RESTON, Va., Sep. 10, 2020—On Friday, August 28, 2020, Mandy Parmer, Managing Partner of Assured Consulting Solutions (ACS), LLC, was a featured member of an all-woman panel titled “Conscious Culture Drives Success.” In addition to Parmer, the episode threw the spotlight on three other leaders of women-owned small businesses (WOSB) including Kelly Allen, CEO of Allen Integrated Solutions, LLC, Cara Ducellier, President and CEO of the Agile Group and the moderator, Karyn Hayes-Ryan, owner of KHR Impacts and director of Kleos Space, Inc. Each featured WOSB owner is making her presence known in the Geospatial Intelligence (GEOINT) Community with a focus on technology and corporate culture.
Recent studies indicate that businesses owned by women grow twice as fast as their male-led counterparts and that a focused approach of compassion and empathy in the workplace has been critical to employee well-being and productivity led by female leaders. Friday’s hour-long episode from Project Geospatial aimed to highlight these elements from the panel members and to dive into what set their corporate culture apart from others in industry.
The panel members, all of whom hold leadership backgrounds in Information Technology with a specific focus on the Intelligence Community (IC), a field where gender disparity is easy to spot, discussed strategies as they related to company culture, talent acquisition, employee retention, performance management, definitions of success, and many more.
Parmer briefly discussed the origin story of ACS. She described sketching out the five-year business plan on the back of a napkin with fellow Managing Partner Erin Willett in 2013, reaching the goal of 20 employees in 2017, winning the Small and Emerging Contractors Advisory Forum (SECAF) award for Government Contractor of the year in 2018, being named a Washington-area “Top Workplace” by the Washington Post in both 2019 and 2020, and appearing on the Inc. 5000 list for three consecutive years.
Parmer attributes a large part of the ACS success story to the very first personnel hire, whose primary focus was to establish the company culture. She said that deliberate investment was necessary to set the foundation of ACS and to weave employ empowerment throughout the corporate culture, prior to hiring the next employee. This framework, as Parmer defined in its most basic sense, is what drives ACS from strategy through hiring.
“We are looking for what we call ‘needles in the needle stack,’ our customer demand and technology needs are so specific they are not even needles in a hay stack…and we’re hoping we can find that one that fits for us. Cultivating a culture that mirrors our values, focuses on the mission, rewards innovation, and empowers the employees, will result in an employee base that will thrive at ACS.”
Parmer discussed the freedom at the executive level to promote the changes necessary to further create spaces that are welcoming and empowering for ACS employees.
“If our employees are not happy with something—we can change it. We can make it better. That is the beauty of owning a small business,” she said.
Project Geospatial considered this panel a rousing success, so much so that the member community has asked for a follow-on focused on technology and corporate risks. Keep looking to the Project Geospatial homepage for future episodes and for more information about working within the GEOINT community.
Watch the full panel video at the following:
Geospatial Frontier: https://www.geospatialfrontier.com/medialibrary/conscious-cultures-drive-success
YouTube: https://youtu.be/8JPO8mQ0Mc4
Podcast Platform: https://www.geospatialfrontier.com/medialibrary/conscious-cultures-drive-success
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ABOUT PROJECT GEOSPATIAL
Project Geospatial is a podcast and movement dedicated to increasing education and awareness of geospatial technology, industry best practices, and community resources. Project Geospatial was created out of their deep passion and experience for the geospatial community. Their presence has grown big enough to be a part of an amazing history of technological achievements within our community that we enjoy witnessing. Learn more at www.projectgeospatial.com
ABOUT ASSURED CONSULTING SOLUTIONS
Founded in 2011 and headquartered in Reston, Virginia, Assured Consulting Solutions is a well-respected and trusted partner, domain expert, and provider of expert-level support. ACS is a certified Woman-Owned Small Business (WOSB) that delivers advanced technology solutions and strategic support services in support of critical national security missions for Intelligence, Defense, and Federal Civilian customers. Learn more at www.assured-consulting.com.
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