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The finalists for WashingtonExec’s Chief Officer Awards were announced March 28, and we’ll be highlighting some of them until the event takes place live, in-person May 10.
Next is Delali Dzirasa, CEO of Fearless, and finalist in the Private Company CEO (Annual Revenue greater than $100 million and less than $500 million) category. Here, he shares key achievements, focus areas going forward, career advice and more.
What key achievements did you have in 2023?
2023 was an incredible year of growth. We announced the future vision for our company and a new leadership team. By 2030, Fearless aims to:
- Improve 100 million lives
- Be positioned in 10 countries
- Generate $1 billion in revenue
To improve 100 million lives, Fearless expanded its services beyond tech to help organizations develop their people, and organizational operations and strategies, creating two divisions and appointing presidents for each. These services are part of a new model that Fearless has developed to fill a gap in the marketplace, by becoming what it’s calling a “digital services integrator.” The model is designed to overcome both the tech and organizational blockers that so often derail digital transformation efforts. Through it, Fearless is building up tech, people and organizations for accelerated, sustainable impact.
We are proud of the work we do every day with government agencies to impact the lives of all who engage with them, both internally and externally.
We scaled and matured the CMS/VA prototype Blue Button so that 60 million-plus Medicare beneficiaries can securely download their claims data without having to manually enter their health information. Through our API and FHIR implementation services, we standardized and streamlined the data exchange process. We reduced the amount of time it takes to access Medicare data, down from months to days.
Every year, the Federal Audit Clearinghouse (FAC) processes over 40,000 audits on behalf of the Office of Management and Budget. All federal grantors and grantees use the FAC to submit, review and resolve any issues involving their audits. The FAC is a valuable system that allows for the tracking and auditing of federal grant awards. But, in order to meet the needs of users, some updates need to be made. Issues like errors being time consuming to fix (which can delay payments to grantees), non-machine readable and inaccessible data results, and processes that are inefficient and expensive to maintain can lead to frustrating experiences for users.
Fearless is helping GSA address these issues and modernize the FAC. GSA’s vision is for the FAC to be a trusted, transparent and efficient system. They also want to ensure that it offers users quick reporting and issue resolution.
CMS ISPG is in charge of the policies and programs that ensure the security and privacy of data handled by CMS information systems. ISPG staff and contractors maintain policies, distribute guidance, communicate with customers, support security programs, and promote new initiatives. Over the years, ISPG amassed an extensive collection of documents and resources spread across various locations and formats.
Without a single, trusted location for cybersecurity information — and with many of the documents being in static PDFs — finding essential information from ISPG was time-consuming and difficult, which could negatively impact CMS’ overall security posture.
We worked alongside ISPG customers and stakeholders to design and build a searchable, user-friendly portal for cybersecurity information — making it easier for security personnel to keep CMS data and systems safe.
In the summer of 2023 we acquired Unison, a people and organizational development firm based in Denver, expanding our key capabilities. Founded in 2018, Unison works with mission-focused organizations who want to align their people, culture, strategy and operations so they can thrive and grow.
In addition, we launched the first-of-its-kind fund, the Fearless Impact Fund to serve BIPOC businesses and workforce initiatives within greater Baltimore, providing technical assistance and entrepreneurial coaching, scholarships for training and workforce development programs, and fellowship opportunities.
Finally, we celebrated the graduation of our fifth cohort in our digital services incubator, Hutch. Hutch equips underserved entrepreneurs with the tools, mentorship and peer-to-peer support needed to have a lasting impact on government clients and communities. It is the only digital services incubator managed by digital services experts focused on supporting women and minority entrepreneurs working in digital services. We have 28 companies in our portfolio.
What are your primary focus areas going forward, and why are those so important to the mission?
We are laser focused on working with our customers to generate the greatest impact for them, the people they serve and our communities. We will do that by building out our digital services integrator.
Fearless Digital, our tech division, will continue the company’s founding mission to build software with a soul, best in class tech-AI-enabled tools and system integration.
Fearless Guides, the people and organization enablement division, will focus on creating the conditions for organizations and their people to thrive — change management. Through community, people and organizational enablement, they give organizations the peace of mind that their most valuable asset — their people — have everything they need to succeed.
We are doubling down on workforce development to build diverse talent pipelines for us and our customers.
In 2023, Baltimore was designated a federal tech hub, and we will leverage that to increase the number of AI companies led by women and people of color through our incubator, Hutch, while also continuing to build a diverse pipeline of talent through our HBCU partnerships and our Fearless Impact Fund.
What is your best career advice for those who want to follow in your footsteps?
Establish a clear vision and set of values that will guide you through every stage of growth. Build a community. Surround yourself with mentors and peers who can be a sounding board and source of advice and support. Work on your business, not in it. Know your strengths, and bring in people who have the skills and experiences you don’t. Be yourself and follow YOUR path. Each one of us is unique. Don’t hide that; it’s the thing that makes you special and will help your business to win.
Fun Fact: What is something about you that most people do not know?
In high school I placed second in the junior Olympics in track and field, and I now compete in Spartan races.
My wife was the health commissioner that led Baltimore through the COVID-19 pandemic.
My brother was named the top young neuroscientist in the world.