Future Business Leaders of America
|
|
The Future Business Leaders of America, or FBLA, is an international Career and Technical Student Organization that has its headquarters in Reston, Virginia. FBLA is a non-profit organization of high school, middle school ("FBLA Middle Level"), and college ("Phi Beta Lambda") students, as well as including professional members that primarily helps students transition to the business world. Local FBLA chapters are often connected to their high school's business education department.
| Contents |
History
Dr. Hamden Forkner created the concept of FBLA in 1937. The first FBLA chapter was chartered in 1942. There are now approximately 240,000 members worldwide.
Structure
FBLA is structured into various levels of organization. At the first level is the chapter level, generally consisiting of individual high schools. Next is the Sectional level, consisting of chapters in the same general area. Then there is state, consisting of the sections within that state, and finally the national level. The progress of competitions goes through this same hiearchy. FBLA's current President and CEO is Jean Buckley.
Competitions
FBLA holds yearly competitions that include technology and speaking oriented contests such as: Computer Concepts, Information Processing, Public Speaking, and Website Development. The 2005 National Leadership Conference is being held in Orlando, Florida during June 23-27.
The competitions start at the sectional level, some at state, where chapters may submit people to compete in the various competitions, and winners progress to the state, then national level. At the competitions there are many workshops that help the high school students develop leadership and business related skills and formalities.
External links
- Official FBLA-PBL Website (http://www.fbla-pbl.org)