Meet Aimee

Aimee George Leary is Booz Allen’s chief people officer and a member of the Leadership Team. She leads Booz Allen’s integrated talent management strategy and corporate communications. Her work increases the depth, breadth, and diversity of our global talent pipeline, drives hiring and retention of top talent, and generates momentum with the employee base around key initiatives.

Most recently, Aimee and her team established the firm’s Technical Talent System that empowers employees, advances innovation and equity, and can evolve as the firm grows. This new framework has enabled the firm to build a talent pipeline to support growth and quickly respond to important client missions.

Previously Aimee provided leadership support in our strategic planning, human resources, finance, contracts, change management, and marketing and communications sectors. Aimee also developed events, programs, tools, and outreach channels, resulting in an environment that attracts the best talent and compels staff to connect, contribute, and thrive. Her team has been honored with two Booz Allen Excellence Awards—one in 2016 for their work building a culture of innovation and one in 2020 for refreshing the firm’s employee value proposition.

Aimee also led Booz Allen’s learning and development program, where she spearheaded initiatives that earned numerous awards. Her recognition includes Training Magazine’s Hall of Fame, Working Mother Magazine’s Best Places to Work, Diversity Inc.’s Top 50, and an Association of Talent Development (ATD) Best Award. She also received project-based awards from the American Society of Training and Development, Bersin & Associates, and Brandon Hall. Aimee was a contributing author to Forward-Focused Learning: Inside Award-Winning Organizations published by ATD in 2020.

Aimee’s key areas of expertise include learning, development, diversity, talent management strategy, model development, large-scale program management, and communications and change management.

Prior to joining Booz Allen in 1995, she worked for Princeton Center for Education Services, Inc. designing and developing interactive multimedia training tools and processes.

She holds a B.S. in communications media from Indiana University of Pennsylvania and an M.S. in instructional technology from Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania.

What are the most pressing needs as you think about talent strategy and employee engagement? Attracting, hiring, and retaining the best talent—especially in a talent-shortage labor market, and for the technical, hard-to-find skill set. We need to create a culture of opportunity and growth that resonates with employees of all generations, backgrounds, and focus areas.

What are some untapped opportunities in your industry? Reaching university students and entry-level hires. How do we help them build relevant skills and get them interested in technology careers? Also, how do we create diverse opportunities within the firm so that people don’t feel they have to look outside to get those experiences? We need to find answers to these questions and implement them.

What are your tips for managing and motivating your people? Eleanor Roosevelt said, “It is not fair to ask of others what you are unwilling to do yourself.” That has always resonated with me, and it is a practice I model when working with teams. To motivate people, you have to give them challenging work that has impact, as well as the autonomy to do it. It is important for people to know you trust their judgment, believe in their ability, and want them to be successful.

Why is it important for Booz Allen to be a diverse and inclusive workplace? We all know that diverse, inclusive cultures are more creative. They foster the type of environment people want to work in and belong to, and people tend to stay at organizations where their voices are valued. It’s that sense of belonging we all long to feel.

There’s no magic wand for becoming a more diverse company with a more inclusive culture. It’s hard work and it takes time. But diversity and inclusion are a part of our legacy, who we are, and who we aspire to be. I personally don’t remember a time when Booz Allen hasn’t been committed to being all in on diversity and inclusion.

How are you contributing to creating a culture of inclusion at Booz Allen? When I recently served as an executive sponsor of our Women’s Business Resource Group, I focused on defining what a meaningful network is and creating those opportunities for our people to engage and connect with one another through moments that matter. Our success in creating a truly diverse and inclusive organization is earned every single day by our actions, by our decisions, and by our commitment. Our commitment to value our differences is one of the things that unites us.