What are your goals in your role at your company?
The word “caleo” is Latin for ignite. The meaning behind our name is also our promise to our clients. I established Caleo Enterprises to light the fire in new businesses while rekindling the fire in existing businesses. There are over 260,000 small businesses in our state who provide jobs for nearly 50 percent of the workforce. Our daily goal is to strengthen small businesses in Iowa one at a time. 

What are your goals for community involvement? 
I am a proud voter advocate. I believe the most fundamental way for Iowans to get involved in their communities is to vote. My passion for voting and small businesses has led me to run for Iowa secretary of state. This office can be a true steward in increasing voter turnout in all elections while connecting Iowa business owners to the resources that will help them grow. My goal is to make that happen. 

What’s your biggest passion, and why?
It is hard for me to narrow down my passions to just one, but everything I do is driven by a desire to help others achieve their own dreams. From the work I do with small businesses, to my time on the Obama campaign reaching out to voters to help them express their fundamental rights, one thing is clear: I am driven by passion to create lasting change. 

What is it that drives you?
I have great parents who informed me at an early age that I was born on purpose to fulfill a purpose. They, along with my community, supported me while I searched for what that purpose was. 

What are your future aspirations?
I am ready to be Iowa’s next secretary of state. I often tell folks, if this were a job I could interview for, I would do it in a heartbeat.

Reasons she’s a Forty:

1.) Deidre increased the proportion of African-American voters in Iowa from 3 percent to 7 percent and registered historic numbers of African-American voters.
2.) She was named in 2017 the Iowa Minority Business Champion of the year by the Small Business Administration.
3.) She has worked to develop services and education for business owners, including the Masters Business BootCamp and Non-Profit BootCamp.
4.) She is also the co-founder of Back 2 School Iowa, a local nonprofit that focuses the summer-to-fall transition preparation for students in Des Moines.

See all 2018 honorees