Title: Associate
Joined Booz Allen: 2004
What type of work do you do at Booz Allen Hamilton?
Our office supports the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) with systems engineering and integration services.
Tell us about the organization for which you volunteer and why you chose to support it.
I volunteer with Rebuilding Together and the International Scholar Laureate Program, but I volunteer most often for Engineers Without Borders – USA, with which I’ve been involved for 4 years. Engineers Without Borders creates sustainable engineering solutions for communities in developing nations to improve their quality of life. Projects range from providing basic needs such as potable water and electricity, to larger endeavors such as constructing medical clinics and bridges and providing tsunami relief.
What type of volunteer services do you provide to this organization?
I first joined the group as a member of the Colonia Esmeralda Project Team, whose primary goal was to provide a long-term supply of clean drinking water to a community of 70 families located on the outskirts of El Salvador’s capital, San Salvador. The residents fled their homes in the country during the Salvadoran civil war, and the new community they created did not have a public works infrastructure. I managed the project for the two years it took to provide them with a new well, pipelines to a water storage tank, a new water treatment process, and a 100+-foot retaining wall to prevent erosion of the community’s access road. I’m now the president of Engineers Without Borders – Central Houston and work to ensure the organization is moving in the right direction to meet its goals.
How has Booz Allen supported your volunteer commitment?
Booz Allen has been an awesome supporter of my volunteer efforts, as well as of Engineers Without Borders. Due to my Engineers Without Borders commitments, I sometimes have to work flexible hours and my managers and teammates have always supported me. When I have to be out of the office for one or two weeks to support project implementation in other countries, my manager works with me to make sure my client commitments are not compromised. Booz Allen has also provided financial support to Engineers Without Borders via their Volunteer Service Grant program, as well as local support from the Houston office via donations.
How are you able to leverage your skill set as a Booz Allen consultant to assist this organization?
In my role as a Booz Allen consultant, I manage the requirements of many stakeholders, including NASA, our Russian counterparts, and our Japanese colleagues, to arrive at engineering solutions that satisfy all parties without compromising safety. This is exactly the type of work I do for Engineers Without Borders. When working on an Engineers Without Borders project, I must first understand the community’s needs. I must also understand the constraints of any partner NGOs and the limits of in-country resources, and come up with sustainable solutions that can best benefit the community. At the end of the day, it is the community that owns the project. We want to make sure they get the best possible product from us.
How has your volunteer experience helped you with your professional development?
Engineers Without Borders has given me the confidence to take any obstacle in stride. In Engineers Without Borders, you’re not only responsible for the numbers, analysis, and bottom line, you’re responsible for somebody’s welfare, which adds a very personal element to the engineering we do. The people in a community are the bosses of our project, and we will do whatever it takes to get the job done. At times, when the drill rig equipment fails, the soil properties are completely different from what you assumed, or a friend you made in the community is losing his home, you find yourself in a pickle that you never expected. But you keep going because you’re doing this for them. Once you’ve overcome these kinds of obstacles, you know that there’s a solution to any obstacle that a job can throw at you.
What have you learned about yourself as a result of your volunteer experience?
I’ve learned that I love helping people, and I can’t imagine living a life where I don’t. And in the process of volunteering, I’ve met hundreds of others like me. It’s inspiring to know that there are many, many good people out there helping make the world a better place for millions who just need somebody to extend a hand.
What is the primary message you’d like your Booz Allen colleagues to know about your volunteer experience?
Do it. You just have to do it. If there’s any type of volunteer work out there that you’ve wondered if you could do, all it takes is a phone call or an e-mail to find out. Give yourself a chance and you will be amazed at what you can do.
