DECA Team Wins 10th National Championship  

For the 10th year in a row, Bellevue College DECA team members are national champions. 

The team traveled to Austin, Texas to compete in the collegiate DECA national championships from April 20-24. This latest national title continues the program’s winning tradition, following their win at the collegiate DECA state competition in February. 

Bellevue College also came away with a number of individual wins: Luchia Bernar and Sofia Cardozo in marketing communications, Diya Shah in entrepreneurial operations, and Pablo Ortega in growing a business. 

“I’m excited that two of our national championships this year were in the area of entrepreneurship,” Bellevue College DECA team director Kyle Barber said. “It helps validate our recent addition of entrepreneurial marketing classes at Bellevue College to match the interest of students who want to be their own boss or try creating something from the ground up.” 

In addition, of the 28 Bellevue students who competed, 26 advanced to the final rounds of their competitions. 

“While we won more medals this year than ever before, I think I am even more proud of how well this group of students came together to form a community,” Barber said. “Often, it is hard for students to learn the concept of networking and understand how it gives them a tremendous advantage with the career search, post-graduation.” 

He added that he would like to thank coaches Heather Sneed and Jordan Wong — who traveled to Texas with the team — and Zorica Wacker and Sairam Vasudevan as they have been “instrumental as coaches, setting these students up for success,” as well as team president Maria Albuquerque. 

“It is truly a testament to her leadership abilities that the whole team performed so well,” Barber said about the latter. “I have much gratitude for her four years of service.” 

DECA is a national career development organization that started in 1946 and focuses on preparing young leaders and entrepreneurs in marketing, finance, hospitality and management. Barber, who is also the chair of the college’s academic marketing department, said it was designed to teach students about marketing in a way that they could apply what they learned practically. 

In competitions, students receive theoretical case studies and challenges related to marketing, business, accounting, or hospitality. Working alone or with a partner, they review the case study and then present to judges how they would solve the problem — which would be similar to what they could face in a real-life situation while working in business or marketing. Competitions consist of on-the-spot events in which students are presented with challenges that day, as well as prepared events in which they receive their prompts ahead of time and bring their completed projects to the competitions. Bellevue College DECA team members participate in one of each type of event.