MBA Research & Curriculum Center

🗄 Beyond the silos

Our newest Action Brief, “Go-To-Market Engineers: The Future of Organizational Alignment?” explores the emerging role of go-to-market (GTM) engineers, professionals who bridge gaps across departments to ensure organizational alignment.

Read this Action Brief on our website or in State’s Connection.

We want to showcase Sydney Kobza, the Assistant State Director for the Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education at the Nebraska Department of Education, on receiving the Rising Star honor during the opening session of Advance CTE’s spring meeting. Congratulations, Sydney! 🏆⭐️

Sydney served as the representative to the MBA Consortium from 2017–2020 and has remained engaged in our community as her career has advanced.

Included are pictures of Sydney accepting the award, Katie Graham (the state CTE Director in Nebraska) presenting it to her, and Sydney celebrating at a reception following the conference opening session.

That’s a wrap on an incredible week in Atlanta!

A highlight of is always the people! We loved catching up with old friends and making new friends within the DECA community.

😁 A warm welcome to our newest Consortium Representatives, Alyssa Gonzalez (CA) and Deana Goodwine (AL)!

⛰️ Great to see Jody Bennett (Colorado Consortium Rep) and Brad Peer (Colorado DECA State Advisor).

🍎 We loved connecting with Lenore Espanola (World of Business pilot teacher), Samantha Bartell (DECA Advisor) from Washington, and the wonderful Jennifer Milke from the MBA Research Professional Development team.

Congratulations to every student who competed and qualified this year!

MBA Research Conclave brought presentations by business trailblazers and leading educators! These sessions provided teachers with a window into current workplace trends and classroom-ready strategies to bring back to students.

Find "Featured Conclave Business & Education Speakers" to give you a glimpse of the expertise we’re packing for .

MBA Research Conclave: A Curriculum & Teaching Conference Our annual Conclave conference brings together educators & administrators for the latest in business, marketing, finance, & entrepreneurship.

We ❤️ our High School of Business Teacher Advisory Committee (TAC)!

We want to give a shoutout to two teachers who have been exceptional to TAC and the HSB community! This week, we want to celebrate Kristen Stuart and Maria Machin for their service and dedication to the HSB program!

Read more on the exceptional work Maria and Kristen do here!

High School of Business TAC Recognition - MBA Research The High School of Business™ (HSB) Teacher Advisory Committee (TAC) was established to provide a voice for our HSB teachers across the country. As the program grows, it's important to assemble a group of experienced HSB teachers to collaborate on program support and improvements.

Our 2026 CTE Month Hall of Fame Is Live! ⭐️

As we wrap up our celebration, we are overwhelmed by the incredible stories you shared. It has been an absolute privilege to read about the “CTE Heroes” who are quietly (and loudly!) changing the lives of students and colleagues every day.

To our nominators, thank you. ☺️ Your stories are a powerful reminder of why CTE matters. We’ve gathered these tributes into our digital Hall of Fame to ensure these champions get the recognition they deserve.

CTE Month Hall of Fame We are showcasing our Career and Technical Education Heroes in celebration of CTE Month! Below are fellow CTE professionals who have been nominated by their CTE colleagues.

We want to give a huge shoutout to Jennifer Milke, a long-time partner and member of the MBA Research family, for receiving the Michigan DECA Honorary Life Award at the Michigan DECA State Career Development Conference this past week!

We are incredibly proud of you, Jennifer—this honor is well-deserved! 💙🧡

📸 In the photo, Jennifer is pictured with former MBA Research Board of Trustees Chair Brian Pyles!

Did you know? We're developing The World of Business, a one-semester business economics course that combines project- and game-based learning in collaboration with the W.W. Reynolds Foundation.

The World of Business Course MBA Research is creating a one-semester high school business economics course, World of Business, using games and project-based learning.

We want to congratulate Kevin Reisenauer, former MBA Research Board of Trustees member and Chair from North Dakota, on receiving the Honorary Life Award from North Dakota DECA at the North Dakota Career Development conference this past week!

You truly deserve this award, Kevin!🧡💙