Booz Allen Hamilton founded the Emerging Leaders Program in 2001 as a result of a rigorous internal inquiry on disability compliance. Emerging Leaders Program details were developed by members of Booz Allen's Community Relations, Diversity, and University Relations Teams, along with the Legal Department. Prominent members of the disability advocacy community offered their expertise and guidance. Justin Dart, Jr., frequently recognized as the father of the Americans with Disabilities Act, played a vital role in early program development by chairing the selection committee for the first Emerging Leaders Class in 2001.

Since its creation, the Emerging Leaders Program has seen continued growth, both in terms of the number of students placed and in the number of companies offering internships. Interns have been successfully placed at firms like Barclays Capital, Bloomberg, Booz Allen Hamilton, CVS, JPMorgan Chase, Liz Claiborne, Lockheed Martin, Panasonic and Shell. The network of corporate partners is still growing.

In 2005, Booz Allen transitioned the Emerging Leaders program management to the National Business and Disability Council in order to facilitate further program growth and offer opportunities for as many deserving students as possible.

Emerging Leaders has received the following awards and recognitions:

	Presented at COSD, NACE and USBLN Conferences
	Recognized by the Office of Disability Employment Policy at the U.S. Department of Labor as a Best Practice
	Designated as a Best Practice in the 2002 Final Report of the Presidential Task Force on Employment of Adults with Disabilities
	Recipient of the President's New Freedom Initiative Award in 2003
	Published as a Best Practice in Human Resources by the Corporate Leadership Council
	Recipient of the Excellence in Partnership Award from the Virginia Department of Rehabilitative Services
	Cited in the Wall Street Journal
	Featured in "Careers and the disABLED" Magazine