DECA Inc. congratulates two recipients of the DECA Inc. Outstanding Service Award, one of DECA’s most prestigious recognitions.
This award acknowledges marketing or business education personnel who have rendered distinguished contributions to further the mission of DECA Inc. at the international level for more than five years. This year, DECA is honored to recognize chapter advisors, chartered association advisors, Career and Technical Education leaders and former DECA Inc. staff with this award.
Karen Brettingen
Karen Brettingen from Minnesota has served as a chapter advisor in both Minnesota and Wisconsin for nearly 35 years. Karen has provided visionary leadership as co-chair of DECA’s Competitive Events Taskforce. During her term, she worked closely with business and industry to ensure DECA’s competitive events program continues to align with current business and industry practices — with the integrated marketing campaign events and project management events being two of the most notable improvements. Karen served as an event director at previous ICDCs.
Linda Smith
Linda Smith of Georgia is honored for her nearly 40 years of contributions to DECA at all levels. For more than 20 years, she has most recently served as the Program Specialist at the Georgia Department of Education for the marketing and hospitality and tourism programs. She has used her varied background to be a creative idea generator focused on improving teachers’ professional development for DECA advisors and ensuring that marketing education programs are aligned to industry standards. Having served as a DECA advisor or chartered association advisor in multiple states, Linda contributed to the ICDCs when they were in Georgia, Missouri, North Carolina and Virginia.
Karen and Linda will be presented with their honors at the 2022 DECA International Career Development Conference in Atlanta, Geogia.
