Dewell Fears
Richmond,TX
Summary
Versatile Grant Manager focused on creative, innovative, award project development and management. Driven to surpass agency goals while thriving in deadline-driven environments. Pursuing a Grant Management role to leverage expertise in grant administration, financial analysis, and project leadership to contribute to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and support its mission.
Overview
15
15
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification
Work History
Financial Management Specialist
Department Of Agriculture
10.2018 - Current
- As designated Certifying Officer provided national support for the generation, receipt, and recording of disbursements and program activities related to various cooperative, foreign, and interagency agreements, grants, contracts, federal work orders (RWAs), leases and interdepartmental fund transfers. Ensure alignment with established protocols, practices, and procedures.
- Leverage industry knowledge combined with strong organizational and written communication skills to develop, write, and recommend policies and procedures for disbursing and transferring funds
- Provide grant administration including but not limited to budget oversight, processing contractor payments, travel reimbursements, and grant-funded appointments
- Participate in hiring processes for staffing of team
- Coordinate financial functions, including reviewing and analyzing certifying activities to determine the adequacy and effectiveness of existing procedures and practices
- Champion successful strategies to move $6.5B in appropriations and funding to and from agencies under the USDA. Process payments of other agencies
- Support, train, and provide materials to internal staff and external stakeholders regarding federal processes and procedures
- Meticulous and thorough in processing and certifying bulk and manual payment schedules for payments disbursed by the Treasury Financial Management Service
Management and Program Analyst
Department Of Agriculture
10.2015 - 10.2018
- Leveraged excellent industry-related expertise to move payments, processes effectively and produce various financial reports for $6.7B+ in annual appropriations
- Manage and process all invoices and work orders. Collected payment and closed over fifty percent of all open invoices
- Establish efficient workflow processes, monitoring daily productivity and implementing modifications to improve overall effectiveness of office personnel and service staff
- Define and execute strategies to effectively define and execute techniques/methods to gather essential data and documentation to stand up the new Accounts Payable Service Branch
- Coordinating special projects and managing schedules
- Facilitated a more efficient and accurate closeout of the fiscal quarters by working with other branches and divisions of the Agency in addition to external Federal agencies and departments to resolve issues concerning chargebacks, obligations, and payments
- Facilitated a reduction in unprocessed payments and errors from Treasury and the National Finance Center
Grants Management Specialist
Department Of Agriculture
05.2014 - 10.2015
- Improved grant management and oversight by processing new and continuing grant awards in accordance with proposed and/or existing legislature to ensure awards comply with Uniform Guidance
- Analyze highly complex problems and situations and making decisions or recommendations to ensure agricultural and research grant program success and compliance with laws, regulations and policy
- Analyzed grants mechanisms to determine if costs are reasonable and allowable within prescribed policies
- Contributed to the planning, development, and operation of new grants management division through a 90 day detail
- Interpret the impact of changes to applicable federal financial assistance laws, regulations, policies, and procedures on the award administration process
- Planned and executed pre-award, award, closeouts; verified milestones, outcome reports, deliverables, property dispositions, and final cost reconciliations in accordance with 2 CFR 200
- Meticulous and detailed in preparing documents and communicating revisions or clarifications
- Maintain and develop long lasting customer relationships
- Entered details such as payments, account information and call logs into computer system
Financial Analyst
Department Of Housing And Urban Development
10.2012 - 05.2014
- Administered all aspects of financial assistance actions in accordance with applicable regulations, policies and processes for the discretionary and mandatory grants portfolio for the HUD-CPD San Antonio Field Office
- Exercised discretion, discernment, and strict attention to detail while conducting comprehensive link analysis using Agency grant databases, grantee systems, and external and internal documentation to determine possible instances of fraud, waste, or abuse
