2023-2024 State Officer Team

President
Grace Wu

VP of Career Development
Lauren Simpson

VP of Hospitality
Eleanor Alonzo

Hi! My name is Grace Wu, and I’m a junior at Ames High School. I am so excited and honored to serve as your Iowa DECA President this year! I became involved in DECA during my freshman year, and since then, it has truly changed my life. Not only have I been given countless opportunities to grow and develop my skills, but I’ve also built relationships and made memories that I will cherish forever. During this year, I hope to enhance connection throughout Iowa DECA and help everyone get the most out of their experience! One of my goals is to connect with chapters through visits and calls, and increase communication between the state and local levels through routine updates. I also hope to provide opportunities for different chapters to collaborate, so we can strengthen both individual chapters and Iowa DECA as a whole! Outside of DECA, I am involved in varsity cross country, Key Club, NHS, AMC, and piano. In my free time, I enjoy listening to music, meeting new people, watching movies, and exploring cafes or coffee shops! I also love to hike, paddle board, and go hammocking! I am incredibly excited to serve as your 2023-2024 Iowa DECA President, and I look forward to an amazing year!

Hi! My name is Lauren Simpson. I will be a senior at Southeast Polk High School. I am involved in a variety of clubs and organizations at SEP such as; Best Buddies, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Student Council, Mentors in Violence Prevention, National Honor Society, as well as my school’s yearbook and newspaper. I am also a member of Southeast Polk’s Golf and Bowling Teams. When I am not busy I enjoy spending time cheering on the SEP Rams at many sporting events and fine art performances. I also enjoy watching movies, going shopping, and grabbing coffee with friends and family. I love socializing with all sorts of people. I am excited to get the opportunity to interact with everyone as the VP of Career Development! My main goals for this upcoming year are to increase relationships between the state officer team and each individual chapter’s officer team. I want to create relationships with the officer teams of each school and work on connecting them with opportunities outside of the classroom and in their communities. I also want to help Iowa DECA stand out in the community by increasing sponsorships. I am planning on DECA members to be a part of the community but, I am also hoping to help the community be a part of DECA. Most importantly, I am looking forward to collaborating with our DECA chapters from around the state to increase activities and opportunities for our members.

I’m Eleanor Alonzo and I am a Senior at Osage High School. I am very involved within my school and in many activities including: Cross Country, Track, Dance Team, Color Guard, Band and Choir, along with many other things. I am an optimistic person that loves to talk to people and is very caring. I have been a part of DECA since my Freshman year and I’m very excited to take a bigger role within the program becoming the VP of Hospitality. One of my main goals is to increase community service hours. With increasing service hours, more people, and businesses, are able to know about DECA. Knowledge about DECA is very slim and I believe that more people should be involved and know what DECA is. DECA is truly a great community where people can explore interests and learn from their experiences as well. I’m excited to help grow Iowa DECA as well as meet, and socialize, with new people!

VP of Leadership
Alexis Dirksen

VP of Marketing
Fatimah Naraghi

Hello everyone, my name is Alexis Dirksen (lex) and I’m your 2023-2024 Iowa DECA VP of Leadership! I have loved DECA ever since my first district competition and I knew it was something I wanted to pursue. I participate in a lot of things including band, cross country, tennis, theater, speech, debate, science bowl, battle of the books, key club, and much more; however DECA is probably my favorite. I also work as a lifeguard, swim instructor and I ref youth soccer. My favorite things to do in my free time is read and volunteer at a local clinic. This last year I participated in the entrepreneurship series event, and the independent business plan written event. I was lucky enough to have the honor of going to ICDCand participate in events such as fall conference and districts.This year I am looking forward to working on improving DECA’s educational opportunities, community impact, and overall membership and participation. I have loved getting to know you guys and I can’t wait to keep being able to form connections with all of you over the next year!

Hi! My name is Fatimah Naraghi, and I’m beyond excited to serve as your Iowa DECA VP of Marketing! I’m a Junior at Ames High School and have the honor to serve as my chapter’s VP of Marketing as well. Outside of DECA, I’m involved in Varsity and Competition cheerleading, where I am an All-American and, on the Iowa, All-State team. I’m also involved in soccer, NHS, Student Council, Key Club, and Elementary After School Tutoring (EAST). I love to work with people of all ages and use my passion and creativity to give back to my community. My goals for this coming year are to prioritize social media marketing to help grow membership, engage current members, and promote a growing diversity throughout the organization. In addition, I’m hoping to create an Iowa DECA Scholarship to provide opportunities for members of all financial backgrounds. Most importantly, I strive to further my leadership skills and help members throughout their DECA journey. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to me if you have any questions. I’m thrilled to meet and work with all of you as an officer, and looking forward to an amazing year!