For SAIC Vice President of ESG Integration and DEI Initiatives Jeff Raver, small acts can add up to big impacts when it comes to shaping a company’s culture.
This year, several of SAIC’s employee resource groups have focused on allyship to create a culture of inclusion. One member of the Equality Alliance ERG, and an ally to SAIC’s LGBTQ+ workforce, wears a rainbow ribbon pin on her badge lanyard, he said. The ribbon sparked a conversation with her daughter one day when she returned home from work.
“What resulted was a sincere and heartfelt conversation between a mother and her daughter about what it means to be gay and how the feelings her daughter was experiencing were perfectly normal,” Raver said. “The lesson from this incredible interaction is how even the smallest act of allyship can have an enormous impact on the people around us and how our SAIC commitment to ensuring everyone has the space to be their authentic selves is something our employees can take home with them every day.”
Raver said this conversation is just one example of the many efforts outlined in the recently released Corporate Responsibility Report that make up SAIC’s corporate culture, shaping it into the talent magnet and powerful solutions provider it is.
“People pay attention to how a company engages with the community, delivers to its customers and creates an environment where its employees can thrive,” he said.
Raver said the company has always strived to tie corporate responsibility to business objectives while best serving customers. Initiatives that also deliver to all stakeholders create a win-win situation, he said.
Raver said he’s especially proud of the environmental stewardship SAIC demonstrated with its efforts around responsible electronics recycling.
“By offering our employees the ability to periodically turn in their personal electronics for recycling through our corporate partners, we can recover rare minerals while also minimizing personal information data loss risk that could make our company more vulnerable to cybersecurity risks,” Raver said.
Another initiative he is particularly excited about focuses on SAIC’s approach to diversity and inclusion. SAIC’s executive leadership team is 73% women or people of color — with 46% women and 46% people of color — and the board of directors is 46% women and 36% people of color. In fiscal year 2024, the company sustained parity for women in leadership at 28% and improved parity for people of color in leadership to a total of 25%.
“When employees look up at their leadership and see a reflection of themselves, it fosters a workforce that understands their unique business perspectives are valued and heard, which leads to stronger retention,” Raver said. “Combining this with our internal initiatives around upskilling and future-proofing our workforce, we are improving retention while also addressing critical skill gaps for our customers. As a technology integrator, creating an environment where our employees can thrive, both today and tomorrow, is great for our business.”
Raver said corporate responsibility is crucial to creating a culture that both attracts and retains talent.
“I just recently celebrated my 36th anniversary with SAIC, and I can tell you without question that our focus on culture and responsibility has been instrumental in my decision to stay for such a long tenure,” Raver said.
He said the company’s holistic view on supporting customers, employees and communities through sustainability initiatives, employee engagement, unwavering ethics and commitment to mission is threaded throughout the Corporate Responsibility Report.
“It is why people want to come work with us, it is why so many people who explore opportunities outside of SAIC ultimately return, and it is also why so many of us, like me, stay with the company for the majority of our careers,” he said.
Below are some of the report’s top highlights:
- Relative to peers, SAIC’s governance ratings consistently fall into the highest scoring range from outside agencies.
- 45% of SAIC’s board of directors are women
- 36.3% of the board of directors are from underrepresented races or ethnicities.
- SAIC is a named leader: IDC MarketScape: U.S. Federal Government Cloud Professional Services 2024 Vendor Assessment
- Ranked 46th for fortune sector leaders for Technology among Fortune 1000 companies in 2024
- 2023 Big Innovation Award Winner for Counter Unmanned Aerial Systems solution.
- SAIC reduced scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions by 41% since 2019.
- Named to Newsweek America’s Greatest Workplaces for Diversity in 2022, 2023 and 2024.
- Named Newsweek America’s Greatest Workplaces for Women in 2024.
- Forbes America’s Best Employers for Women in 2024.
- Forbes Best Employers for Diversity every year since 2019.