Santa Clara, California– From Friday January 9th, 2026, to Sunday, January 11th, 2026, over 130 members of the Harker DECA chapter attended the Silicon Valley Career Development Conference (SVCDC), the first competitive conference of the year. Throughout the conference, members had the opportunity to demonstrate the skills they have been developing since the beginning of the year to judges. Through competitive events such as roleplays, written events, and testing, members showcased their preparation and business knowledge, reflecting months of hard work and dedication.

“I think SVCDC is such an important conference because, first of all, it’s one of the freshmen’s first competitive experiences. It’s also a great opportunity to start off on a strong note and build momentum within the Harker DECA chapter, which motivates students to push themselves and do even better. Seeing your peers succeed is incredibly motivating. This conference also allows students to meet members from other DECA chapters in the general area, unlike at states, where many participants come from much farther away. These are connections you can maintain throughout high school, making them especially valuable. Overall, having a positive first competitive experience is what keeps many freshmen engaged and excited, so we’re really trying to make this a very special conference for them,” said Chief Executive Officer Tanvi Sivakumar (12).

On Friday, January 9th, students arrived at the Santa Clara Marriott hotel at 12:30 PM. Members were welcomed with a surprise Jamba Juice treat from the Harker DECA officer team before spending the afternoon studying for the upcoming competitive events. 

Testing sessions began at 3:00 PM and each student took their exam in their individual cluster: Marketing, Business Management and Administration, Hospitality and Tourism, Finance, Personal Financial Literacy, or Business Administration Core. Following testing sessions, students had the chance to settle into their rooms before Opening Session officially began. ‍

California DECA’s VP of Silicon Valley, Samay Sikri, and VP of Leadership Jaylyn Chong, commenced the conference, discussing the schedule for the weekend and explaining the logistics of the competition.

Next, attendees listened to speeches from the candidates for this year’s VP of Silicon Valley, including Harker DECA competitor and officer, Bazigh Tahirzad (11), VP of Finance. 

“I thought it was great practice, especially since it was SVCDC. I felt much less nervous and was able to devote more energy to developing my presentation skills rather than worrying about mistakes,” said Elizabeth Zhang (11).

Saturday marked the first full day of competitive events of the conference. Competition events ranged across multiple clusters, including Entrepreneurship, Professional Selling, Hospitality and Tourism, Integrated Marketing, Operations Research plans, and more. After the competitive events concluded for the day, students had the opportunity to attend supplementary workshops hosted by industry professionals to further develop their professional skills. 

“I think it was a great way to connect with others while also gaining a better understanding of what SCDC will be like. It was especially helpful to receive professional feedback on my writtens and roleplays,” said Mehr Paul (10).

Sunday brought the Silicon Valley Career Development Conference to a close. Students made their way to the Grand Ballroom for the Award Ceremony with many members of the Harker DECA chapter recognized for their overall scores. 

With a significant number of top-three finalists, Harker DECA established themselves as one of the most competitively successful chapters in attendance at SVCDC 2026. 

“I was able to interact with industry professionals and it was such an amazing experience to see how my DECA experience can translate into a real life environment!” said Alrisha Chen (10), Director of Community Engagement. 

Members placing in the Top 3 are as follows:

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1st Place:

Elizabeth Zhang (11), Abby Wang (11); International Marketing Campaign Event

Isaac Liu (10); Professional Selling 

Amishi Gupta (12), Tanvi Sivakumar (12); Entrepreneurship Franchise Business Plan

Hannah Jiang (11), Joyce Zhang (11); Business Operations Research

Abby Sachse (11); Apparel and Accessories Marketing Series 

Saahithi Koneru (11); Hotel and Lodging Management Series

Elizabeth Zhang (11), Abby Wang (11); Buying and Merchandising Team Decision Making

Amishi Gupta (12), Tanvi Sivakumar (12); Financial Services Team Decision Making

2nd Place:

Chian-Shin Du (10), Kailin Bao (10); Integrated Marketing Campaign Product

Sean Wang (11); Professional Selling

‍Aditya Guru (10), Ameya Choudhary (10); Entrepreneurship Franchise Business Plan

Stellan Lindh (11); Entrepreneurship Start-up Business

Ushnish Chatterjee (9); Principles of Hospitality and Tourism 

Nathaniel Idicula (11); Business Services Marketing Series 

Grace Yao (10); Hotel and Lodging Management Series

Eden Kelly (12); Sports and Entertainment Marketing Series

Riya Chatterjee (10); Personal Financial Literacy

3rd Place:

Ravi Saxena (9); Professional Selling 

Riya Chatterjee (10); Entrepreneurship Start-up Business

Reyansh Gupta (9); Principles of Entrepreneurship

Chian-Shin Du (10), Kailin Bao (10); Buying and Merchandising Team Decision Making

Bazigh Tahirzad (11), David Kelly (11); Financial Services Team Decision Making

About The Harker School DECA

Harker DECA is an International Competitive Business Organization that prepares emerging leaders and entrepreneurs in four fields of business: marketing, finance, hospitality, and management. Our DECA chapter integrates classroom instruction, applies learning, connects to business, and promotes competition in order to prepare the next generation to be academically prepared, community oriented, professionally responsible, and experienced leaders.

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Contact Information

To learn more about this story, please contact:

Sofe Jalil, Director of Communications

28SofeJ@students.harker.org

deca.harker.org

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