DECA (organization)

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DECA

Formation	1946; 78 years ago (1946)
Type	Career and Technical Student Organization (CTSO)
Legal status	Nonprofit
Location	1908 Association Drive Reston, Virginia, 20191–1591 United States
Membership	262,000+
President	Lori Hairston
Executive Director	Frank Peterson
Staff	25
Website	www.deca.org
Formerly called	Distributive Education Clubs of America

DECA Inc., formerly Distributive Education Clubs of America, is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit career and technical student organization (CTSO) with more than 260,000^[1] members in all 50 U.S. states, Washington, DC; Australia, Canada, China, Germany, India, Mexico, Poland, Puerto Rico, Spain, and Vietnam. The United States Congress, the United States Department of Education and state, district and international departments of education authorize DECA's programs.

DECA is organized into two unique student divisions each with programs designed to address the learning styles, interests, and focus of its members. The High School Division includes over 260,000 members in over 3,000 schools.^[2] The Collegiate Division (referred to as Delta Epsilon Chi until July 1, 2010^[3] ) includes over 4,700 members in 200+ colleges and universities.^[2]

The organization's mission statement is as follows:

DECA prepares emerging leaders and entrepreneurs in marketing, finance, hospitality and management in high schools and colleges around the globe. The four components of the organization's Comprehensive Learning Program are that DECA integrates into classroom instruction, applies learning, connects to business, and promotes competition. DECA prepares the next generation to be academically prepared, community-oriented, professionally responsible, experienced leaders.

Dr. William Morrison served as executive director from 1992 to 2014. Patrick Anderson served as executive director from 2014 to 2018. Briggs Marett served as the executive director in 2018. Braden Page formerly served as president.^[4] Henry Patterson (again) is currently serving as the executive director since 2020. Ohm Patel is currently serving as president.

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According to DECA's bylaws,^[5] the organization is governed by four primary bodies:

Executive Director - The executive director is responsible for implementing the board's policies, serving as the fiscal agent and primary spokesperson of the organization, and employing such staff as necessary to plan and execute the board's policies. The executive director is Frank Peterson.

Board of Directors - An eleven-member Board of Directors establishes policies relative to the interpretation and implementation of the constitution and bylaws. The current President of the board of directors is Scott Jones and the current President-Elect is Steven Mitchell.

National Advisory Board - DECA's National Advisory Board (NAB) is composed of business partners that provide strategic advice for the organizations, professional insight on content and crucial financial support for programming. The current chair of the NAB is Mike Brown from M & M Productions.

Congressional Advisory Board - DECA's Congressional Advisory Board (CAB) is a bipartisan group of United States Senators and Congressmen and women representing varied political philosophies, but all supporting career and technical student organizations as an integral part of delivering career and technical education to ensure that America's youth are college and career ready.

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The International Career Development Conference (ICDC) is available to all DECA members. Although only qualifying members may take part in the competitive events series, the conference also offers workshops, academies, and networking for students who wish to further their business skills or gain knowledge about business. DECA ICDC is generally held in April or May of each year and 23,000+ members, advisors, and business professionals attend the conference. The location of the conference rotates between three cities: Anaheim, California; Atlanta, Georgia; and Orlando, Florida.

Competition hierarchy:

• Regional (in some areas, this is known as Area Competition or District Competition)
• State Career Development Conference (SCDC)
• International Career Development Conference (ICDC)

Other conferences include:

• Association Fall Leadership Conferences
• Association Career Development Conferences (CDC)
• Central Region Leadership Conference (CRLC)
• Emerging Leader Summit (ELS; formerly WROTC & SOLT)
• Sports and Entertainment Marketing Conference (SEM)
• The Ultimate DECA Power Trip
• Western Region Leadership Conference (WRLC)

DECA allows members to participate in ten different types of competitive events:

• Principles of Business Administration Events
• Team Decision Making Events
• Individual Series Events
• Personal Finance Literacy Events
• Business Operations Research Events
• Project Management Events
• Entrepreneurship Events
• Marketing Representative Events
• Professional Selling and Consulting Events
• Online Events ^[6]

^[7]Competitive events fall into six different career clusters:

• Business Management & Administration
• Entrepreneurship
• Marketing
• Finance
• Hospitality & Tourism
• Personal Financial Literacy

DECA's Executive Officer Teams consist of one President and four vice-presidents for both the high school and collegiate divisions. A new team of officers is elected every year at the International Career Development Conference by voting delegates from around the globe. The Executive Officer Teams serve as brand ambassadors for the organization during their term by attending conferences where they give speeches and present workshops.

2024-2025 High School Executive Officer Team

President: Sarah Sonny (TX)

Central Region Vice President: Fatimah Naraghi (IA)

North Atlantic Region Vice President: Suraj Patel (NY) ^[8]

Southern Region Vice President: Patrick Anderson (VA)

Western Region Vice President: William Morrison (CO)

2024-2025 Collegiate Executive Officer Team

President: Ohm Patel (IN)

Vice President: Sophia Smith (AZ)

Vice President: Samer Youssouf (NV)

Vice President: James Rogers (NV)

• Official website