When Isaac Wiegand joined Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) his freshman year of high school after encouragement from his teacher, he had no idea it would take him to where he is today: the newly elected Phi Beta Lambda (PBL) national vice president of financial development.

Future Business Leaders of America-Phi Beta Lambda, Inc. (FBLA-PBL) is the largest career student business organization in the world. PBL, the collegiate version of FBLA, has been dedicated to inspiring and developing the next generation of leaders by preparing members for careers in business and business-related fields.  

Wiegand, a senior majoring in actuarial science, served as an MSOE PBL chapter officer in 2018-2019, the Wisconsin vice president of events in 2019-2020, and was elected as the national vice president of financial development in a recent virtual ceremony for the 2020-2021 academic year.

“Hearing the news during the closing ceremony was surreal,” said Wiegand. “Seeing my friends from around the country be elected to officials alongside me was fantastic. Messages were flooding into me on every platform offering congratulations for the election and the feeling I had for the rest of the day was amazing.”  

As the VP of financial development, Wiegand’s main duty is to work with businesses and the national staff to promote and foster sponsorships and partnerships.

“Through this role, I will work to add to FBLA-PBL’s national sponsors and partners, as well as maintain contact with existing ones. I will have help from the national office in this duty, and I will also help with the Career and Membership Achievement Program, assisting members in the final step for the national level of the program.”

Additionally, Weigand will help to plan national conferences; attend national, state, and chapter events as needed; and work to promote the organization in general. He is especially looking forward to attending conferences to do what he does best—make connections.

“I’ve always greatly enjoyed connecting with new people and interacting with members, and I will be doing so now more than ever before,” said Wiegand.

Conferences are attended by members on every level from middle school to the professional division. In the past, Wiegand has attended area and state conferences to present at workshops for high school students. In the future, his role will be expanded to national conferences.

“In every workshop I give, I like to ask where people will work when they're older. I get a variety of answers, but I always respond by saying that I know where everyone in attendance will work: a business. FBLA-PBL gives all students, not just business majors, the know-how to do well in the business world, because in one form or another, everyone will be thrown into that world eventually. I encourage everyone, young and old, to look into the organization and all of its benefits and consider joining, because you never know how much it could help in your future.”