Meet Booz Allen Consultant and Boy Scouts of America and Special Olympics Volunteer Jose Abiles

Title: Associate

Joined Booz Allen: 1994

What type of work do you do at Booz Allen Hamilton?

As a Process Improvement Organization (PIO) quality assurance (QA) manager, I provide QA support to an Internal Revenue Service project and to the internal PIO. We ensure that projects are in compliance with their defined processes and client standards. We also prepare projects for external appraisals to maintain Booz Allen’s Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) rating, an important qualification that allows the firm to bid on federal government Request For Proposals.

Tell us about the organization for which you volunteer and why you chose to support it.

I support the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) Troop 152 in Vienna, Virginia. BSA is one of the nation’s largest nonprofit youth development organizations dedicated to building character, training in citizenship, and developing fitness. I also support the Winter Special Olympics in Northern Virginia, a program of training and athletic competition in Olympic-style sports for children and adults with intellectual disabilities.

What type of volunteer services to you provide to these organizations?

I’m an adult volunteer with the BSA and serve as the Boy Scout Roundtable Commissioner with Troop 152. I facilitate monthly Roundtable discussions to share information and provide training to adult volunteers. I also support the biannual adult leader training sessions and have served as a Scoutmaster and Assistant Scoutmaster. For the Northern Virginia Winter Special Olympics, I serve on the Opening Ceremony Committee. My main job is to prepare and set up the Olympic Flame for the Friday evening ceremony. Once that is complete, I help out with other set-up tasks.

How has Booz Allen supported your volunteer commitment?

Booz Allen has donated several Volunteer Service Grants (VSGs) to support my Boy Scout troops’ equipment needs. Booz Allen employees can apply for VSGs and, if they’re approved, the firm issues a check to the employee’s charity in that individual’s name.

How are you able to leverage your skill set as a Booz Allen consultant to assist this organization?

I look for ways that we can better manage and run the troop. For example, our annual fundraising activity is to sell and deliver mulch to homeowners. After several years of participation, I recommended to the Troop Committee that we should conduct a “lessons learned” session at the completion of our seasonal sales efforts, which resulted in improved sales. Due to the success of our mulch sales, other troops and youth organizations have taken up mulch sales as well, resulting in an overall reduction of our client base. I’ll be helping the troop conduct brainstorming sessions in the near term to look at alternative methods for generating revenue to support our financial goals.

How did you contribute to the effort to build the Special Olympics torch?

When Booz Allen became involved with the Winter Special Olympics Virginia several years ago, one of the challenges we had to overcome was incorporating the Torch Lighting Ceremony into an indoor environment. Due to the safety constraints, we could not use a live flame, but I saw this as an interesting challenge to solve. My solution involved using an office fan at the base of the torch to generate airflow, and attaching ribbons and streamers to simulate a flame. As the years went by, I found a larger fan to give the flame even more pizzazz.

How has your volunteer experience helped you with your professional development?

Working with the young scouts has taught me some different management approaches and made me more tolerant. In my previous life in the military, it was easy to give orders and make things happen. The BSA philosophy of how young boys learn was totally foreign to me, but I embraced the concept of boys leading boys, and allowing mistakes to happen but learning from those mistakes. It has been very rewarding watching 6th-grade boys grow and mature and eventually go to college. Some are nearing graduation and I’m hoping they will seek careers here at Booz Allen.

What have you learned about yourself as a result of your volunteer experience?

Seeing someone smile, reach a goal, and be able to laugh and have fun makes it all worthwhile.

What is the primary message you’d like your Booz Allen colleagues to know about your volunteer experience?

I’ve made numerous lifelong friends as a result, and their friendship has made me a better person. Being a volunteer not only benefits the receiving organization, it also benefits the volunteer.

profile posted March 25, 2009