Team LAUNCH

lujain Abushhiwa

Lujain Abushhiwa is a junior at Marysville Getchell High School and is greatly honored to be serving as the 2022-2023 Area 1 president. This being Lujain’s second year being part of DECA, her journey and experience within DECA have inspired her to pursue a major in the business industry. Competing in Business Law and Ethics Team Decision-Making and qualifying for SCDC have helped her continue to push in pursuit of her dreams. As a young kid, she has always wanted to be a lawyer and with the help of DECA, she hopes to become a Lawyer in the Business profession! Lujain dreams to attend Seattle U or New York University.

Lujain tries to maintain her involvement around school where she currently serves as the Vice President of her school’s Asian and Pacific Islander Student Union, the Secretary/Treasurer of her DECA chapter, and is an officer for Marysville Getchell’s Business and Marketing club.

Outside of Academics and DECA, Lujain consistently has a new set of hobbies. At this time, she enjoys taking walks and exploring the wonders of nature and now has taken a love for baking! Her favorite color is all colors, she enjoys all the bright colors that her eyes set on! Lujain is beyond honored and thrilled to be the 2022-2023 Area 1 President. She is extremely excited to meet, interact, and collaborate with members to make this year one of the best!

abhyudai tandon

This fall, Abhyudai will be a senior at Henry M Jackson High School where he has been a member of DECA for 2 years now. In both of these years he qualified for SCDC, winning 7th place in Automotive Services Marketing at the Area 2 Conference in his first year and 2nd place in Hotel and Lodging Management at Area his second year.

This year, he is also part of his chapter officer leadership team, serving as the Creative Director! Outside of DECA, he is part part of his school’s robotics team where he serves as a Senior Programmer. Abhyudai’s target is to attain direct admission into the Computer Science major at University of Washington! He adds that, “DECA has shaped me into the person I am today, and just like it has made such a large impact on my life, I aim to make a large impact on DECA as a state officer!”

akhil srinivasan

Akhil Srinivasan, a senior at Hazen High School in Renton (home of the Seahawks), is excited to be your 2022-2023 Area 5 President. Akhil has been a member of DECA for three years, and has won 1st place in Area Competition, is a two-time SCDC competitor, and an ICDC qualifier.

Three years of membership have been extremely rewarding for Akhil, with the opportunity to travel around the country, and expose himself to real life business scenarios. Though his first year was intimidating, as he had never even worn a suit before, much less learned about business, he has grown to cherish and appreciate his DECA community, and strive to go above and beyond. He strongly believes that the rewards of DECA are unmatched, and seeks to bring this opportunity to as many people as he can.

Outside of DECA, Akhil is a varsity cross-country athlete, a two-time half-marathoner, and a soccer player for over 12 years. He is a member of National Honor Society, and loves to learn, from math and history in school, to the geography and cultural diversity of the world. Akhil loves to travel; he has been to 14 countries and 9 different states, and boasts a souvenir pin collection containing every place he has visited. Born and raised in the Seattle area, he loves to hike with his family and explore the Pacific Northwest. He is also a huge Jeopardy fan–he loves trivia, and memorized the countries, capitals, and flags of the world in 6th grade.

Akhil desires to spread kindness and help others in every way possible; as an aspiring leader, he seeks to bring and encourage diversity and equity. He is thrilled to serve members of DECA across the state as your Area 5 President.

chris kim

Born in Iowa City, Iowa, and finding a home with Richland High School’s Class of 2023, Christopher Kim has been a proud member of Washington DECA since freshman year up to the moment you’re reading this. Not only is he excited and honored to serve the amazing chapters of Area 6, but he’s also ready to serve along with his fellow Washington DECA State Officers, to make your experience with the organization to be superb. In his current DECA run, he has qualified for SCDC 2020 along with SCDC 2022 in the Entrepreneurship series. Also in 2022, he qualified for ICDC with his SBE team.

Outside of DECA, Chris has been the Class of 2023 Sophomore President, the German Club Publicity Manager, and an Officer for the Environmental Club. Within the Drama Club he has joined the Officer team in becoming a Publicity Manager. Additionally, he’s acted, Stage Managed, and Assistant Directed. Not only that, but he can also play the Saxophone.

However, with every step taken in a direction outside of DECA, there was a drive to serve the very organization where it all began for him. To him, DECA has given him the confidence, the knowledge, and the skills that motivated him to push himself into the unknown by taking chances while still making smart decisions.

Although the future is uncertain and goals change, one thing he can guarantee is that he will give it his best in serving Area 6 and Washington DECA.

kirra anderson

Kirra Anderson is a four year DECA member from Kelso, Washington. She is a senior at Kelso High School and a sophomore at Lower Columbia College. Kirra is thrilled to serve as Washington DECA’s Area 9 President during the 2022-2023 school year.

Throughout her DECA journey, Kirra has worked closely within her chapter to strengthen member retention and maximize member potential. She attended SCDC her freshman and junior year and WRLC her sophomore year. During the 2020-2021 school year, she earned the title of Kelso High School Chapter President. She was proud to have increased membership during the challenges of COVID.

Along with DECA, Kirra is involved with National Honors Society, Pep Club, Art Club, and is a Senior Class officer. She is currently obtaining her AA-DTA and plans to transfer to Arizona State University to earn her BA in Forensic Science. Her goal is to become a Forensic Technician or Crime Scene Investigator. Outside of school, you can find Kirra at her favorite hiking locations, seeking out up and coming artists to attend concerts, or at the movie theater watching the latest Marvel movie. When it comes to DECA, she likes to quote Captain America’s infamous line, “I can do this all day.”

Her passion for DECA has become insurmountable over the years and she hopes to share her passion with the rest of Washington DECA. Kirra prides herself in welcoming everybody and being an advocate for all members. She knows that she will look back at these years and be thankful for the friendships she has made and the memories that will last a lifetime.

abhinav sampath

Abhinav Sampath is a junior at West Valley High School who is excited to serve as your Area 10 President. He first joined DECA in his sophomore year, because he had some friends in the club that told him that would be a good idea. In his junior year, Abhinav served as his chapter’s president. He is excited to blast off with Team Launch.

Over the last two years, Abhinav has only competed in the Start-up Business Plan and Accounting Applications events, placing first in each, both times, at the Area 10 Conference. He loves the competitive spirit created by these competitions, as well as the guidance of DECA teaching him to be a leader.

In addition to DECA, Abhinav participates in Knowledge Bowl, plays tennis, and competes in math competitions, such as the AMC series, and has qualified for the USAMO. He loves playing chess and hopes to major in Computer Science at the University of Washington to learn how Artificial Intelligence influences people’s perspectives and decisions, and to change it for the better.