Rishi Menon is a senior and four-year DECA member from Waubonsie Valley High School who is super excited to be this year’s Vice President of Member Engagement! Coming from a chapter that only started his freshman year (after a multi-decade hiatus), Rishi had no idea what DECA was really about, stood for, or that there even was a State Action Team until his junior year! But there were 2 things that hooked him: learning more about business and the prospect of donuts at the first meetings, and he’s had a great experience connecting with new people and developing interpersonal skills so far.

As VP of Competitive Events in his school DECA chapter, Rishi has had the opportunity to organize and lead presentations, assist members with competition prep, and finally be the one who gives those delicious fried sweets to the prospective members. He hopes to guide his young DECA chapter to success and wants to host some great fundraisers in the future!

One of his goals for the year involves making the website a one-stop shop for all chapter and member resources that are critical to a great DECA experience. Rishi also plans to improve communication and socialization in the ILDECA community, as he firmly believes that after experiencing far too many online competitions and canceled events due to Covid, it’s important for everyone to bond with each other on a deeper level. Above all, however, Rishi has made it his primary mission to get some actually good pizza for ILCDC.

Outside of DECA, Rishi loves being active and playing all kinds of sports, and has been a setter on the school volleyball team for all 4 years! He is also heavily involved with music, playing the saxophone for 7 years and performing in a variety of concerts and performances both as a band and in a saxophone quintet. After high school, he plans to major in either Finance, Economics, or even engineering and become a consultant (for now at least). He is extremely excited to start the college journey and apply all the DECA knowledge he’s gained in the real world.

Rishi is incredibly honored to be elected to the SAT, and he vows to use this opportunity to learn from some of the greatest people in the community and do his best to make a long-lasting impact on ILDECA.