Executive Directors

Steven J. Mitchell joined Business Professionals of America in April 2022. For the previous seven years he was the Tennessee Department of Education’s state director/advisor for two Career and Technical Student Organizations (CTSOs), DECA and FBLA-PBL. In this role, he directed programs and events for more than 350 chapters and over 13,000 students and teachers throughout Tennessee. He has served on DECA Inc.’s Board of Directors from 2020 to 2022 and has participated in task forces on governance; diversity, equity, and inclusion; and high school competitive events.

Mr. Mitchell began his career in business education as a marketing teacher, Career and Technical Education (CTE) department chair, CTSO advisor, and varsity boys bowling coach at Whitehaven High School in Memphis, Tennessee. He holds a B.A. in communications with a marketing minor from the University of Tennessee at Martin, an M.S. in integrated marketing communications from Roosevelt University, and an M.A. in education from Union University. He is currently pursuing a Doctor of Education degree in educational leadership from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville.

Frank Peterson is DECA’s Executive Director, bringing 14 years of experience at DECA Inc. Prior to this role, Frank most recently served as Chief Communications and Marketing Officer, responsible for leading strategic and integrated communications and marketing functions that promote, support and continue to elevate the organization. He played a significant role in the rebranding of the organization, designed the current logo and managed all of DECA’s collateral and marketing materials. He managed design and production schedules for all DECA’s major publications including the DECA Guide, DECA Direct the Magazine and DECA’s conference programs. He also led the re-branding of Shop DECA. Frank has also previously served as Interim Executive Director.

Frank graduated from George Mason University with a bachelor’s Degree in Graphic Design, and he minored in Multimedia Communications. Frank is a member of the American Marketing Association (AMA) and is working toward his Professional Certified Marketer (PCM) designation. He is also a member of the American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) which is the leading professional association for designers.

Scott Stump is honored to serve as the Chief Executive Officer of the National FFA Organization and Foundation. He is excited to lead FFA’s efforts to make a positive difference in the lives of students by developing their potential for premier leadership, personal growth and career success through agricultural education.

Prior to this role, Stump served as Assistant Secretary for the Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education within the United States Department of Education. Prior to assuming this role, Scott served as Chief Operating Officer with Vivayic, Inc. a learning solutions provider devoted to helping individuals, organizations and corporations succeed.

Before joining Vivayic, Scott served as the Assistant Provost/State Director for Career & Technical Education (CTE) with the Colorado Community College System. Over his tenure with the system Stump served as State FFA Advisor, Agriculture Program Director and interim President of Northeastern Junior College during the institution’s presidential search process. During his seven-year tenure as a State CTE Director, Scott has served as an officer for Advance CTE.  Through this role, he served on the National SkillsUSA Board of Directors as the Advance CTE liaison.

Stump received his bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Education from Purdue University and a Masters of Business Administration from Western Governors University. He began his career teaching agricultural education and biology at Manchester High School in North Central Indiana.  Before coming to Colorado, he worked for the National FFA Organization managing the National Officer team and the National FFA Convention.

Stump lives on a small ranch in Stoneham, Colorado with his wife Denise and three children: Brady, Ross and Emma.  As a father, Scott is proud that all three children are products of FFA and career & technical education.

Sandy Spavone, Executive Director of Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA), has worked with youth peer education national programs for the past sixteen years.  Mrs. Spavone left the classroom and began her career with FCCLA in September of 1999 right after the name change from FHA to FCCLA.  She began as the Program Assistant and was grew in her role to become the Director of Programs when she moved from FCCLA to serve as the Executive Director for National Organizations for Youth Safety (NOYS) from 2006 – 2013. In 2013 she returned to FCCLA serving as the Executive Director.  The focus of her life’s work has been to provide programs and opportunities for youth leadership and career development.

Alex Graham has over 25 years of association management experience. Prior joining Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA), Alex served as CEO of the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC). His prior association positions include executive director, chief operating officer, chief marketing officer, director of political affairs and membership director. Alex’s experience includes managing financial, human resource, and strategic planning programs, as well as membership, marketing, government/public affairs and conference development. In addition to earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from Lynchburg College in Lynchburg, Virginia, Alex earned a Master of Science degree in Organizational Effectiveness and a Master of Business Administration degree from Marymount University in Arlington, Virginia.

