Supporting Boy Scouts Fosters Good Citizenship

Booz Allen and Boy Scouts share basic values that include trust and integrity.

In 1911, the National Capital Area Council (NCAC) of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) was organized to help instill in young men values that included trustworthiness, kindness, and courage.

The NCAC is composed of Washington, DC and 16 counties in Maryland and Northern Virginia, serves 90,000 youth and adults of both genders and is the second largest of 300+ councils in the Boy Scouts of America. And the Scouts’ values, especially those involving trust, respect, and integrity, dovetail with the Core Values of another well-known firm—Booz Allen Hamilton, a long-time supporter of NCAC.

“The firm provides tools that Scouts need, including our experience and intellectual capital, to help them make responsible decisions and prepare for future success in life,” says senior consultant Meredith DeDona. “Our support of scouting is driven by a cadre of extremely dedicated Booz Allen volunteers. We have a lot of former Scouts in the firm.”

One of them is senior associate Eugene Kirsch. “I have been involved with scouting since 1955 and achieved Eagle rank in 1960,” he says. “My current roles are serving on the Eagle Scout Career Day Advisory Committee and as the point person for coordinating Booz Allen’s participation.”

Eagle is the highest rank in the Boy Scouts, and Scouts who have achieved that rank are offered an opportunity to participate in the annual Eagle Scout Career Day. In 2008, 1,300 NCAC Scouts achieved Eagle and 244 applied to the Eagle Career Day program. For this event, Eagles are matched with volunteer mentors, receive counseling regarding their career interests, and attend a banquet to collaborate further with other mentors and Eagles.

Booz Allen mentors and hosts the Eagles during a typical business day at the workplace and at an Eagle Career Day luncheon, where a panel of staff who are recent college graduates provide insight into the higher education experience. The firm participates as Gold Award sponsor, and Booz Allen staff mentored 26 Eagles in May 2009.

Senior associate Rick Hillenbrand has been involved with Scouting for 31 years. “What makes Scouting successful is the way it teaches youth important life lessons in a setting that’s fun,” he says. “We do this primarily by using our unlimited classroom: The great outdoors.”

Hillenbrand serves as the NCAC Council Commissioner, the “chief” uniformed volunteer in the council. Volunteer Commissioners serve Scout units, unit leaders, and Scouts by providing the knowledge and information they need to deliver fun, high-quality educational programs to their community’s youth. As part of the ongoing training, Commissioners attend an annual College of Commissioner Science, where local, regional, and national experts from within Scouting and beyond serve as instructors, and bachelor, master, and doctoral “degrees” in Commissioner Science are earned.

“Nationally, our NCAC Commissioners College has been recognized as one of the best,” Hillenbrand says. “We engage a staff of more than 50 to conduct dozens of training classes. Booz Allen has contributed to the College for the past 4 years, including the reproduction and donation of the annual ‘Commissioners Toolkit’ CD provided to each attendee. The firm supports the local Boy Scout Council internally via a hello.bah.com listing and supports the Commissioners by hosting the Commissioners Cabinet eShare site.”

Booz Allen has a philosophy of contributing to the communities in which its employees live.  Principal and director of Community Relations Joe Suarez says, “We take seriously our role as valued members of the communities in which we earn a living. When we enjoy business success, we’re responsible to give something back. This is a firm that conducts business according to its values, and we welcome ethical individuals who want to be part of that philosophy.”

Introducing a State-of-the-Art Technology Center in the Mountains

Although camping and outdoor skills remain vital to Scouting, Scouts also want to keep up with changing technology; therefore, elective merit badges include cutting-edge topics such as composite materials and entrepreneurship. To help Scouts stay current in technology and inspire them to pursue related careers, the firm invested in the Booz Allen Hamilton Technology Center, which opened in 2008 at the Goshen Scout Reservation at the NCAC’s premier camp in the mountains of southwestern Virginia. It is one of the largest summer camps in America.

A team of Booz Allen IT professionals acquired, configured, and installed a wide range of new computer hardware, software, security systems, and digital photography equipment. With the firm’s donation of new air conditioners and furniture, the Technology Center is one of the most modern, well-equipped buildings in the Reservation’s history. More than 5,000 Scouts have used the facility to earn merit badges in aviation, electricity, energy, engineering, nuclear science, computers, electronics, photography, communications, and journalism.

“My involvement in Boy Scouts stems from a personal need to give back and to give forward,” Kirsch says. “Experiences and skills I acquired through Scouting have aided my achievement to higher levels throughout my life. My experiences as an Army officer were made easier due to training I received as an Eagle. I have used most of the skills somewhere, from citizenship, to lifesaving, to cooking. Especially the cooking.

“The most important aspects about Boy Scouts are that it promotes leadership and good citizenship,” he adds. “The fiber that holds it all together is character. Scouting builds character, and Eagle Scouts are on their way to becoming the nation’s next leaders. As you progress toward Eagle, you demonstrate higher levels of responsibility that call for greater levels of moral courage, team leadership, and accountability—all things that Booz Allen value highly.”

Hillenbrand is often pleasantly surprised at the broad spectrum of individuals who become Scouting volunteers, including national and local government officials, senior military officers, and CEOs of large firms, as well as thousands of parents who want to do something with their child.  “But when you think about it, who doesn’t want to help boys or girls grow up, reach their full potential, and become good, ethical neighbors, too?” he says. “Not everyone will become an Eagle Scout, but Scouting provides great opportunities for every youth the learn citizenship, character building, and physical fitness skills that will last a lifetime.”

story posted June 5, 2009