The noise told you to walk away. The federal contracts didn't go anywhere. Four sessions. Everything you need to protect your certification and get back in position to win.
The coach who built and ran these programs is ready to help.
In October 2025, the U.S. Department of Transportation issued an Interim Final Rule that took effect immediately. Race and gender presumptions of disadvantage were eliminated from the DBE program. Every DBE that was certified based on the social and/or economic disadvantage presumptions must now be individually reevaluated — and recertify under a stricter, individualized standard. Until reevaluation is complete, federally-funded agencies cannot set DBE contract goals or count DBE participation toward existing goals. That affects your pipeline, your primes, and your revenue — right now.
You are DBE-certified and received notice — or expect to receive notice — about reevaluation under the new rule.
You don't know what the new individual disadvantage standard requires and you can't afford to lose your certification.
You've been through initial certification before. You're not a rookie. This program respects that — we focus on what's new and what's changed, not on explaining what you already know.
You want to work directly with the coach who ran a DBE programs and knows exactly what agencies are looking for on the other side.
You are not yet DBE-certified — this program is exclusively for existing certified firms navigating the new requirements.
You are looking for someone to write your Personal Narrative for you. This is a coaching program, not a ghostwriting service — the narrative has to be yours.
"For more than two decades, I sat on the government side of the table — overseeing DBE, EEO, and Title VI compliance for agencies with thousands of employees and hundreds of millions in DBE spend. I determined which businesses got certified, which ones stayed certified, and which ones lost access. I know what certifiers look for because I was one of them."
Ferdinand is not teaching you to navigate these programs from the outside. He spent decades inside them — running the compliance systems, training the certifiers, and making the decisions that DBE-certified firms now need to understand to survive this transition. There aren't many coaches in the country with these credentials.
The DBE Final Rule Sprint is not a generic GovCon coaching program. Every session is built around one objective: protecting your DBE certification, understanding your new obligations, and positioning your firm to compete and win under the new rules.
Not sure if this is right for you? Book a free discovery call first.
Yes. The DBE program is authorized under federal statute — specifically the Surface Transportation Assistance Act of 1982 (Public Law 97-424) and reauthorized through ISTEA (Public Law 102-240), TEA-21 (Public Law 105-178), SAFETEA-LU (Public Law 109-59), MAP-21 (Public Law 112-141), and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (Public Law 117-58). The program's implementing regulations are codified at 49 CFR Part 26 (DBE) and 49 CFR Part 23 (ACDBE).
Executive orders on DEI do not override federal statute. The program still exists. The requirements changed. The opportunity didn't go away.
No. The IFR took effect immediately upon publication. Reevaluation is coming regardless of whether you've received formal notice. Firms that prepare before the reevaluation request arrives are in a fundamentally stronger position than those who scramble after.
Yes. Every currently certified DBE must submit a Personal Narrative and updated Personal Net Worth Statement regardless of when they last renewed. The reevaluation requirement applies to all existing certifications without exception.
No. Your narrative has to be yours — it documents your individual experiences of social and economic disadvantage. This program gives you the framework, the structure, the samples, and a review. You do the writing. That's the right way to do it, and it's the approach that holds up under scrutiny.
DBE and ACDBE certifications under the USDOT program. If you hold other certifications — MBE, WBE, 8(a), WOSB — the IFR does not directly affect those. This program is specifically for firms navigating the federal DBE reevaluation.
Missing a deadline results in loss of certification status — but it is not permanent. You can reapply. This program helps you understand that process and get back in position as quickly as possible.
No program can guarantee a government certification outcome — and anyone who claims otherwise is not being honest with you. What the Sprint does is give you the strongest possible preparation: the right documentation, the right narrative, the right positioning, and the strategic intelligence of a coach who sat on the certifying side of this process for decades.
Live via Zoom with Ferdinand Risco. Session recordings are included.
The firms that survive this transition will be the ones that moved early — who understood the new standard before the reevaluation notice arrived, who built their narrative before they needed it, and who had a coach who has been on the other side of this table.
Enroll in the DBE Final Rule Sprint →