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Fairfield’s Madison Kraemer reflects on tenure as National FBLA President
FAIRFIELD — There is no better poster child for the benefits of high school FBLA than Fairfield native Madison Kraemer.
Kraemer, who graduated from Fairfield High School in 2019, was a member of the FHS chapter of Future Business Leaders of America, or FBLA. Under the tutelage of FBLA advisers Diane Goudy and later Deborah Matthews, Kraemer thrived in the organization, competing in events such as Broadcast Journalism, Website Design and Pin Design.
She enjoyed her time in FBLA so much that she continued with it in college at the University of Northern Iowa. She became president not just of UNI’s chapter but of the state collegiate FBLA, too, being named National Parliamentarian. Last summer, Kraemer climbed yet another rung on the ladder when she ran to be president of National FBLA, and won.
Kraemer just completed her tenure as National FBLA president in June. But her story doesn’t end there. Kraemer saw an opportunity to impart her knowledge of business and professional development that she gained in FBLA on other students at UNI. Last spring, she was hired by UNI’s College of Business to be the coordinator of the Professional Readiness Program, which helps business students develop their careers.
“It’s ironically similar to FBLA,” Kraemer joked. “I was already working in this office where the program was housed, and found about the opening in January. I get to work in a program I’m already familiar with, and it’s been a pretty nice transition. I was very fortunate that I didn’t have to worry about my future.”
Kraemer majored in organizational leadership and marketing at UNI. She’s very glad to have had the experience of serving as the president of National FBLA. The role was both rewarding and time-consuming.
“There was not a single day of my senior year where I wasn’t working on something related to FBLA,” Kraemer said. “It was a huge time commitment, and it involved a lot of juggling to make it work.”
As president, Kraemer was responsible for managing a team of six officers in the executive council who lived in six states. The executive council had to carry out the organization’s strategic vision and come up with ideas to implement it. Kraemer’s role required her to participate in conferences, and about once a quarter she’d have to travel to Washington, D.C. for meetings.
One of the most daunting tasks was preparing for FBLA Week in February, part of Career and Technical Education Month.
“It was a big celebration of FBLA, and we went out to DC for the week to host a live broadcast from a studio where we were doing webinars and giveaways,” Kraemer said. “We spent a day on Capitol Hill talking with our legislators to promote career and technical education. It took a lot of behind the scenes work, and it ended up being an awesome week.”
Kraemer said the part of FBLA she finds most rewarding is working with students to help them develop themselves.
“I’m a big proponent of personal and professional growth, and how wonderful it can be,” she said. “I like being able to help a student realize their potential or advance in their career. It’s been that way since I was president of FBLA, and now in my full-time job.”
Though Kraemer has graduated from collegiate FBLA, she’s still involved with the organization as an officer coach for Iowa FBLA.
“I got into that the last couple of months, and it’s really fun to see these students who are in a place I was just in a couple of years ago,” she said.
Kraemer is also heartened to see that her youngest sister Makenzie has joined UNI’s FBLA team as a freshman, joining the middle sister, Lauren, a junior at UNI and who is also in the college’s FBLA club. All three are products of Fairfield High School’s FBLA chapter. Madison, Lauren and Makenzie are the daughters of David and Staci Kraemer.
Call Andy Hallman at 641-575-0135 or email him at andy.hallman@southeastiowaunion.com