Since 1984, Jim has served as Executive Director of HOSA-Future Health Professionals. His 45 years of experiences in public education, higher education, corporate training and development, association management and strategic partnerships between government and corporations have been beneficial in managing a CTSO for the health industry.

Following completion of a Ph.D. program at The Ohio State University, Jim held faculty positions through the years at universities in Colorado, Texas and Oklahoma.  Jim served as the leader designer and facilitator of the Walton Institute over an 18-year period for Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.  He authored numerous articles, monographs, training programs, videos, media productions and training manuals including a unique classroom simulation package for McGraw-Hill Book Company.  Jim and his wife, Karen, co-founded the Leadership Development Institute (LDI) and conducted scores of summer camps, retreats, workshops, and regional conferences.

Jennifer J. Bloss joined the National Professional Agricultural Student (PAS) Organization in April 2024. Previously, she directed the national Youth for the Quality Care of Animals (YQCA, Inc.) program as well as completed curriculum and content writing for Vivayic, Inc. on various agriculture topics.  Prior to that, she served as an agriculture teacher and FFA advisor within three programs in the state of Missouri.  That 15 year tenure led her to direct three separate programs to various levels of success both at the state and national levels. She is still presently involved in teaching as an adjunct professor at State Fair Community College in Sedalia, MO in their agriculture department; as well as teaching two courses in agriculture at Cole Camp R-I School District, Cole Camp, Missouri.

Ms. Bloss began her career in agriculture education as an agriculture teacher and FFA advisor in Russellville, Missouri.  She moved programs at year three to relocate to Linn, Missouri.  A six year stint outside of the classroom allowed her the opportunity to manage the national YQCA program; as well as raise her three children on the farm.  She holds a Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Education with minors in Agricultural Economics and International Agriculture; as well as a Master of Science in Agricultural Education; both received from the University of Missouri – Columbia. She is most importantly the proud mother of three children; Adelyn (15), Colton (12) and Tate (9). She resides on a small farm in Green Ridge, Missouri where she and her children enjoy the outdoors, show animals and country life in general.  She is extremely excited to watch her children become products of career and technical education programs.

Chelle Travis is the executive director of SkillsUSA, a national organization of nearly 400,000 teachers and students within career and technical education. Travis was appointed in 2019 to lead a staff of 35 that manages a federation of 52 state and territorial associations. SkillsUSA’s mission is to empower members to become world-class workers, leaders and responsible citizens. It improves the quality of our nation’s future skilled workforce.

With more than 17 years’ experience in career and technical education, Travis has served in a variety of academic settings, including secondary institutions, universities, and technical and community colleges. Most recently, she was the senior director of workforce and economic development at the Tennessee Higher Education Commission (THEC), where she was charged with building partnerships with employers, workforce agencies and postsecondary institutions. She was the primary point of contact at THEC due to her knowledge of technical education, work-based learning experiences, alternative credentialing, competency-based education and experiential learning. She also managed all external workforce grants issued by THEC.

Formerly, Travis served as associate vice chancellor for students for the Tennessee Board of Regents College System of Tennessee, where she provided leadership in promoting student initiatives across 40 technical and community colleges.

Travis holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration and finance, and a master’s degree in business administration, from Middle Tennessee State University. She is a doctoral student at Tennessee State University.

During her tenure as the executive director of the Technology Student Association, Rosanne White has seen the organization grow from 60,000 middle and high school members to over 250,000 members nationwide. She holds a doctoral degree from Virginia Tech University in education administration, a master’s degree in education administration from George Mason University, and a bachelor’s degree in early childhood and special education from Radford University.  Dr. White is a former instructor and program administrator with Fairfax County Public Schools and a Washington, DC area native. She is the recipient of awards from the Association of Career and Technical Education, the International Technology and Engineering Educators Association, and the National Association of Partners in Education.