Living our values out loud. For some, that’s nothing more than a catchphrase. For Robert Silverman, a longtime ally to African American employees and co-executive sponsor of Booz Allen’s Multicultural Business Resource Group (BRG), it’s a way of life.
A few years ago, when Robert attended the Black Engineer of the Year Awards (BEYA) ceremony to celebrate several Booz Allen employees who were being honored, he couldn’t help but urge his colleagues to bring the noise.
“We cheered so raucously whenever someone from our team was brought up on stage that other people in the crowd started staring,” says Robert. “We weren’t disrespectful—we just couldn’t help but show how proud we were.”
That demonstration of pride had a measurable effect. About a year later, someone approached Robert at the office and told him that she had attended the same BEYA ceremony as an employee of a competitor and walked away astonished by the Booz Allen contingent’s visceral camaraderie.
“She came to work at our firm because she wanted to experience that type of culture firsthand,” says Robert. “I think it’s the perfect example of how passionate we are about supporting each other.”
Today, Robert’s passion for supporting others can be seen in the work he does to increase representation of racial and ethnic minority talent through our firm’s multicultural BRG and the emphasis he places on allyship.
“It’s important for allies to play a very visible role in our efforts to create a future where diversity and inclusion are the norm rather than the exception,” says Robert.
