Distributive Education Clubs of America, now known as DECA Inc., is an organization that prepares high school and college students for business careers in marketing, finance, hospitality, and management. DECA trains young people for leadership roles and entrepreneurship by focusing on the soft skills of business, such as self-presentation, public speaking, and business etiquette. The organization has five divisions: high school, collegiate, Delta Epsilon Chi, Professional, and Alumni. Founded in 1946, DECA has nearly 175,000 members in the United States, Canada, Guam, Puerto Rico, and Germany.

Before World War II, students became involved in distributive education through after-school training programs. These programs provided the training they needed but precluded them from involvement in other high school and college extracurricular activities. Around 1941, individual schools began forming Distributive Education Clubs to help students acquire business skills. These clubs began communicating with each other and held state-wide meetings. As the clubs became more popular, they united to plan a national organization in 1946. This effort culminated in the first Interstate Conference of Distributive Education in April 1947 in Memphis, Tennessee. Over 100 students and sponsors from twenty-two states attended this conference. In 1948, the organization’s name was changed to The Distributive Education Clubs of America (DECA). Seventeen states were accepted as charter members.

As DECA continued to grow, the organization established a national headquarters in the American Vocational Association building in Washington, D.C., in 1953. The DECA Foundation was legally incorporated, and by 1969, all fifty states had a state DECA association. In 1976, DECA dedicated the National DECA Center in Reston, Virginia. The organization received an endorsement from the U.S. Department of Education in 1988. In 1991, DECA’s board of directors decided that DECA would no longer stand for Distributive Education Clubs of America as a result of DECA’s potential to spread internationally. The name was changed to DECA, An Association of Marketing Students.

DECA helps students prepare for the business world by helping them develop soft skills, including self-presentation and speaking skills, business manners and etiquette, and the ability to think quickly. DECA aims to train young people to be academically prepared, community-oriented, and professionally responsible, with effective leadership skills. The organization currently serves about 175,000 students in the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, Guam, and Germany.

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The original logo for the Distributive Education Clubs of America consists of a diamond containing a package tied with string against light rays and a dark diamond-shaped background. The word “CLUB” appears under the package. The initials “D” and “E” appear above the diamond shape, which is enclosed in two diamond frames. 

The logo was revised in 1953 when the initials “D” and “E” were removed and the words “Distributive Education Clubs of America” were added around the inside of the diamond. Both a dark background and a light background were used.

The logo in the 1980s was enhanced by a dark diamond and a light diamond shadowing the logo to the left.

As a result of the organization’s name change in 1991, the logo was changed to a stylized diamond formed from dark and light horizontal lines.

DECA’s current logo is a four-sided shape resembling a camera aperture that forms a diamond in the center.

Identify your Distributive Education Clubs of America Symbols.

Books and Periodicals

DECA: A Continuing Tradition of Excellence by Robert G. Berns.

DECA Guide by DECA, Inc.

Web Resources

Connecticut DECA www.connecticutdeca.org.

DECA www.deca.org.

History of DECA rhsfbladeca.weebly.com

Related Dictionary Pages: Youth Organizations, Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, Boy Scouts of America.