Meet Lloyd

Lloyd Howell Jr. is Booz Allen’s chief financial officer and treasurer. He is responsible for the firm’s financial statements, capital structure, and related financial operations. He previously led the firm's Civil and Commercial business.

Lloyd joined Booz Allen in 1988 as a consultant and provided systems engineering support to multiple Department of Defense (DoD) satellite programs. In 1991, he took a leave of absence from the firm to earn an M.B.A. from Harvard University, and was then hired by Goldman Sachs as an associate in their investment banking division between 1993 and 1995.

He returned to Booz Allen in 1995, becoming a member of the strategy and organization team where he focused on DoD clients, specifically the Navy/Marine Corps, Army, and Office of the Secretary of Defense. In 2000, he was named as a vice president.

From 2005 to 2008, he led the firm’s Strategy and Organization practice supporting both international and domestic commercial and public sector clients.  From 2009 to 2013, he served as the client service officer of the financial services account, and has served on the firm’s leadership team since 2007. From 2013 to 2016, he led Booz Allen’s Civil and Commercial business, working on strategic, technology, and analytics projects.

Lloyd’s federal clients included the U.S. Department of Treasury and its bureaus, Securities and Exchange Commission, Federal Reserve, Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, Commodity Futures Trade Commission. His commercial clients included companies within the top 50 global financial institutions and significant stock exchanges.

In 2021, Lloyd was elected to the board of directors for Moody’s Corporation. He is also a member of the Washington Economics Club and serves as a trustee at the University of Pennsylvania and on the Board of Overseers of the School of Engineering and Applied Science.

Lloyd holds a B.S. in electrical engineering from the University of Pennsylvania and an M.B.A. from Harvard University. He received the Black Engineer of the Year Award (BEYA) in 2011 and was the winner of the BEYA organization’s Professional Leadership in Industry award in 2010.

Why is Booz Allen an ideal firm for someone with your expertise and skills? There’s an opportunity to learn a lot of different things. Certainly, over the course of my career, starting out in more of a technical capacity, then morphing into a combination of technical-managerial-financial, to now one that’s primarily financial. All that opportunity would be available to a prospective candidate.

What are the greatest challenges you face in this role? Addressing and managing surprises. Usually not-so-pleasant surprises: A canceled contract, a government shutdown, a loss, things of that sort. What are the financial impacts and ripples? That’s one category of surprise. On the other side of the coin is a positive one. There’s a plus up in the budget and how to account for and accommodate that financial good news. It’s a good surprise, but it’s still something that needs to be accounted for.

Where do you see Booz Allen in the next 100 years? What I would hope is that Booz Allen is still working on or engaged with exciting, important areas and topics. I would hope that the workforce of Booz Allen is creative, diverse, and excited about the work they perform. Financially, I would hope that the company is growing profitably and on a very solid financial foundation. From a capabilities standpoint, I would hope that the firm is seen as a resource of great intellectual capital and work that improves the world.

What excites you when you wake up in the morning? That I woke up. It’s going to sound cliché, but coming to work and addressing the opportunities and challenges that face our team day in, day out.

What are your three tips for managing and motivating people? Mastery of the content. Do they know their stuff? Their functional expertise? Their ability to communicate effectively—whether that’s to get information or to be persuasive. And that they have something to say, that they’re an active contributor to the discussion, the dialogue, the debate.

What mentorship advice would you give to someone who just took on a new leadership role? Exceed expectations.

What is the best business advice you’ve gotten in your career? Work hard, play hard.

What would you say is your strongest character trait? My instinct.

What advice, if you could travel back in time, would you give yourself as a young professional? Trust your instincts.

What is an idea or invention you wish you’d thought of first? Post-It notes.

What is your favorite book? The Shack.

What is something not many people know about you or might surprise the people you work with? I think I’m an open book. I’m a huge Prince fan; I think that was revealed at our last senior leadership offsite. I don’t think I have many more surprises.

Who fascinates you? I am fascinated by pretty much anyone who is considered a pioneer. I mean, why? How did they get going? Why? It’s not any one individual. I’m just fascinated by people who are considered to be “the first.”

What has been your life’s biggest challenge so far? I guess the most impactful challenge was my mother passed due to cancer weeks before I went to college. That was personally a big challenge. I had to grow up pretty quickly. Since then, everything’s been gravy.

What do you feel has been your biggest accomplishment so far? Raising two productive boys who are now young men.