The finalists for WashingtonExec’s Chief Officer Awards were announced April 15, and we’ll be highlighting some of them until the event takes place virtually May 27.
Next is CEO Award finalist John Wasson, who’s chairman, president and CEO of ICF. Here, he talks key achievements, primary focus areas going forward, professional risks and more.
What key achievements did you have in 2019/2020?
The last 13 months have tested ICF — and the world — in ways previously unimagined. We all had to rise to the challenges of remote work and cope with impacts on our personal lives.
But despite this, the ICF community has reached new levels of ingenuity. Through one of the most difficult years, I have never been prouder to be an ICFer. And I’ve been here for 34 years!
In fact, despite the pandemic, and various challenges we’ve seen in many of our markets, ICF — as a whole — had a strong year. We ended last year growing to $1.51 billion in total revenue and had a record $2 billion in contract awards.
But our strength was not just from a revenue standpoint. It was also from an impact and cultural standpoint. More than ever, ICF continues to be a place where motivated people can do compelling work that makes a difference.
In 2020, we brought our long-standing experience working with public health agencies and industry-leading IT modernization capabilities to the forefront in the fight against COVID-19 working alongside our client partners. Some of our most meaningful projects include working with:
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – Managing BioSense, CDC’s cloud-based platform for nationwide syndromic surveillance for detecting COVID-19 outbreaks and transmission in real time.
- National Institutes of Health – Developing COVIDCode, an app that helps NIH analyze the role genetics plays in the severity of response to COVID-19, and creating the website that houses NIH’s COVID-19’s treatment guidelines used by doctors to care for COVID-19 patients.
- Department of Housing and Urban Development – Providing HUD’s community partners with technical assistance and capacity building activities that help vulnerable communities prepare for and prevent the spread of COVID.
- U.S. Agency for International Development – Providing the data needed to inform public health decisions in developing countries and help countries develop or improve their national diagnostic networks, laboratory systems and surveillance mechanisms so they can better detect and monitor infectious diseases. During the pandemic, we’ve provided emergency response support to increase COVID-19 testing in 14 countries.
- New York State’s Department of Transportation – Providing telework services to support essential businesses, hospitals and medical centers in getting critical employees to work, including setting up a microtransit service to get visiting frontline nurses from their hotels to the hospital in one of the hardest-hit areas, New Rochelle, just outside NYC.
- Administration Children and Families’ Office of Child Care – Helping develop a repository of COVID-19 impacts on childcare lead agencies and their response, and providing technical assistance and training to help grantees make informed decisions about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on children, families, childcare providers and communities.
In short, we have the right people, right capabilities and the right services to provide our clients with what they need to place future bets and embrace new models coming out of an uncertain year. We are combining our innovative thinking with our deep, practice-driven experience to be the trusted partner our clients need. And we are relying heavily on our mission-driven spirit for solving complex challenges that are making a difference.
What are you most proud of having been a part of in your current organization?
Our purpose-driven work. ICF was built to be a different kind of company. One with a strong culture filled with smart people and good clients working together to do good things in and for the world. Much of our business is in service areas that enable us to create positive impact through our project work.
We balance profitability with social responsibility, ambition with compassion and individual success with teamwork. This has attracted like-minded people who have a shared commitment to our purpose and a passion for the work.
What are your primary focus areas going forward, and why are those so important to the future of the nation?
Many of our growth drivers have remained steady over the years and align directly to the priorities of recent and current U.S. administrations. They are also areas where we have extensive experience and capabilities. They include:
- Public health. The advancement and improvement of the U.S. public health system has only accelerated amid a global pandemic.
- IT modernization. The President’s Management Agenda, which lays out a long-term vision for how the U.S. federal government can be more efficient and effective, has focused on IT modernization during the previous two administrations as well as the current one.
- Disaster management. Unfortunately, storms are getting more severe and increasing in frequency and the U.S. federal government is continuing to find ways to better support local communities in their recovery efforts.
Additionally, there has also been a renewed global focus on climate change, resilience and infrastructure as aggressive goals are set by the new U.S. administration. Many of our clients across various industries have a growing — and urgent — need for climate, environment and infrastructure-related services. We are well-positioned here given our deep expertise in clean energy, energy efficiency, decarbonization, sustainable infrastructures and more.
What’s your best career advice for those who want to follow in your footsteps?
I believe that while hard work can contribute to your personal growth and success, you can’t do it alone. You have to build a team around you whose strengths and weaknesses complement your own and each other’s. You have to shift from a “Superman/Superwoman” mindset to a “conductor” who leads others. And you have to be OK with that.
Focus on putting the right people into the right positions and make sure everyone is excited about their work and their contributions to the team.
What’s the biggest professional risk you’ve ever taken?
ICF has undertaken numerous, calculated risks since being founded in 1969. Each has afforded us the opportunity to evolve and sustain our growth for over 50 years. One risk that stands out in particular (that I was personally involved in as COO) was when we went public in 2006. As a private company, we had more autonomy and less scrutiny. But we needed capital to grow the business, so we decided to take the company public.
It was a calculated risk that paid off. Doing so also helped us attract a higher caliber of talent over time and gain the trust of clients who saw us as an established, trusted partner.
Looking back at your career, what are you most proud of?
My career is intrinsically connected to ICF’s story as I’ve been with the company for 34 years. And people have always asked me: How have you been at the same company for so long? The truth is, I have never felt the need to leave ICF because the company kept changing. In fact, there is a running joke that ICF stands for “It Changes Frequently.”
I’ve seen ICF grow from being a small D.C.-based firm focused on advisory services to federal agencies, to being a publicly traded, fully diversified, global consulting company with $1.5 billion in annual revenue, 7,000+ employees and 70 locations worldwide. We are a consultancy. But we are also a technology company. A digital agency. A design firm. A research and development company. And more. We were started by an entrepreneur, and we’ve grown because we haven’t stopped thinking like one.
But through all of that change, the one thing I am most proud of is the one thing that has notably remained the most consistent: our culture. ICF’s culture is truly unique and is the glue that binds our global company together. Our values represent how we act and interact with each other. It is how we create a diverse and inclusive environment where everyone can thrive — as individuals and as a company.
I am proud that I very often see these attributes being brought to our client projects and everyday work. When we live up to these ideals, we are more productive and more successful. And we have more fun doing it.