The finalists for WashingtonExec’s 2024 Pinnacle Awards were announced Sept. 20, and we’ll be highlighting some of them until the event takes place live, in-person Nov. 21.
Next is Tracy Curry, chief people officer at Fearless, and finalist in the HR Executive of the Year, Private Company, category. Here, she talks about recent achievements, shares career advice and more.
What key achievements did you have in 2024?
My key achievements for 2024 were rolling out paid family leave benefit for team members, and creating strategy and design to implement new skills-based workforce architecture to create clear career pathways for our team members.
What are your primary focus areas going forward, and why are those so important to the mission?
Going forward, my primary focus area is talent management and development. As we roll out skills-based career pathways we will also increase our focus on skill development. This is critical to support our larger organizational efforts to shift our value to our customers from technical delivery to technical delivery and consultative advising. Additionally, this will present a more transparent opportunity to build talent pipelines that are derived in skills to present opportunities for scaled apprenticeship programs to allow talent from other industries and diverse groups (race, gender and age) to access opportunities to apply skills to meaningful work.
Last, our efforts will heavily focus on evolving our compensation philosophy and systems to continue our dedication to pay equity by shifting our pay structure to align to our workforce architecture approach and its focus on skills.
What is your best career advice for those who want to follow in your footsteps?
No pun intended but be Fearless! At times as a woman, a woman who is also a person of color, and mother to a child with special needs, other people’s ideas of what you are capable can become residue that creates unnecessary weight. My advice is to be Fearless in knowing that you are your only ceiling. My favorite quote is from Nelson Mandela ⏤ “it’s only impossible until it’s done.”
There will always be challenges that feel impossible. Break them down into smaller problems and solve them one step at a time. Before you know it, the impossible will be done. In my career, I’ve stepped into assignments and roles that others felt I couldn’t do successfully, were daunting and seemingly impossible time and time again. Sometimes I failed, sometimes I generated some progress, sometimes it was an overwhelming success. No matter the outcome I learned something.
Fun Fact: What is something about you that most people do not know about?
I skipped second grade and graduated high school at 16 years of age.