Does Booz Allen Hamilton recognize and support its gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender community members for career development?

Booz Allen's diverse professional community includes gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) employees.  GLOBE has been a firm-sponsored grassroots forum for GLBT employees and their friends since 1999.  The forum seeks to advance the interests of Booz Allen and the forum members by fostering an inclusive work environment; encouraging the full potential and participation of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender employees; and creating positive visibility.

GLOBE has created a mentoring program and also sponsors regular recruiting initiatives to help Booz Allen reach out to potential employees who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender. The firm has a long-standing relationship with organizations such as Reaching Out MBA, PFLAG, and Out & Equal.

Are Booz Allen's gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender senior staff 'out'?

You will find that many senior staff participate in GLOBE and work with the firm's senior management to ensure that issues affecting GLBT employees are addressed. To provide support for those who are not "out," GLOBE holds a yearly event celebrating National Coming Out Day (NCOD) on October 11th. NCOD is an ongoing national campaign to empower gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender individuals to live openly and honestly in all areas of their lives.

Does Booz Allen offer benefits to domestic partners?

Yes. Booz Allen is committed to the principle of equal employment opportunity and to fostering a professional work environment for all employees, regardless of sexual orientation, and has offered domestic partnership benefits to its employees in the United States since 1997.  Underscoring the firm's commitment to fair and equitable treatment, qualified domestic partners of GLBT employees are eligible for all benefit programs. In addition, eligible dependent children of the domestic partner are recognized as dependents under these benefit programs.

Are Booz Allen's gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender consultants open with clients about their personal lives and/or sexual orientation?

Booz Allen professionals work with their teammates—both within the firm and from the client organization—in many different environments. In some cases, our consultants develop close personal relationships with clients in the course of their professional work. In such cases, some people discuss their personal lives with clients and feel comfortable disclosing their sexual orientation. In other situations, our consultants do not choose to discuss their personal lives in detail.

The firm respects all staff members and expects them to use their best judgment when deciding which discussions are appropriate or inappropriate within the context of a particular engagement. Relationship-building is an important part of consulting. Booz Allen values diversity and the sensitivity to differences necessary in a diverse community.

What would happen if I felt uncomfortable with a particular client because of my sexual orientation?

Booz Allen is committed to maintaining a workplace that is comfortable for all our professionals. In such a situation, you could discuss your discomfort with the vice president on the assignment. A variety of different options would be considered to ensure that the situation was resolved as quickly as possible.

What is it like to be gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender at Booz Allen?

Every person's experience will be unique, depending on personal comfort level and the relationships developed with Booz Allen teammates, but here is one person's experience:

"The Human Resources department was one of my first stops after joining the firm. The people there had all the forms necessary to add my partner to my Booz Allen health insurance plan, and treated the process as completely ordinary. Note: there are a few qualifying requirements for registering a domestic partner (e.g. having the same address), but they are not overly stringent."

"I did not put a picture of Paul on my desk, but he came up in the ordinary course of conversation with my officemates and co-workers. The overall comfort level is very high. On my most recent project (a local one), my teammates always specifically invited Paul to events along with other spouses and significant others."

"We are the only same-sex couple at local office practice events, and some senior partners seemed somewhat puzzled when first introduced to my 'partner,' but that may have been the word 'partner' as much as anything else. At Booz Allen, 'my partner' can mean the vice president in charge of your job, and 'hiring partner' is more commonly heard than 'domestic partner.'"

"Being openly gay has not had a negative impact on any aspect of my life at Booz Allen, either socially or professionally. While no one will have exactly the same experience, I can recommend Booz Allen as the most accepting work environment I have encountered."

page updated May 2008