Francesca McCallum

I started my career as a linguist, which is what got me working in the government space. I have a master's degree in French translation from Kent State, and my first internship was with Interpol working as a linguist. French was always my best subject in school - I started learning it in kindergarten from the elementary school I went to, and I even moved to France and taught English in the public school system for a year before getting my grad degree. After my work as a linguist, I had an opportunity to work part-time in communications, and I've been in communications for the federal sector ever since. I spent about 13 years in communications, and then recently, in the last 2 years, I've moved into organizational strategy. It'll be 10 years at Booz Allen next month, so I've been in my field altogether for about 15 years now. In my current role, I manage the organizational strategy for a federal client that manages facilities worldwide and the professional support services that go along with it. That's everything from construction, architecture, interior design, to environmental and safety, landscaping, and all the services that come along with the building, and then there is an operational tradecraft nexus for our clients since we work in the federal sector. My path was not a straight one, so I am just proud of the fact that I started in one area and have developed a career in something completely different.