Championing Employees with Disabilities

Francesca ‘Cesca’ Daniels does everything she can to uplift those around her.

As a co-chair of Booz Allen’s Global Disabilities Business Resource Group (BRG), she works with her colleagues to organize a series of firmwide events in October in honor of National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM).

Centered around the theme of “We Will Not Hide,” these employee events explore topics such as how to create a safe space for people with disabilities to advocate for themselves, get the accommodations they need, and gain the confidence to be as vocal as they want to be about their disabilities.

No matter what cause she’s working on, Cesca asks herself, “Am I doing something that makes me feel good? Am I making positive change in the world? If the answers are ‘yes’, I tend to keep pushing.”

Read on to learn more about Cesca, her career as a wargame designer, and what the Global Disabilities BRG means to her.

As its name implies, the We Will Not Hide campaign encourages people with disabilities to be their authentic selves at work and in their personal lives.

Cesca’s disability is “nonapparent”—you wouldn’t know about it unless you saw her with an assistive device. For many others who have “apparent” disabilities—it’s impossible for them to conceal their disability.

“We Will Not Hide is especially meant for recent hires who feel like they shouldn’t disclose their non-apparent disabilities to their employer,” Cesca says. “Whether it’s chronic pain, color blindness, or post-traumatic stress disorder, we want everyone in the community to feel empowered to request the accommodations they need to feel safe, think clearly, and work just like the rest of their colleagues.”

The October events will empower those who want to share their disability to do so, without shame and without hesitation—through their actions and words.

“Of course, not everyone wants to share their disability—and that’s okay!” stresses Cesca. “But others want to shout it from the rooftop—and that should be okay, too.”

Among the planned companywide NDEAM events, panel discussions will be led by distinguished colleagues, doctors of neuroscience, and experts in the deaf and hard-of-hearing community.

Cesca poured her heart into the development of programs to celebrate NDEAM. “We worked side by side with senior leaders, talking with them for hours about our vision,” says Cesca. “They really listened, asked our concerns, and offered help supporting our ideas around the campaign.”

Booz Allen’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) resources, like the Global Disabilities BRG, are just one example of the company’s commitment to its employees. Booz Allen recently celebrated its ninth consecutive year with a 100/100 score on the Disability:IN Index. In 2020, the firm partnered with the International Association of Accessibility Professionals (IAAP) to help craft the Accessible Document Specialist Certification.

Alongside her BRG role, Cesca provides vital services to the defense world as a wargame designer. Her journey to reach her goals meant gaining the knowledge and skills required—a big obstacle for a working mother.

“I wanted to enter the business world,” she says. However, she knew that earning the degree she needed would be challenging. Cesca needed to reach out and accept support—she just had to discover the right organization.

“I found Booz Allen,” she says, “because it’s known to be one of the best firms for working moms like myself. I applied, and they hired me and even paid for my graduate degree.”

At Booz Allen, Cesca jumped in the deep end and never looked back. “I started in Booz Allen’s wargame practice,” she says. “I had no wargame experience, so I had to learn from the ground up. Fortunately, I learned from the best in the industry—the person who hired me was a wargame expert and led the practice.”

A few years ago, Cesca was diagnosed with a progressively degenerative neurological disorder that made commuting extremely difficult. But Cesca didn’t give up—she remained passionate about her work and was determined to find a way to keep going. Following her diagnosis, Cesca worked with her leadership, her clients, and Booz Allen's accessibility experts to establish work accommodations that would both fit her needs in a holistic and sustainable way and allow her to continue to perform her role at peak efficiency.

“The firm supports me and allows me the flexibility I need," says Cesca. "Booz Allen has been good to me since I joined around 20 years ago. It’s definitely a mutually beneficial relationship.”

Cesca’s involvement with the Global Disabilities BRG began with an email, which caught her attention by speaking to her passion for individuals with disabilities.

“The Global Disabilities BRG was looking for a volunteer,” she says. “After doing some research, I applied for the position and explained my own story. They were excited to have me, and I haven’t looked back.”

Brian MacCarthy, a senior vice president at Booz Allen and one of the executive sponsors of the Global Disabilities BRG, has worked hand in hand with Cesca and seen her lend her voice to supporting the company’s employees with disabilities.

“Cesca is one of the hardest working people I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with,” says Brian. “She completely embodies our value of unflinching courage. As someone with a disability myself since birth, I’ve found that the mental and physical toll a disability takes on a person can often be overlooked by those on the outside. Our goal in the BRG is to normalize these experiences, share our journeys, and empower others to bring their true selves to work every day. That’s who I want to be surrounded by in my work environment.”

Cesca’s work under the BRG umbrella is far more than an extracurricular activity—she wants to transform how society views those with disabilities.

“There are so many negative connotations with being handicapped,” she says. “I want to turn that around and destigmatize being disabled. For as long as I’m able, I want to change my community for the better.”