Leidos is on Fortune Magazine’s privileged list of 500 companies, in the category of national security, defense, healthcare, engineering, science and technology. It is a leader in providing solutions in these fields and it is one of the largest technology providers in Virginia and this is where Gisele Moro works.
Gisele is Vice President, Capture Executive at Leidos. That is, she is the one in charge of winning new contracts and leading large groups to provide solutions to the requirements and proposals of a variety of government clients.
In the recent history of Leidos, exactly in 2016, there is the acquisition of the subsidiary known as IS & GS, which had a turnover of five billion dollars and was owned by Lockheed Martin. At that time, Gisele was director of the Information Technology Program and one of her greatest achievements was to achieve a fast, complete and seamless integration of the two companies.
“Leidos is a great company, with a powerful culture of innovation and commitment to satisfy the objectives of our clients.”
Gisele came from Lima (Peru) at the age of eight to live in northern Virginia with her family. While still a college student, he became interested in finance, after graduation he entered George Mason University, where he obtained a specialization in that field. Before earning his college degree, he joined the Science Application International Corporation (SAIC), another big one on the Fortune 500 list.
He moved to the city of San Diego, in California. There he worked doing finance for a decade. By then he was very tempted by the idea of specializing in information technology. He did this by studying for a master’s degree in that specialty from San Diego State University. From that moment on, his professional life has developed in this discipline.
“I left finance because I saw that information technology facilitates problem solving and is always in constant transformation and therefore there is always something new and interesting there. In 2012, SAIC announced the division into two companies: SAIC and Leidos. Once that partition became real I have been a ‘Leidosian’ ”, says Gisele
“This Hispanic Heritage Month also means understanding the challenges we still have to face and at the same time reinforcing my commitment to continue inspiring and supporting young Latinas to empower them and raise awareness of the contributions Latinos have made and continue to make in work place”.
Aware of the deep gap in technological information that affects, in particular, Latinos from other minorities, Gisele, very proud of her Peruvian roots, highlights that another of her achievements is the formation of the Hispanic-Latinx Leidos Association (HoLA).
As a co-founder of HoLA, a group created to invigorate inclusion, diversity and opportunities for Hispanics working in Leidos, she raised awareness of the progress made by Latinos within that company, under whose umbrella more than 43,000 employees work .
Despite the fact that Leidos is within the perimeter of the metropolitan area, in Reston (Virginia), many Latinos do not know what it is and what it does. Gisele wants Hispanics to know that: “Leidos is a great company, with a powerful culture of innovation and commitment to meeting the objectives of our clients.”
“As an employee I feel valued and respected, because Leidos is actively involved to empower not only Latinos but the entire spectrum of demographic diversity who work there. At Leidos we breathe an environment of high moral standards and acceptance. I believe that active participation, through groups like the Employee Resource Group (ERG), makes Leidos stronger and a more inclusive place to build a professional future ”.
For those young people who see a job prospect in the disciplines of science and technology and even for those who do not believe that there will be an opportunity for them in those environments, Gisele has good advice: “I strongly encourage you to build your professional future in some of STEM-related careers (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics). There are infinite possibilities and if you are thinking that it is a very technical space or that there is no room for creativity, that is not the case by far ”.
She listed some of the occupations that STEM studies can achieve: “They can be aerospace or civil engineers, astronomers, software programmers, robot designers, computer specialists, physicists, and much more. Each of these occupations are helping our understanding of the universe and building the future. “
On the subject of Hispanic Heritage Month, HoLA will have a series of gatherings understanding of Latino culture, this will be at the headquarters, in Reston. HoLA is also completing its community outreach plan so that Leidos employees can volunteer and support non-profit organizations that work with the Hispanic community.
Personally, for Gisele, being Hispanic is bringing to the table the great contributions that this minority has made “and reinforcing the pride I have in being Latino.” This Hispanic Heritage Month also means “understanding the challenges we still have to face and at the same time reinforcing my commitment to continue inspiring and supporting young Latinas to empower them and raise awareness about the contributions that Latinos have made and continue to make in work place”.
“As an employee, I feel valued and respected, because Leidos is actively involved to empower not only Latinos but the entire spectrum of demographic diversity who work there.”
Gisele was also Vice President of Cybersecurity Risk Management at Leidos and is passionate about empowering Hispanic women and has been a mentor for young professional women for over 10 years.
For Gisele to celebrate what she is and where she comes from is to meet her loved ones to enjoy one of the many gastronomic traditions of her country, such as lomo saltado, and remember her origins and her father, who passed away when she was 15 years old. “It is thanks to his hard work and his merits as a university professor and dean, and later as an official at the World Health Organization (WHO), that we were able to come to the United States and have a life that, if we stayed in South America , it would have been more difficult to reach ”.
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