Rising Stars of the Profession 2021: Valeria Gonzalez

As part of Booz Allen's COVID-19 Response, Valeria Gonzalez led a team of 3 data scientists in building a model for Feeding America that allows food banks to track food available in their service area during the pandemic. To understand her client's current and envisioned future state, Valeria interviewed key stakeholders to clearly define the problem, outlined milestones, and researched the lifecycle of food from donation source to food bank. She understood that for this model to be impactful it needed to leverage easily accessible data, be scalable for the 200 food banks across the country, and consider the nuances of donations from each type of food source. After just 6 weeks of development and at no cost to the non-profit, the team's solution was delivered to the client and is currently in use to help expand food recovery and collection.

Valeria has supported NASA in several missions. She has worked directly with NASA HQ's Director of Diversity, leading the creation and implementation of strategic plans for employee engagement, diversity and inclusion, and conflict mediation. Valeria leveraged analytics to drive decisions, established success metrics, and ensured all plans aligned with Federal requirements. Additionally, Valeria served on the leadership teams for two of NASA's annual hackathons, supporting over 30,000 participants. Valeria established a data collection plan that quantifies the success of these hackathons supporting informed decisions for future events.

Valeria served on the leadership team for Booz Allen's Women in Data Science's largest hackathon, Hack the Bay, to support Chesapeake Bay conservation. Valeria identified goals, reviewed the data and problem statements, and managed the hackathon technology, all contributing to the success of the first global, virtual hackathon which attracted 430 participants across 37 countries. Under Valeria's leadership, this social good endeavor transformed into a strategic investment project sponsored by the firm.

Valeria says the best advice she has been given is, "Find your 'why.' If you can figure what drives and motivates you at the core of who you are, then you will not only find fulfillment and joy in what you do, you will also find success."

"I love how the consulting industry keeps me on my toes," says Valeria about what she likes most about the profession.  "It provides endless opportunities to learn about different fields, government organizations, and skills. I also find government consulting incredibly rewarding. We help government organizations tackle some of their toughest challenges, challenges that both, directly and indirectly, impact the citizens of our country."

What is your proudest achievement to date?

"My proudest achievement has been leading a pro bono project in support of Feeding America this past year. As a result of the COVID-19 crisis, more than 42 million Americans are estimated to face food insecurity. Booz Allen worked with Feeding America and determined that food sourcing was one of the largest challenges faced by over 200 food banks nationwide. I brought together a team of data scientists and public health experts to build a model that would help food banks identify, quantify, and track all food available in their service area. Our team delivered a methodology and supporting tool to estimate the recoverable food at a local, state, or national level. We worked diligently to ensure this model was scalable to food banks nationwide and took into consideration the unique challenges that come with each donation source."