Anay Apte is a senior at Naperville Central and a four-year DECA member. He is thrilled to serve as a Vice President for the 2024-25 Illinois State Action Team!

Anay initially joined DECA his freshman year as the only club he knew. His sister told him about it and despite his initial intimidation of the club’s professionalism, he would eventually join. Pretty quickly, Anay’s perspective on business flipped through the ILCDC. He realized business didn’t have to be all about suits, and he enjoyed the little moments such as talking with others before their events on elevator rides or attending magician shows. The idea that business was a mix of professionalism and casualness appealed deeply to Anay, and he wants to provide opportunities for students to discover this idea through his position on the State Action Team.

By far, Anay’s favorite DECA memory was his experience at the 2024 ICDC. Whether it be connecting through his patented LinkedIn QR code wallpaper, playing baseball with boomsticks and footballs he traded for, or walking through downtown Disney, the trip created unforgettable memories he’d cherish to this day. In addition to the fun, Anay made sure to make his mark in competition. Through his four years, he’s competed in Sports and Entertainment Marketing TDM as well as Apparel and Accessories Marketing Individual Series. At the ICDC, he earned a medal for his roleplay performance, and his goal for the year is to “run it back” and go for the glass!

As a member of the Illinois State Action team, one of the things Anay aspires to accomplish is to give back to students what he’d gained through his DECA experience: lifelong friendships through networking! He plans to create a statewide networking server on a platform such as Slack or Discord to make communication between the state even easier. Whether it be used to work on competition prep, communicate with the State Action Team, or for students to get to know each other, Anay sees a lot of potential in his idea and wants to use it to revolutionize the connectivity of Illinois DECA.

Outside of DECA, Anay serves as the vice president of the math team and computer science club, founder and director of his computer science camp, and a board member for his community’s tutoring nonprofit. He can also be found flying across the country in his trusty blue suit as a congressional debater or analyzing plant structure data as a student researcher. Whenever he finds time outside of his academics, Anay loves to listen to and explore the triple-entendres in J. Cole’s music, debate with others about why LeBron James is the basketball G.O.A.T (anyone who says Michael Jordan is factually wrong), and storm the local Abercrombie whenever a sale goes on.

Anay hopes to leave a legacy through his position on the State Action Team and aspires to help every Illinois DECA member #BeTheOne this year!