Meet Engineer, Neurodivergent Advocate, Alex Mann

Neurodivergent employees in tech roles, like engineers and analysts, are up to 140% more productive than their neurotypical peers. Yet unemployment among the neurodivergent community is common, estimated at 40% or higher by some sources.

Through partnerships with organizations like Broad Futures, purposeful hiring, and engagement with dedicated employee communities, Booz Allen is working to close these gaps.

Alex Mann, a software quality assurance (SQA) manual test engineer at Booz Allen, is a strong advocate for his neurodiverse peers. A public speaker both at firm-sponsored events and at community events, Alex is also the creator of a tool for autism awareness in law enforcement. It’s one that has caught the attention of first responders throughout his home state of Pennsylvania, and even the governor himself.

Here, Alex and his mentor and career manager, Michael Flick, talk about Alex’s path to Booz Allen, the support he’s received, and how he’s been paying it forward inside and outside of the firm. 

Alex and Mike first met at Alex’s high school; Mike was the principal and Alex was an incoming freshman receiving autism support services.

“I helped mentor him, and we just had a connection,” Mike remembers.

“We stayed in touch after I graduated,” Alex recalls.

During this time, Mike went through a career change, from 20-plus years in education to government tech consulting. He joined Liberty IT Solutions—a cloud, low-code/no-code, and DevSecOps provider Booz Allen acquired in 2021—where he launched an internship program.

“Just like in the education sector, it’s our job to set students up to be successful,” Mike explains.

When he thought of potential interns, Alex was one of the first people who came to mind.

“He was doing work with first responders on autism awareness, leading presentations, and he was so successful doing that I thought maybe he would be interested in an internship that might eventually turn into a job,” Mike says.

The work that caught Mike’s attention reflects a long-term interest and a passion for advocacy. Specifically, Alex is helping first responders interact with people on the autism spectrum or with non-visible disabilities.

“Maybe an individual is closed off and not communicating. It’s not because they’re hiding something. Or maybe they’re displaying characteristics that might be misconstrued as being under the influence,” Alex says. “So, this is an opportunity for a paramedic or firefighter to get an understanding right at the beginning.”

Alex has conducted autism awareness training programs throughout the mid-Atlantic region. He has also created a special card people can carry with them, in their wallets or in their car’s glove compartments, to keep this education going.

“If I were to get pulled over, I would hand this over to an officer. It basically serves as an identifier not only to disclose who I am but also to say, ‘Here’s my disability. Here’s what I need from you to help me. Here’s how you can contact my parents,’” explains Alex. “It’s like a one-stop shop for everything that law enforcement may need so they can be a little bit more understanding.”

In April 2024, Alex shared this card with the Pennsylvania governor and state police when he met with them in the state capital of Harrisburg. Since then, the card has been translated into multiple languages and printed in grayscale to accommodate visual impairments.

And Alex’s efforts are far from done—even as he grows his career at Booz Allen, transitioning from part-time to full-time employment. “I get to do this while still performing my regular responsibilities to my team and our clients,” he says. “The firm understands that it’s important work I’m doing.” 

Booz Allen has a thriving Disabilities & Neurodiversity employee community with more than 1,000 members and allies, and it’s estimated that one in five people the firm hires identify as having a disability. This includes neurodivergent employees across disciplines, sectors, and stages in their professional journey, from entry level consultants to executive vice presidents.

The firm supports this community by providing simple guidelines and processes to request workplace accommodations, and by making sure employees have channels to feel heard and seen and to build personal connections.  

“Booz Allen is a big advocate for neurodivergent people like me,” says Alex. “I’ve gotten the chance to speak not only about my work with first responders but about how my disability has actually helped me within the firm.”

He remembers one presentation in particular. The venue was The Helix, Booz Allen’s Center for Innovation in downtown Washington, DC. It was Disabilities Mentoring Day and the audience included nearly 100 neurodivergent teenagers from local high schools.

After his keynote remarks, Alex saw a hand raised in the crowd. “One of the kids in the crowd disclosed, for the first time I think, that he had autism,” says Alex. “He felt the courage to do that just from hearing my story, and that was really moving to me.”

Mike praises the availability and power of such gatherings, calling them “a safe place for the community to get together and share each other's successes and career highlights.”

“It's tremendous to see a company like Booz Allen provide all that,” he says.

Alex is just one of many neurodivergent individuals finding a career path at Booz Allen, thanks to initiatives like the firm’s internship program with Broad Futures, a DC-based organization that specializes in helping neurodivergent people enter the workforce.

The program provides education for honing workplace skills and connects interns to mission-critical projects for Booz Allen’s clients. On any given day, Broad Futures interns could find themselves developing front-end dashboards, seeing how cloud solutions can streamline operations, or building AI and machine learning use cases for cybersecurity challenges.