public dialogue. The projects that grew from those gatherings continue to inform his teaching: argumentation is most powerful, he believes, when it reduces social isolation and advances the common good.
Armed with graduate training in Public Communication & Rhetoric from California State University, Long Beach—and a track record of “straight A” scholarship—Tony equips online learners with the evidence-driven strategies, ethical frameworks, and improvisational confidence they need to debate complex issues and lead meaningful conversations in any community.