Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) – Arizona members and advisers have strong showing at National Leadership Conference!

Submitted by: Ryan Hamilton, ADE CTSO Team Leader

On June 27, 2015 over 315 Arizona high school students and business teachers attended the 2015 Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) National Leadership Conference in Chicago, IL. In order to qualify for this conference, students competed in over 60 different business-related events at the state level and the top winners were chosen to represent Arizona at the National Conference. With more than 10,000 FBLA members, advisers, and volunteers from across the country in attendance, the Arizona delegation had a strong showing, bringing home 17 national awards including the largest state membership increase in the nation! Arizona had 12 performance-event finalists that are listed below.

  •  2nd Place in Public Speaking I – Leilani Lewis from San Tan Foothills HS
  • 3rd Place in Database Design and Applications – Caprial Grow from Centennial HS
  • 5th Place in Insurance and Risk Management – Samuel Rosales from Combs HS
  • 5th Place in Microsoft Office Specialist (Word) – Zeke Sweeney from Kingman High School
  • 6th Place in Networking Concepts – Brian Hurst from Greenway HS
  • 7th Place in Digital Video Production – Ryan Bowman, Brianna Koener, and Jacob Lee from Centennial HS
  • 7th Place in Public Service Announcement – JJ Abramovich, Bill Babyar, and Michael Santos from Estrella Foothills HS
  • 7th Place in Virtual Business Challenge – Christian Barrera, Daisy Garay, and Jesus Lozano from Metro Tech HS
  • 8th Place in Virtual Business Challenge – Nakai Lake & Dylan Zawicki from Prescott HS
  • 9th Place in Future Business Leader – Ariel Carr from Centennial HS
  • 10th Place in Desktop Publishing – McKenna Fosdick and Vanessa Freeman from Centennial HS
  • 10th Place in Digital Video Production – Edwin Eliosa & Daniel Gomez from Metro Tech
  • Who’s Who Award – Kenzie George from Boulder Creek High School and Ian Mullane from Centennial HS
  • Business Achievement Award –  America Level – 12 Recipients
  • Arizona – Largest Increase in Membership
  • Arizona – State Chapter with the Most BAA Participants in the Western Region

FBLA is a dynamic organization of young people who are actively interested in pursuing careers in business. Housed and funded in-part by Career and Technical Education Division in the Arizona Department of Education, Diane Douglas – State Superintendent of Public Instruction, FBLA is an integral part of Business and IT programs in Arizona. With over 225,000 members nationwide, FBLA is the premier student business organization in the entire world. Along with scholarship, community service, and civic service opportunities, FBLA provides recognition and leadership activities directly related to attainment of specific occupational and leadership skills.