Sydney Voicu is a senior at John Hersey High School and a 4-year DECA member. She is thrilled to serve Illinois DECA as a Vice President on the 2026-2027 Illinois State Action Team.

Sydney's DECA story began in middle school, when she kept overhearing classmates talk about a mysterious organization that took its members to Disney. Excited about the idea of an organization that could take her to one of her favorite vacation spots, she signed up as soon as she got to high school. Interested in entrepreneurship, Sydney began competing in Entrepreneurship Team Decision Making during her freshman year. She fell in love with this event and has continued to compete in ETDM with her incredible partner. A highlight of Sydney’s DECA career includes placing 5th at ICDC in 2026. Her favorite DECA memories also come from this ICDC trip to Atlanta, where she explored the city with her chapter and ate at Waffle House for the first time.

Sydney was eager to get involved with Hersey DECA’s leadership team during her sophomore year. She first served as the VP of Communications, managing her chapter’s social media and iConnect. While serving as a VP at Hersey, Sydney had the opportunity to work with her chapter’s previous president and former CRVP, Cullen Watanuki, who inspired her to join the State Action Team. Last year, Sydney was elected to serve as the president of Hersey DECA. During her presidency, Sydney helped grow the chapter to the second largest in the state and helped the chapter achieve a record number of regional medalists. As a VP of Illinois DECA, she hopes to help members across the state find success through her GPS plan, which includes guides, professionals, and socials.

Outside of DECA, Sydney is captain of her school's Illinois Congressional Debate team, a varsity tennis player, a member of National Honor Society, and a Hersey peer tutor. She also interns at Bounce Children's Foundation, where she works to support chronically ill children and their families.

In her free time, Sydney likes to shop with friends and watch rom-coms. Her favorite artists are Fleetwood Mac and Taylor Swift, who she has seen in concert twice. She also loves traveling and has visited 4 continents so far.

Sydney looks forward to connecting with the State Officer Team and cannot wait to help members across Illinois achieve their #NextBigThing this year!