Some of the members were still in high school when FBLA-PBL began winning the coveted title of “Florida Chapter of the Year.” The ranking was achieved for the third time at the 2011 State Leadership Conference for Future Business Leaders of America–Phi Beta Lambda held March 10-13 in Tampa. Twenty-nine members of the chapter, an organization in the College of Business Administration at Florida International University (FIU), were among the almost 600 people attending the conference.
“Our main mission was to capture this title and we’re proud to return to campus with it,” said chapter president Bruno Cevallos.
Conference results in abundant awards and honors.
At the conference, with its theme of “Electrifying Leadership,” Emmanuella Casimir was elected 2011-12 District V vice president.
Jose Betancourt, the outgoing Florida FBLA-PBL President, was given the Rob Kelleher Memorial Award, presented annually to the member who best exemplifies the leadership, ideals and aspirations of the organization.
The chapter placed first in three important categories:
- Local Annual Business Report
- Free Enterprise Project: “Economic Xperience: Exploring the Great Recession”
- Community Service Project: “Healthy Steps,” raising awareness and funds for the American Diabetes Association
Team awards went to:
Emerging Business Issues
First Place: Eric Lopez, Angelica Navarrete, Quy Van
Integrated Marketing Campaign
First Place: Jose Nunez, Michael Perez, Juan Zambrano
Computer Game and Simulation Programming
Second Place: Laura Alonso and Saul Perez
Second Place: Business Presentation
Bruno Cevallos and Gedma Estrada
In individual competition, Christopher Cuan placed third in the highly competitive Public Speaking category.
Claudia Capdesuner won first place in the Job Interview category.
“One goal of FBLA-PBL is to facilitate the transition from school to work,” she said. “Because of this competition, I am more than ready to apply the skills to real life interviews.”
Other individual winners were:
Future Business Teacher
First Place: Yelen Nunez
Financial Analysis and Decision Making
Third Place: Bruno Cevallos
Information Management
Second Place: Daniel Fernandez
Third Place: Saul Perez
Networking Concepts
Second Place: Laura Alonso
Fourth Place: Daniel Fernandez
Client Services
Third Place: Mauricio Rodrigues
Financial Services
Second Place: Maria Sabando
Future Business Executive
Fourth Place: Emmanuella Casimir
Hospitality Management
Second Place: Barbara Borrero
Human Resource Management
Fifth Place: Leunelys Lopez
Impromptu Speaking
Fourth Place: Jonathan Yoc Kim
Sales Presentation
Third Place: Saad Munaf
Yanyn San Luis (BA ’10) and Jose Toscano (BA ’97) serve as FBLA-PBL chapter advisors.
