2019 BEYA Modern Day Technology Leaders

April is motivated by the transformative power of complex analytic solutions applied to social policy problems. She views practices such as data science, municipal management, and philanthropy as complementary—potential partners whose collaboration could people’s lives.

Relationships with clients and health industry experts are important to her. Passionate about business development, April is working to connect disparate groups like the U.S. Department of Defense with minority-serving academic institutions to create new opportunities.

Throughout her career, April has published research and editorials in scholarly health journals. She holds a Ph.D. in Anthropology from Harvard University.

Working in the defense industry has allowed Brandon to affect immediate change to our world’s landscape. His calculations and flow diagrams can lead to tangible defense support for our warfighters.

His background includes integrated security solutions, and global security and engineering solutions. Brandon holds a master’s degree in engineering management from George Washington University.

Crystal and her team, working on cybersecurity efforts, are currently protecting 80 percent of the federal .gov networks on more than four million devices.  And she is just as impressive working on volunteer and industry efforts.

Diversity in STEM is an important part of who Crystal is. Even as a new employee, Crystal became chair of the African American Forum-Recruiting and Retention committee and a board member of the firm’s LGBTQ forum. She also led the firm’s diversity and recruiting efforts at the 2018 DEFCON conference, supporting the diversity hiring initiative for STEM candidates.

Freddie’s mission is to change the technology domain and the way organizations pursue software development operations. His latest focus is in enterprise cloud solutions and how to bridge the gap with legacy systems, by providing solutions that reach end users quicker than with standard stovepipe rollouts. He utilizes his military and operational background to better engineer solutions that users are excited about adopting. 

As technology moves rapidly, Freddie works to stay relevant and has currently attained 14 certifications. He shares his experiences as a mentor, as a guest lecturer at universities, and is a CyberPatriot instructor at a local Los Angeles high school.

As a former cyber operations officer for the military, he wants to continue providing critical cyber capability to support the U.S. government. Freddie feels that we need people who are cyber professionals, mastering many technologies, to think architecturally, and solve upcoming challenges.

He has 14 years of technical experience supporting cyber and information security projects for the government, military, healthcare industry, and the intelligence community. As a Navy veteran, he understands the importance of commitment. Malcolm developed his keen sense of analyzing threat data by, initially, tracking submarines as a Navy sonar technician.

Malcolm is also a consummate cyber professional, holding certifications including CISSP and Security+ and completing training such as Metasploit for Enterprise Penetration Testing. His position allows him to support the next generation of cybersecurity risk management professionals—those who will lead and protect our future.

Through her efforts leading the Booz Allen Women’s Forum, Marvette is focused on building and mentoring the next generation of leaders. She understands the importance of women and girls in STEM fields to provide diversity of thought to challenges of today and tomorrow. To empower middle and high school girls, and spark interest, Marvette has organized immersive days to expose girls from at risk communities to the opportunities of STEM/STEAM.

Today, the work Marvette does expands her abilities, and contributes to her being a collaborative technology leader. Leading by example, she inspires young women to believe in themselves, take risks, and to change the world because diversity of thought is requirement, not an option.

Stephanie has managed large scale test engineering efforts for federal cybersecurity initiatives. Currently she is serving as a system engineer, where she provides technical analysis and engineering services in a consulting capacity. Stephanie’s contribution to cybersecurity efforts are important in our country's national and international strategies to combat threats of cyber attacks. 

Passionate about inspiring tomorrow’s leaders, she has volunteered with organizations to include Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, Girls in Technology, FIRST Robotics, and Black Girls Code. 

Currently, Taalib is leading a team of data scientists, econometricians, and business analysts to predict the impact of legislation on government programs that help at risk populations. He helps government operate more efficiently, allocate resources more equitably, and discover opportunities.

Taalib is committed to raising up leaders at work and in his community. He runs a mentorship program for new and mid-career employees. Every year, Taalib supports the Greater DC Diaper Bank with a diaper drive. He is also leading a financial literacy program for 5^th graders at a Washington, DC school.

To combat the shortage of skilled cyber talent, Troy helped launch and internal training program, focusing on various attack aspects and the defensive side of cybersecurity. He is helping to build the next wave of support, through mentorship and training, for the Department of Defense and commercial clients.

With 25 years of service supporting military campaigns across the globe, Troy is a former active duty member of the U.S. Air Force, continuing his service in the reserves. He is pursuing his master’s degree in cybersecurity at University of Maryland University College. 

Supporting an agency whose primary focus is innovation, both now and in his prior role as a patent examiner, helps him to appreciate the power of an idea. Walter’s collaboration with business and technical stakeholders directly impact the 8,000+ patent examiners who process patent applications from inventors.

Walter has 15+ years of experience supporting the government and military. He is certified both as an Agile software professional and a Project Management Professional. He holds a master’s in systems engineering from George Mason University.