- Developed recommendations and provided technical guidance on interpreting and implementing federal regulations that govern the use of federal funds and grant management policies and requirements
- Conducted in-depth analysis of grantee A-133 single audit reports, maintained a comprehensive tracking system and prepared correspondence to delegate or obtain corrective actions related to financial management findings
- Limited instances of misappropriation of funds and increased grantees' management of internal controls
- Develop scopes, objectives, and review methods for on-site monitoring and desk reviews of grantees and sub-recipients, including preparing working papers, exhibits, and the scheduling of visits for the monitoring season
- Reviewed and evaluated internal controls and reporting systems to address changes in guidance/requirements and to identify ways to improve timeliness or quality
Grants Officer Technical Representative
Department Of Housing And Urban Development
07.2011 - 10.2012
- Managed $18M+ assigned cooperative agreements while serving as Grants Officer Technical Representative (GTR) in HUD’s Community Planning & Development Technical Assistance Division
- Administered and coordinated the evaluation of applications to assess technical adequacy by reviewing, scoring, and ranking of applications and other assigned special projects relating to the development of NOFAs for all Technical Assistance Division-funded programs
- Established and managed roadmaps and milestones to audit work plans, budgets, and payment requests; ensured accuracy, completeness, and compliance with provisions of the agreements, per diem rates, and applicable cost principles
- Analyzed expenditure reports to determine allowable costs, financial accountability and conducted reviews of deliverables
- Directed high-level strategic planning to facilitate and coordinate eight national Neighborhood Stabilization Program workshops around the country to provide program information and technical assistance to program grantees
Program Specialist III
Texas Department Of Housing & Community Affairs
06.2009 - 07.2011
- Developed and administered cooperative agreements and grants totaling $25M+ for Texas NSP in close collaboration with internal and external leadership, staff, and stakeholders
- Analyze and evaluates applicable laws and policies, negotiate agreements, defend decisions or provide recommendations to management, grants and contracting officers, program managers, and other stakeholders
- Facilitated a new phase of the Texas NSP Program structured to use program income received from grantees of Texas NSP I to fund the Homebuyers Assistance sector of the Program by assisting in writing the notice of funding availability (NOFA) and related competition criteria for the Texas NSP II Program which funded $2M+ in cooperative agreements and grants to non-profits
- Conducted training sessions for internal and external customers on financial assistance processes
Education
Bachelor of Arts - Business Administration
Southern University And A & M College
Baton Rouge, LA12.2000
Associate of Arts - Accounting
East Mississippi Community College
Scooba, MS05.1997
Skills
- Proficient in large scale budget management
- Grant & Cooperative Agreement development
- Extensive knowledge of regulatory compliance with local, state, and federal regulators
- Microsoft Teams, Outlook, Word and Excel
- Creative problem solver
- Proficient in processing payments, credits, obligation of funds and reconciliations
- Experienced in reviewing internal controls
- Technical Assistance
- Effective workflow management
- Strong communication
- Data management
- Training & Development
Accomplishments
- Farm Production and Conservation Chief Operating Officer Awards Honorable Mention, 2019
- Honor Award for Excellence in the development of the Pandemic Assistance Program, 2023
Certification
- Certifying Officer ~ U. S. Department of Treasury – Bureau of The Fiscal Service
- Grants Management Certificate– Federal Track ~ Management Concepts
- Contracting Officers Technical Representative (COTR) Certificate ~ Management Concepts
Timeline
Financial Management Specialist
Department Of Agriculture
10.2018 - Current
Management and Program Analyst
Department Of Agriculture
10.2015 - 10.2018
Grants Management Specialist
Department Of Agriculture
05.2014 - 10.2015
Financial Analyst
Department Of Housing And Urban Development
10.2012 - 05.2014
Grants Officer Technical Representative
Department Of Housing And Urban Development
07.2011 - 10.2012
Program Specialist III
Texas Department Of Housing & Community Affairs
06.2009 - 07.2011
Bachelor of Arts - Business Administration
Southern University And A & M College
Associate of Arts - Accounting
East Mississippi Community College