By: Tori Schubert and Lila Zamansky

People Editor and Media Production Editor 

Los Gatos High School’s Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) has seen great success throughout the 2026 season, most recently competing statewide over spring break. The team came home with a number of impressive wins and achievements, showcasing their talents in various business fields.

FBLA is an organization focused on educating high school students about different aspects of business, such as insurance, public speaking, economics, and business management. Students then compete with schools across the country by taking exams, making speeches, and creating product pitches.

LGHS students traveled to Dougherty Valley High School for their first competition, The Bay Section Leadership Conference, on Feb. 7. With a total of seven LGHS students attending across all grades, this marked the beginning of their successful season.  Juniors and club presidents Arnav Raghavan and Andrew Leathem placed sixth and eighth in the entrepreneurship and impromptu speaking categories, respectively. Sophomore Aksh Gupta discovered his passion for FBLA following his recruitment by Raghavan, who recognized the sophomore’s potential. Since then, Gupta’s enthusiasm has shone through his performances, placing second out of 20 in the insurance and risk management section at his first competition. Elated about this new opportunity to expand upon his business skills, and he described the impact FBLA had on him: “I have learned a lot about conducting business operations, which has become a passion of mine beyond just the club, and I have been able to apply my skills in multiple aspects of my life.” 

Junior Leila Liu is an active member of FBLA and recently traveled to Anaheim with the group to compete. At the state competition, Liu competed in the marketing and retail management divisions. She noted that marketing was her favorite event in which she placed an impressive seventh despite challenging competitors from all across California. Although the competition was strong, Liu stated, “FBLA, particularly marketing, was a very good experience, and it has cultivated my interest in both marketing and business.” Additionally, the competitors were immediately introduced to an interactive community where they could mingle and explore Anaheim with people from all over the state. All of the Los Gatos participants in this event recounted that competing at the state level was an amazing experience, as it was a fun yet challenging bridge between socializing and learning.

Looking ahead, next year’s leadership conference will be held in November, also in Anaheim, and the State Leadership Conference will take place in San Jose, which is a much more convenient location for the students. Monique Leathem, LGHS math teacher and the team’s advisor, elaborated that, “every student showed enthusiasm and is already excited about returning next year.” The LGHS FBLA chapter is thrilled with their triumphs over spring break, and each participant is ecstatic to take on even more tournaments to come. 

(Source: California FBLA)