Ten Booz Allen Employees Honored as Modern-Day Technology Leaders
In honor of National Engineers Week, Booz Allen highlights 10 employees who were named Modern-Day Technology Leaders at the 33rd annual Black Engineer of the Year Award (BEYA) Global STEM Conference in Washington, DC.
They join an extensive roster of BEYA award-winners from Booz Allen, including 2019 Black Engineer of the Year Tony Mitchell and more than 100 BEYA Modern-Day Technology Leaders since 2005.
US Black Engineer & Information Technology magazine selects BEYA Modern-Day Technology Leaders every year to recognize mid-level professionals who are shaping the future of STEM in their careers and communities. Prospective award-winners are nominated by their colleagues.
This year’s recipients work in fields from health to defense. Their career highlights and thoughts about technology and the future follow.
- Taalib alSaalam, analytics architect, who has been developing predictive analytics solutions for use in public health, disaster mitigation, and infrastructure planning. “What challenges will the world face 50 years from now, and how are we preparing the world for those challenges?”
- Marvette Cofield, strategic enterprise operations manager, who leads the Booz Allen Women’s Forum and has organized immersive days to expose middle and high school girls from at-risk communities to STEM opportunities. “The future is filled with unlimited possibilities if we are destiny-driven but legacy focused.”
- Malcolm Gilbert, cybersecurity project manager, a Navy veteran whose cyber and information security projects protect computer systems and their users across the government, military, healthcare, and intelligence communities. “The future is a collective collaboration that begins inside of us.”
- Walter Hackett, IT project manager, whose work has helped more than 8,000 patent examiners process applications for new inventions. “A diverse population of innovators will achieve advances that the world will enjoy for generations.”
- Freddie Johnson, Jr., cloud platform engineer, who is using his 15-plus years supporting military cyber operations to change the technology domain and the way organizations pursue software operations—while mentoring high school students. “The future is unknown, and that is opportunity.”
- Stephanie Moore, system engineer, who has volunteered with organizations including Girls in Technology, FIRST Robotics, and Black Girls Code while supporting an array of federal government agencies with their cybersecurity efforts. “Cybersecurity is essential in our economy and society; the future will remain a continuous challenge.”
- Crystal Simmons, cybersecurity cloud manager, whose projects currently protect 80 percent of federal government networks on more than four million devices. “The future looks like me—a world of innovative leaders that is inclusive of communities of color, women, and LGBTQ with a seat at the table.”
- Troy Wallace, cybersecurity operations engineer, a former active duty member of the Air Force who helped launch a mentoring and training program at Booz Allen that focuses on various attack aspects and the defensive side of cybersecurity. “The future is for unconventional leaders who leverage emerging technologies.”
- Brandon Whittington, system engineer and engineering manager, who—in 2018 alone—helped the successful export of $7.7 billion in aircraft to eight countries. “As an engineer, I’m proud to be part of that community of individuals who will determine what the future will be.”
- April Young, social policy impact strategist, who applies her background as an anthropologist to direct research for the Centers on Medicare and Medicaid on quality improvement initiatives in hospital facilities serving special populations. “If we are to change the world, we must rewrite our expectations and change what we tolerate, wanting better for others than we want for ourselves.”
Learn more about the 2019 BEYA STEM Conference and diversity and inclusion at Booz Allen.
