Introduction

Understanding the New DBE Rules and Your Personal Narrative: Starting October 3, 2025, the rules for Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) certification changed in a major way. The U.S. Department of Transportation now looks at each person’s individual story instead of using general assumptions about who qualifies. One of the biggest changes is that you can no longer rely on race or gender in your narrative. Your story should not be based on identity—and I’ve even seen some applications rejected for including those details. Instead, focus on real experiences you’ve had, how those experiences affected your business or career, and what they cost you in time, money, or opportunity. Describe what happened—not what you think the other person was thinking or feeling. Stick to the facts of your experience. In this workshop, I’ll guide you through how to think about both the social barriers you’ve faced—in education, employment, or business—and the economic challenges you’re dealing with now. That might sound like a lot, but don’t worry. The workshop and blog will walk you through each step to help you write clearly and honestly. I am providing writing tools to help you prepare your DBE personal narrative. It’s not legal advice or official instruction—but it will help you express your story in your own words. I am informed that some individuals attending the workshop will need a form to write on, and I will be handing out a "Narrative Form". There is also a link on the left hand side of this blog with a link for an "Editable Narrative Form" that can be copied, pasted and editedl I am also providing another link titled, "Thinking About Writing Your Narrative" to assist you in thinking through each section that you will write. This includes the questions that MoDOT provided in their Final Notice letter dated March 25, 2026.