Empowering 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 people of historically underrepresented groups by offering programs to develop science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) career interests and skills. Some of our STEM programs are focused on pathways to advanced and emerging technology careers connected with national security, such as artificial intelligence and cyber. Our employees serve as ambassadors and mentors as they interact with students via boot camps, innovation labs, robotics competitions, and more. In FY23, Booz Allen supported STEM initiatives in local communities through $4.5 million in charitable contributions, including $3 million to the Booz Allen Foundation and $1.5 million to other organizations. Those funds benefited community partners such as Year Up, For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST^®), the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, and Girl Up. Our employees donated $217,200 to support these and other education-focused nonprofits.

This also marked the second year of our internal program to help employees gain the essential skills needed to serve on a nonprofit organization's board of directors. We partner with nonprofits to deliver on this program, which equips participants to make immediate impact on the boards they join. In FY23, 299 employees completed the board training. We partnered with our Business Resource Groups (BRGs) to recruit a diverse pool of candidates to receive leadership development opportunities, and infuse trained, diverse leaders into local communities.

Supporting Equity by Empowering Teachers

In addition to supporting student STEM programs, we invested in teachers through our partnerships with the Space Foundation, the USS Midway Museum, Marymount University, Space Center Houston, Special Olympics Virginia, the National Children's Museum, the AI Education Project (aiEDU), and the University of Texas at San Antonio's Center for Infrastructure Assurance & Security (CIAS). This year, we sponsored 293 teachers for STEM Educator Day Out at the International Spy Museum, connecting the participants with resources for national security and cybersecurity education. We also evolved our long-standing relationship with the Thurgood Marshall College Fund by providing funding for its Teacher Quality & Retention Program (TQRP), which advances the recruitment and retention of Black STEM educators. In this annual, cohort-based program, 80 Fellows enhance their skills through professional development, classroom experiences, and access to resources.

Changing the Face of STEM with Girl Up

We continued our partnership with Girl Up, a leadership development initiative focused on equity for girls and women in spaces where they are unheard and underrepresented. We share the belief that when girls and women are in positions of influence in STEM industries and beyond, they work to create a more just and equitable world for everyone.

In FY23, our partnership reached 230 youths through Girl Up's STEM for Social Good program, which uses STEM to address the world's most pressing social issues. After participating in the program, an average of 78% of participants said they felt confident in their ability to identify and explain the gender gap in STEM. We also supported a STEM bootcamp on artificial intelligence and Girl Up's STEM Innovation Lab.

At the end of the program, the STEM Innovation Lab celebrated 11 youth-led community-based projects, from an e-commerce platform for women artisans in India to an organic, compostable alternative to plastic bags. Booz Allen sponsored 30 STEM Project Awards of $500 to $1,000.

Inspiring Inclusive Pathways in DC and San Diego

As part of the Booz Allen Foundation's focus on helping people of historically underrepresented groups continue paths to careers in STEM, the Foundation introduced pathbuilder grants in Washington, DC, and San Diego, CA, where we have our largest offices. Both cities were also chosen because of their high concentration of tech firms, prevalence of underserved youth, and breadth of active community organizations who could support our efforts. The inaugural class of grantees included:

• Washington, DC: STEM for HER, Full STEAM Forward, the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Washington, and Talent for Tomorrow Alliance members Year Up and Spark the Journey.
• San Diego: Elementary Institute of Science (EIS), Lincoln High School, Girl Scouts of San Diego, and MANA de San Diego.