Twelve years isn’t a typical milestone. It’s not the flashy fifth or the triumphant tenth. But for dfusion, year 12 is the one we’ll remember most.
This past year tested us in ways we didn’t see coming. Federal contracts were cancelled. Funding was delayed. Partner organizations we’d built relationships with over years were suddenly struggling alongside us. Payments we’d counted on were put on hold. Work we’d dedicated ourselves to was no longer supported by a new administration with different priorities. And then, in a move that stunned the research and innovation community, the Small Business Innovation Research program — a beloved, bipartisan program that has fueled American science and small business innovation for 44 years — was not reauthorized. For the first time in its history. It was inconceivable, and the ripple effects landed squarely on organizations like ours.
We regrouped. We made hard decisions — including painful ones about staffing. Colleagues we valued left. Those who stayed took on more, sometimes for less. We looked honestly at our strategies, explored new revenue streams, and slowly, steadily found our footing again.
But even as things stabilized, each month brought a new challenge. Government shutdowns. Delayed application reviews. Uncertainty about continuation funding on existing grants. Just when we’d catch our breath, something new would land.
And yet.
Here we are, entering year 12, and we are genuinely excited. Not in spite of what this year brought — because of it. Adversity has a way of clarifying what matters. It sharpened our focus, deepened our commitment to each other, and pushed us to innovate in directions we might not have explored otherwise.
We launched STEMPlay Labs, a new division led by BA Laris, dedicated to creating educational games that make STEM learning engaging and accessible for K-12 students. (If you haven’t checked out Fantasy Sports Math League yet, you’re missing out.) Every member of our research and project staff is now serving as Principal Investigator on a federally funded research project — a reflection of the depth of talent and experience this team has built. We’re forging new partnerships with organizations that share our values and our urgency. And we’re formalizing something we’ve always been good at — evaluating technology-delivered interventions — and beginning to offer those services to others who need them.
We are celebrating because we are still here, and because being still here took real work. We are celebrating because every person on this team showed up, did the hard thing, and kept the mission front and center. We are celebrating because the work we do — improving health outcomes, empowering learners, building technology that actually serves people — matters more than ever.
Year 12 won’t be easy. But if the last year taught us anything, it’s that easy was never really the point.
Here’s to what’s next!
Tamara Kuhn, MA is the CEO and Research Scientist at dfusion, a women-owned small business specializing in technology-delivered health interventions, educational games, and behavior change research. A social scientist and technologist with more than 25 years of experience, Tamara has served as Principal Investigator on more than 25 federally funded research projects and led technology development for more than 40 federal initiatives spanning HIV prevention, sexual health education, STEM learning, and harm reduction. She is the co-inventor and patent holder of SkillFlix, a video-based microskills training system with demonstrated real-world effectiveness. Tamara is a recognized expert in translating behavioral and social science research into scalable, engaging technology — and in building organizations resilient enough to keep doing that work even when the landscape shifts.