Booz Allen's Leadership Excellence Program Pairs Career Development with Doing Good

Booz Allen's Leadership Excellence Program Pairs Career Development with Doing Good

MCLEAN, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Providing expert consulting advice for a literacy program, support for multiple sclerosis, guidance to a Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) effort, and assistance to an environmental program were among the eight projects executed by senior Booz Allen Hamilton (NYS: BAH) leader volunteers as part of the firm 2013 Senior Leadership Excellence program.

The volunteer work was part of an innovative program offered to top-performing Senior Associates that fully integrates professional development with community outreach. The Leadership Excellence for Senior Associates Program, now in its second year, matches teams of top Booz Allen employees with national and regional nonprofits in need of strategic guidance.

Since 2012, 17 nonprofits have been selected to participate in the Leadership Excellence Program, receiving strategic consulting services from Booz Allen employee volunteers that could generally cost the organizations at least $150,000 or more. The work, coordinated by Booz Allen's partner, COMPASS, is donated to the nonprofits by the employees themselves, all of whom remain fully engaged in their work for the firm while spending their after-hours time on the nonprofit projects.

"The Leadership Excellence Program, with its focus on community outreach, offers a triple win for our employees, the nonprofits selected to participate, and the firm," said Executive Vice President Betty Thompson, the firm's Chief Personnel Officer. "Our top-performing employees are offered a unique opportunity to put their leadership and management consulting skills to work to effect positive change in our community. The nonprofits benefit from the work of the firm's top talent, who help create a renewed strategic vision to our nonprofit partners. And the firm is strengthened by the new skills and exposure gained by our top-talent leaders."

This year, seventy Senior Associates formed teams of eight - each guided by a "Champion" member of the firm's leadership team - to deliver strategic solutions to the following nonprofit partners:

• Barbara Bush Foundation for Literacy

• Bob Woodruff Foundation

• Howard University School of Communication

• National Capital Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society

• Playworks DC

• The Smithsonian Associates

• University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science

• VirginiaFIRST

Booz Allen Senior Associate Erin Comer led a team working with The Smithsonian Associates, the largest museum-based educational program in the world. The Associates annually offers more than 750 seminars, performances, lectures, studio art classes, and local and regional study tours. The Booz Allen team was asked to guide them toward beginning a budget neutral, self-sustaining operation. Specifically, The Smithsonian Associates requested that Booz Allen provide a business plan to guide the organization's financial sustainability including recommendations to improve its financial health, organizational efficiency and impact.

The Booz Allen team delivered a detailed analysis and business plan providing strategic, organizational, and financial recommendations, along with a clearly documented 3-, 6-, 9- and 12-month implementation plan. "Working with The Smithsonian Associates was one of the most rewarding experiences of my career at Booz Allen," Comer said. "They welcomed us to the Associates family and worked side by side with us throughout our engagement to ensure we had the information, context, and feedback we needed to craft effective recommendations. I thoroughly enjoyed being able to apply my growing leadership skills against a new challenge in the not-for-profit space, and I look forward to staying in touch with the team to see how The Smithsonian Associates thrives into the future."

Frederica Adelman, Director of The Smithsonian Associates said, "We are still singing the praises of our Booz Allen Hamilton team! They swiftly understood our mission, our brand, and our challenges and then spent quality time with our staff and stakeholders to get multiple perspectives about the program. Over the course of the three short months, they worked closely with us to develop new models to analyze and suggest best business practices. We're grateful for the experience and believe that we'll benefit from their advice and expertise for many years to come."

Senior Associate Jonathan Allen led a team working with the Howard University School of Communication (HUSOC). The team was tasked with assisting HUSOC with restructuring their Board of Visitors (BOV) to formalize the role and objectives for BOV membership with a particular focus on fundraising and building a new HUSOC building.

After conducting a series of stakeholder interviews to benchmark current program and develop critical success factors for restructuring the board, the team delivered a review of the structure and configuration of the board, a roadmap for board reconfiguration including roles & responsibilities, and strategies for member identification, BOV fundraising, and a detailed methodology/timeline for reconfiguration.

Gracie Lawson-Borders, Dean of the School of Communications, said, "We had a very good experience working with the team from Booz Allen Hamilton. The team was supportive and expressed a sincere interest in working with the School of Communications. The values and strengths of the Howard experience were central to our efforts. We look forward to implementing some of their recommendations to continue moving our school forward."

About Booz Allen Hamilton

Booz Allen Hamilton is a leading provider of management consulting, technology, and engineering services to the U.S. government in defense, intelligence, and civil markets, and to major corporations, institutions, and not-for-profit organizations. Booz Allen is headquartered in McLean, Virginia, employs more than 23,000 people, and had revenue of $5.76 billion for the 12 months ended March 31, 2013. BAHPR-CO

Booz Allen Hamilton
James Fisher, 703-377-7785
fisher_james_w@bah.com

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