Brewing diversity and fostering community | Richard Fierro ’21

Richard Fierro, MBA ’21, is a UCCS alum and local small business owner credited with helping subdue the gunman in the Club Q mass shooting in November of 2022.

Fierro served as an Army Officer for 14 years. He served in 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, V Corps Artillery, and 2nd Brigade, 4th Infantry Division. During his service, Fierro completed four combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Since 2014, he has been a defense contractor for Northrop Grumman serving as Deputy Site Lead (Operations Manager) of a 56-person contracting team at the Fort Carson Mission Training Complex. He earned the Northrop Grumman Quality award, Presidents Leadership Award for Technology Services, Best Culture Builder, and others during his time as a contractor. In 2023, Fierro began working for the Air Force Federal employee with USSPACECOM in the Academic Engagement Enterprise (AEE).

“I joined the MBA program because I wanted something more substantial than elementary education, to match what I had been doing in the Army,” explained Fierro. “It was a great experience.”

Fierro was already well-versed in the business world, having opened a brewery, Atrevida Beer Co., with his family in 2018.

“Two people who have never run a business, who have never done anything like that…it was neat to jump in headfirst,” he said. “My wife and daughter have taken this thing somewhere that is beyond beer.”

Their brewery motto is “Diversity, it’s on tap!” and they make a point of welcoming everyone.

Fierro….He calls UCCS a place of opportunities and is proud to be a part of the university community.

Last year, Fierro and his family were at the scene of the November Club Q mass shooting, where Fierro was credited with helping subdue the gunman. For his efforts, he has received the 2023 Congressional Medal of Honor Society’s Citizen Honors Award for Valor, VFW Life Saving Award for Valor, LULAC Freedom and Justice Award, Red Cross Rocky Mountain Hero, Veteran of the Year National Able Network, and the NYPD GOAL Medal of Valor.

Richaed Fierro is a distinguished alumnus who delivered the fall 2023 commencement keynote speech. View a list of other notable alumni here.