Empower Diverse Talent

Empower Diverse Talent in the Community

We partner with community organizations to empower diverse groups of people through programs and opportunities that ultimately make individuals, families, and communities more resilient and secure.

We support historically underrepresented individuals in developing science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) career interests and skills. Our people have served as ambassadors and mentors, interacting with historically underrepresented students through STEM boot camps, innovation labs, robotics competitions, and more. In 2022, Booz Allen supported STEM initiatives in local communities through $1.35 million in charitable contributions and pro bono services, benefitting community partners such as Girl Up, For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST®), SEED SPOT, and the U.S. Space and Rocket Center.

We also launched an internal program to help employees gain the essential skills required to serve on a nonprofit organization's board of directors. We recruited employees for this program through our Business Resource Groups to provide employees' equitable access to this leadership development opportunity and infuse local communities with trained diverse leaders. By partnering with nonprofit organizations to deliver this customized training, we helped interested employees gain the skills for immediate progression and impact.

We empowered employees to drive equity within their communities. Through Booz Allen's Race and Social Equity Grant program, 16 employee-selected nonprofits addressing racial, social, or equity problems in their local communities received a combined $200,000 in grants in FY22.

Changing the Face of STEM with Girl Up

Our firm has a longstanding relationship with Girl Up—and for good reason. This organization has launched a movement to advance girls' skills, rights, and leadership opportunities, helping address barriers for girls to engage in technology and STEM careers. With our participation in Girl Up, the organization experienced a 32% increase in girls who identify as having a female mentor in STEM as well as a 23% increase in girls planning to pursue a career in STEM. Additionally, 80% of Girl Up participants reported feeling motivated to pursue further STEM trainings or programs.

We sponsored Girl Up's Leadership Summit, STEM for Social Good Bootcamps, and the STEM Innovation Lab in 2021, building on our year-over-year support in advancing STEM careers for girls. These events highlighted how girls could build a career in STEM combined with social good and provided opportunities for them to share their STEM-related inventions and get feedback. Across the three events, we reached over 330 changemakers and expanded the Summit's accessibility by funding 71 scholarships for girls from diverse financial backgrounds to attend the Leadership Summit. In addition to providing funding, our people participated in fireside chats and presentations with Girl Up changemakers, discussing their personal journeys and offering advice around best practices for pursuing STEM pathways.

Architecting an Ecosystem Dedicated to Inspiring Inclusive Pathways in DC

As part of the Booz Allen Foundation's focus on helping historically underrepresented individuals continue paths to careers in STEM, the Foundation partnered with a coalition of five nonprofits in the Washington, DC area, aptly named the “Talent for Tomorrow” alliance. The funding helps this ecosystem of nonprofits pursue a combined mission of creating a more inclusive workforce by addressing inequality in STEM education while working purposefully to close racial, income, and opportunity gaps by offering diverse avenues of support.

Of the five nonprofits, Spark the Journey and New Futures play a major role in identifying students, offering college coaching and scholarships, while Genesys Works IT provides training and jobs for high school students. Finally, Year Up and Per Scholas offer a dual-enrollment bridge program that provides in-demand technology training and professional development, industry-recognized credentials, internships, and support to attain thriving tech jobs, effectively closing the loop from pathway to opportunity. Funding this alliance of organizations helped our Foundation's commitment to raise the system by appealing to each of the nonprofits' strengths and ultimately assisted in creating a diverse talent pipeline.

Our support is enabling a pilot collaboration between Year Up and Spark the Journey on Professional Mentoring, which assigns mentors to students that have difficulty accessing these opportunities due to a lack of credentials, degrees, or perpetuated cycles of inequity. The program encourages these students to explore pursuing certification programs, higher education, and ultimately a meaningful career. In addition to funding this program, Booz Allen employees serve as mentors, helping the students sharpen their workforce skills and see firsthand what a career in STEM looks like.