Urbana High School junior Charis Roussel has been officially elected as the new Maryland State Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) President. The big announcement happened on Friday, March 13, 2026. It was shared during the exciting awards ceremony at the FBLA State Leadership Conference. This is an amazing achievement for Charis. It is the rewarding result of many years of hard work, long hours of studying, and true dedication to her club.
Charis is stepping into a brand new and very important role for Maryland FBLA. However, she is already a very familiar face to people in the organization. Many members across the state have likely seen her at various events over the years. She has spent her whole high school career preparing for this top leadership position. She successfully worked her way up by holding several important jobs before this one. Her impressive past roles include serving as a regional vice president and working as the state secretary treasurer. She was also a member of the National FBLA President’s Council. These great experiences gave her a clear understanding of what to expect. They also allowed her to learn how the club operates behind the scenes before she took on this huge state-wide responsibility.
In a recent interview, Charis talked about her journey through the club. She explained that her past leadership positions completely changed how she looks at FBLA. She learned that FBLA is about much more than just tough tests, public speaking events, and competing against other students. Instead, she expressed that the most valuable skills she learned were how to work well within a team, how to lead by example, and how to build strong friendships with people all over the state.
Charis emphasized that she knows the presidency is a giant step up with a lot more responsibility. Still, she is completely ready for the challenge and very excited to start. She has created a great plan for the year that focuses on helping all members grow. This year, Charis wants to focus on growing the middle school division. She believes that teaching younger students about leadership and business early on will help them succeed when they get to high school. She plans to do this through fun outreach events and recruitment campaigns.
Charis also wants to create more “real world” opportunities for high school students. She thinks it is helpful for students to practice these types of skills as early as possible. Her specific goals include making college scholarships easier to find and helping students earn professional business certifications before they graduate. By focusing on these helpful goals, she hopes to give Maryland students real experience that will help them get good jobs long after they leave high school.
Managing all of these heavy FBLA duties takes up a massive amount of her time each week. Even so, Charis still finds time to be highly involved in other parts of her life at Urbana High School. Charis played on Urbana’s volleyball team, stays active in multiple school clubs, and always keeps her grades high enough to be an honor roll student. Her ability to do well in hard school classes while also doing a great job with her FBLA duties shows that she is truly ready to be the state president.
Charis is set to lead Maryland FBLA during its special 70th program year. Her official term will run from April 2026 through March 2027. As her historic year begins, the entire UHS community looks forward to watching her journey. Everyone is excited to see the great impact that Charis will surely make on the state stage.
Photo courtesy of Charis Roussel / LinkedIn
