William McCormick
Mike Daniels, chairman of CACI International and honorary chair of the Boy Scouts of America’s upcoming Good Scout Technology Luncheon on Wednesday, recently spoke with ExecutiveBiz for her latest Executive Spotlight interview with the publication.
In his latest Executive Spotlight, Daniels discussed the impact that the Boy Scouts of America had during the pandemic and the history of the Good Scout Technology Award, its next recipient and SAIC CEO Nazzic Keene as well as tomorrow’s 24th Annual Good Scout Award luncheon.
Visit the event website www.NCACBSA.org/Technology for registration details and sponsorship opportunities.
“The feedback as people leave the luncheon is always, ‘That’s the best event I’ve been to all year,’ and we always do our best to ensure that’s the case for everyone. We try to make it fun and focus on the great leaders in our technology industry and most importantly, our youth and our scouts.”
You can read the full Executive Spotlight with Mike Daniels below:
ExecutiveBiz: NCAC reported that more than 36,000 Scouts participated in outdoor activities this year despite the pandemic. What do you think about the impact the Boy Scouts of America still have in this day and age?
“During this period, it’s been very difficult for our youth and youth organizations. The National Capital Area Council (NCAC), the largest youth-serving council in the country, continued its focus to provide the Boy Scouts of America with continued outdoor activities during the pandemic.
At the same time, NCAC created opportunities for those unable or uncomfortable to meet outdoors such as the STEM speaker series, virtual merit badges workshops and meetings to continue offering the valuable program to our youth.
You start to think about the impact of scouting and the core of scouting has stayed the same and hasn’t changed in a very long time. It has always been about building character values as well as early leadership skills and teamwork. How do you do things in units and be prepared for the daily challenges of the day? That has all remained the same and I think those lessons are as important today as they have ever been in our society because people need those skills to succeed.
I think that we’ve learned how scouting continues to be one of the only activities for our youth outside of the school system where it doesn’t matter where you live in the Greater Washington region. You meet other people who come from a variety of different backgrounds and the goal is to understand and learn how to develop leadership and other training skills.
To us, it has been more important and a lot of research shows these activities are vital for the physical and mental health of our youth, especially during the pandemic.
We’ve always emphasized leadership as the highest value. That is one of the reasons we created the Annual Good Scout Technology Award in order to recognize our leaders in the Greater Washington area as well as in the technology industry itself.”
ExecutiveBiz: What can you tell us about the Annual Good Scout Award luncheon, some of its history and the purpose and benefit that it has for our leaders and the Boy Scouts organization?
“First and foremost, the purpose of the Good Scout Technology Award is to support the NCAC’s Boy Scouts of America, which remains one of the largest youth-serving organizations in the world with a large following in the Greater Washington region.
In addition to that purpose, our annual luncheon honors an extraordinary individual within our technology community who exemplifies the core values of the Boy Scouts of America, including loyalty, trustworthiness, leadership and other qualities that serve as the foundation of the event.
Back in the mid-1990s, NCAC wanted to begin special events outside of the council’s normal events and the decision was made to focus on certain industry segments and the first annual Good Scout Technology event took place in 1997 and we’re about to have our 24th annual event on Wednesday.
Over the years, we had a small group of us with one foot in the technology industry and another in the Boy Scouts organization. As we’ve selected the next honoree for the last 24 years, we’ve chosen instrumental leaders such as former governors Mark Warner and Jim Gilmore who were both very instrumental in focusing the state of Virginia around technology and IT industries in the late ’90s and ’00s. Gen. Michael Hayden, former NSA director, is also a recent recipient.
For the most part, we have had technology industry leaders as the recipients to recognize the individuals, their companies and the dedication they have to our community, the local region here in Greater Washington and the whole scouting experience in terms of the history and values.
Visit ExecutiveBiz.com’s Executive Spotlight Page to learn more about the most significant leaders of consequence to the government contracting (GovCon) and federal sectors and their experiences driving growth, new business and capabilities in the fiercely competitive federal landscape.
ExecutiveBiz: What can you tell us about the history of the Good Scout Award and the importance of the award as this year’s winner SAIC CEO Nazzic Keene joins the prestigious list of previous winners?
“Our very first honoree of the Good Scout Technology Award was Bob Beyster, who was the founder of Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) and he’s regarded as a legend in the technology industry.
Here we are 24 years later, and Nazzic Keene, the current CEO of SAIC, will be our next recipient of the award. There’s a real history and linkage to this particular event. It’s also worth mentioning that Nazzic will be the first female recipient in the Good Scout Award’s long history.
We have an ongoing list and Nazzic was certainly someone, especially in the past few years, who was a name at the top of the list for us. She’s received a lot of outstanding awards in the technology industry in the Greater Washington region and is someone that we’ve known for many years, including her time with CGI and her career from joining SAIC in 2012 to becoming its CEO in 2019.
One of the things that many people don’t know about Nazzic is her upbringing as an immigrant to the United States and the struggles that she endured as she was growing up. Her early life was pivotal in terms of developing her leadership skills and other valuable qualities that drove her to have the wonderful career that she’s had to the present day.
I can’t think of a better honoree for this year’s Good Scout Technology Award, especially with the 30 years of experience that Nazzic has had in our technology and the government contracting (GovCon) industries.
She just has a wonderful leadership style and is a great friend to all of us in the industry. With all that in her favor, it was easy to select Nazzic. We’re just proud and honored to have her as our next honoree of the 2021 Good Scout Technology Award.”
ExecutiveBiz: What can you tell us about tomorrow’s 24th Annual Good Scout Award luncheon? Who should attend and what can attendees exact from this year’s event?
“Given the feedback that we have received over the years, the annual Good Scout Technology Award luncheon is one of the most fun events here in the Greater Washington region each year. It puts our scouts at the forefront of the event. This year, our opening ceremony has been recorded and will feature a performance by the first inaugural class of female Eagle Scouts at NCAC.
We always have a Scout Color Guard or a U.S. military color guard in attendance. We have an outstanding speaker and a great award recipient this year in Nazzic Keene. The highlight of the program is seeing the scouts in action firsthand.
The feedback as people leave the luncheon is always, ‘That’s the best event I’ve been to all year,’ and we always do our best to ensure that’s the case for everyone. We try to make it fun and focus on the great leaders in our technology industry and most importantly, our youth and our scouts.”
Please visit the event website www.NCACBSA.org/Technology for registration details and sponsorship opportunities.
Please keep in mind that this isn’t an open event and attendees must be registered through their company’s specific sponsorships. Even if you don’t plan to attend the luncheon, you can make a donation to the organization or take advantage of sponsorship opportunities for the event.
