Booz Allen's 2005 Diversity Award Recipients

At its seventh annual Diversity Awards banquet on May 25, 2005, in McLean, Virginia, Booz Allen Hamilton recognized the following staff members for their exemplary commitment to supporting diversity:

• Individual Contributor: Senior Consultant Jacqueline Blubaugh (Colorado Springs) — Jacqueline commits both her professional and personal time to diversity initiatives such as the Workforce Leadership Council, Emerging Leaders program, and Diversity Book Club. She also created several diversity initiatives for the Colorado Springs office, including two highlighting the Americans with Disabilities Act, and a Cinco de Mayo event that included outreach to a local senior center.



• Manager: Senior Associate Maria Esther Caballero (Mexico City, Mexico) — Maria is a role model of the firm's diversity value proposition. She knows each member of her staff on a personal level and assigns work according to the needs of both her staff and her clients. She's also a mentor to the women on her team, helping them navigate careers that highlight professionalism, respect, and sensitivity.



• Leader: Vice President Cindy Broyles (Lexington Park, MD) — Under Cindy's leadership, Lexington Park was one of the first Booz Allen offices to institute a chapter of the Workforce Leadership Council and was the first regional office to create affinity groups for women, African Americans, and junior staff. She was a founding member and first elected President of the Southern Maryland Chapter of Women in Defense.



• Forum or Affinity Group: The Women of Greater Washington (WGW) — In this past year, WGW has launched or supported several high-impact initiatives, including Bring Your Child to Work Day, informational sessions on Career Development and Assessments, the Women of Distinction Awards, Women in Technology (WIT) sponsorship, Working Mother Award nomination support, and a comprehensive program throughout March 2005 in recognition of Women's History Month.



• Business Unit: The Civil Systems Natural Team (CSNT) — In the past year, the CSNT has created team-based mentoring and recognition programs, partnered with Project Access to expand their diversity recruiting initiatives, and sponsored two career development expos for staff. The team sponsors flexible work arrangements to help staff manage child care, continuing education, eldercare, and civic involvement.



• Office Site: Ballston, VA — The Ballston office staff has more than 360 employees from Taiwan, England, India, Ireland, Iran, Peru, Turkey, Spain, and Yugoslavia, as well as the U.S. While experiencing phenomenal growth this past year, the Ballston Office Diversity Initiative has sponsored a kickoff event, a series of diversity dinners, and Ballston's first initiatives in recognition of African-American Heritage Month.

Chairman and CEO Ralph Shrader and Director of Diversity and Multinational People Strategies Patrick McLaurin presented the honorees with an award designed by Tiffany & Co.

2005 Chairman's Award

The firm also presented the African-American Heritage Month Committee with the 2005 Chairman's Award. Under the leadership of Senior Consultant Jada Scott, the committee hosted 57 events in 18 offices that were attended by 2,000 staff this past year. Highlights included a keynote address by Judge Glenda Hatchett in McLean; a performance by Frederick Douglass IV and his wife in Lexington Park; a musical event celebrating the life of Langston Hughes in Cleveland; and an address by Senior Vice President and Visionary Award Winner Reggie Van Lee in Chicago.

"The Diverse Group is Better at Coming to Wise Decisions"

Shrader gave the keynote address: "Beware the IN Crowd: Diverse Groups are Wiser, Kinder, and Higher Performing."

"Larger, diverse, less-conforming groups are inherently wiser, kinder, and more accomplished," Sharder said during his address. He referenced The Wisdom of Crowds by New Yorker columnist James Suroweicki, saying the book shows how large, diverse groups of people are "smarter than an elite few, no matter how brilliant the few… The diverse group is better at solving problems, fostering innovation, coming to wise decisions, even predicting the future."

"In addition to being smarter, diverse groups are inherently kinder," Shrader said. "Kindness is not generally thought of as a business quality, but I sincerely believe that it must be for a values-based company. Over 60% of Booz Allen people are actively and continuously involved in doing things that serve others."

Shrader concluded with a quote from Eric Hoffer, author of the book, The True Believer: "It is the stretched soul that makes music, and souls are stretched by the pull of opposites—opposite bents, tastes, yearnings, loyalties. Where there is no polarity—where energies flow smoothly in one direction—there will be much doing, but no music."

story posted June 6, 2005