One Consultant's Career Path from Nightlife to NASA

Senior Consultant Roger Sánchez hasn’t been out of school very long, but he’s already had a wide range of work experiences, from supporting restaurants and bars in Washington, DC, to helping NASA scientists study the sun.

Throughout all these experiences, there’s one common thread: a love of learning and a passion for helping others.

Read on to learn about Roger’s early career in local government, what and who inspire him, and his path to Booz Allen and heliophysics: the study of the Sun and how it affects Earth and the other planets around it.

While Roger’s college coursework at American University focused on international relations, specifically U.S. foreign policy in Latin America, one of his first employers was just a few miles away from campus: the District of Columbia’s local government.

From seeing policy take shape to managing social media, it was a continual learning experience. He worked first with the Mayor’s Office on Latino Affairs, translating documents and websites for Spanish speakers. The work had special meaning for him as an immigrant from the Dominican Republic. “I used to translate for my mom, and now I was advocating for folks like us,” he recalls. “It was a full-circle moment.”

Roger’s next position was with the Mayor’s Office of Nightlife and Culture—a new type of initiative focused on businesses in the nighttime economy such as restaurants, bars, and “anything fun,” says Roger.

“We were in the trenches being a resource, helping mom-and-pop shops navigate the DC government—everything from public safety to permitting and licensing,” says Roger.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, this support was even more vital. Roger and his colleagues developed the Streatery Winter Ready Grant Program, managing and distributing $4 million in funding to about 600 businesses for outdoor dining areas. “The mayor and other leaders really trusted us to see the program through to completion,” Roger remembers. 

When Roger sought to expand his technical background, friends from school suggested he apply to Booz Allen. “My friends spoke so highly of the firm’s work and culture,” he says.

Joining Booz Allen as a consultant, Roger soon followed the advice he gives job seekers today: look at your skills and fill in the gaps. In this case, this involved taking firm-sponsored classes in Excel and Tableau and pursuing certification in data visualization and analytics.

Growth also meant being open to new adventures, like heliophysics. “When the opportunity presented itself to support NASA, I didn’t think twice,” Roger says.

Roger and his team support scientists and researchers nationwide in areas like onboarding, process standardization, knowledge management, and more. “We make sure they have the resources they need to do their jobs effectively,” he says. Such important work involves studying how space weather affects the satellites we rely on for our phones, GPS services, and more.

“I don’t have a science background but here I am supporting scientists,” he says. 

Another thing that drew Roger to Booz Allen was the firm’s commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). “I was looking for a company that really ‘walked the talk,’ and Booz Allen had an entire plan of DEI initiatives that firm leaders were really behind.”

He has been active in skill-based volunteering and small business support led by Booz Allen’s aerospace team. This included 12 months of work with a local Black-owned small business, “helping them with marketing, HR, data analytics, and anything they need help with,” he says. “I immediately jumped at the opportunity to help out a DC business.”

He has also been involved with the aerospace team’s talent development initiatives. Finding “uncommon candidates” and “a diverse group of folks who are problem solvers and connected to the mission is what Booz Allen, the Department of Defense, and the U.S. need to keep up with and shape space exploration,” says Roger.

Through all these activities, Roger remains inspired by the meaning of his work—supporting space research and its potential for good. From using satellite imagery to combat deforestation to leveraging the International Space Station as a vehicle of diplomacy, he poses the question: “How can that knowledge help folks here on Earth?”