MCLEAN, VA – The Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce named Karsun Solutions, headquartered in Herndon, VA, among its Champions for Accountability today. The Greater Washington, D.C. area companies with this designation took the first step toward corporate diversity, collecting, reporting and acting on the demographic data on the composition of their owners, senior staff, and boards.

Champions for Accountability is a joint project between the Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce and the Community Foundation for Northern Virginia. The Chamber also released the results of its 2023 Champions for Accountability survey. This landmark research project pooled from the Greater Washington D.C. region. To learn more and view the complete Champion for Accountability companies list, visit https://novachamber.org/champions-for-accountability/.

In addition to reporting the composition of its leadership, Karsun remains committed to transparent hiring across its organization. It annually reports demographic data for its entire company to the Washington Business Journal, ranking 18th on the Journal’s Diversity Index for the percentage of its staff representing people of color. Additionally, its CEO, Sundar Vaidyanathan, was previously rated among Comparably’s Best CEOs for Diversity. This ranking is determined by the ratings of current employees from diverse groups.  Learn more about Karsun’s commitment to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and its other corporate commitments at https://karsun-llc.com/about/corporate-commitments/.

About Karsun Solutions

Transform your career with the company transforming possible for the government. Join the workplace where the only limit to your potential is the limit of your curiosity. Thrive in a community that empowers software development, cloud and data experts. At Karsun, explore every possibility and turn your bold ideas into reality.  Expand your career potential with dynamic development resources like Karsun Academy and sponsored technical certification courses. And joining a growing enterprise means as we grow, so do your career opportunities. Take your career to the next level and play your part in powering new possibilities for federal agencies. 

This week the Washington Business Journal released its annual diversity index. We are proud to have appeared here and on the Journal’s other diverse businesses lists in the past. A critical part of building our diverse culture is a commitment to creating collaborative spaces and instilling teamwork across our organization.

It begins at the top. Our CEO and co-founder, Sundar Vaidyanathan, is a past winner of the Washington Business Journal’s Minority Business Leader Award. He was named to Comparably.com’s Best CEOs for Diversity in 2021 and 2022. This award is unique because the rankings are based on the reviews of diverse employee groups across Karsun. Those CEOs named to this list are recognized directly by their employees for their outstanding leadership.

“Teamwork and inclusivity are [the] most positive [part] about the culture and environment,” begins one Comparably review. Teamwork is one of our core values, and we pride ourselves on building an open and collaborative workplace. Again, much of this begins with our leadership. Each month a rotating group of employees is invited to participate in Coffee with Leadership. During these small virtual meetings, Karsun team members share feedback and concerns directly with our executive team with their recommendations to make Karsun an even better place to work. Lunch with Leadership gives managers the same opportunities to advocate on behalf of their teams.

Additionally, every employee has access to Karsun career pathing, a tool that allows them to view the pathway to every role at Karsun from entry-level through CEO. The tool suggests resources for an employee to progress and grow at Karsun. As a team growing together remotely, these resources are available to all team members regardless of their location via our Karsun Konnect app. 

We extend this commitment to growing diverse teams outside Karsun as well. We invest in supporting community organizations that enable people from diverse groups to grow in their careers. This includes organizations like TiE DC, which hosts entrepreneurship programs for current and future technology leaders. Or Women in Technology, which empowers women and girls exploring careers in STEM. Many of our senior leaders and executives also support industry organizations such as the American Council for Technology-Industry Advisory Council (ACT-IAC). 

While we are proud of past recognition for our diversity efforts, we are excited to see how the diverse experiences of our team members inspire us to build better solutions for our government customers. Teamwork and collaboration are core to the work we do. Learn more about meaningful opportunities to join our collaborative culture at KarsunCareers.com.

Each quarter we celebrate a special group of individuals at Karsun. These team members, nominated by their collaborators and leaders, embody our core values. Their work represents the values that drive us to deliver quality solutions to our U.S. government customers. 

A recent LinkedIn survey found 82% of U.S. workers said it is important that their company’s values align with their personal values. We know core values are important to our team members, which is why we honor our values throughout the year. And it is also the reason we take special care to recognize how excellence, innovation, teamwork, commitment, integrity, and fun all help us deliver exceptional solutions to our government customers.

Excellence

At Karsun, we celebrate excellence in all we do. That includes recognizing team members who go the extra mile to learn or enhance their skills to deliver on a critical project. We also honor team members who take on new projects and responsibilities. We recently recognized a team leader who embodied both of these qualities. He stepped in to perform hands-on work when his team needed additional support. As a result, that team exceeded customer expectations on their project. When we recognize excellence, we honor both the outcome and the initiative, time, and effort required to obtain those results.

Innovation 

In addition to our monthly Innovation Town Halls, we also recognize some of our innovators during our quarterly awards ceremony. Every team member at Karsun has access to the Karsun Innovation Center, no matter their role. In one instance, a recent winner was celebrated for her work prototyping a synthetic data solution within a short time frame. This award also promotes work that may otherwise go unacknowledged publicly because it relates to confidential or proprietary projects. We use this opportunity to celebrate the members of our challenge teams that take on additional work beyond their usual duties to support new opportunities.

Teamwork

Our team champions and experts unite to build extraordinary solutions for our government customers. We honor the champions that implement better ways for their teams to work together. One of these team leaders was recognized for updating onboarding, reporting, and standard operating procedures for one of our helpdesk/operations and maintenance (O&M) teams. These major process improvements enhanced the relationship between his team and other teams, and our customers. A team member from our finance team was also recognized for similar process improvements. We celebrated her for not only improving productivity across teams but the way she builds trust and loyalty within her own team as well.

Commitment

We are committed to building modernization solutions that are built to last. That commitment extends from our practice advocates in the Innovation Center to our delivery teams. As part of our organization-wide commitment to this cause, many of our team members pitch in to grow our company in a way that ensures we have knowledgeable experts on every team. Last fall, one of these individuals was recognized for his commitment to ensuring talented team members join Karsun during rapid growth. He dedicated his time to interviewing and was ultimately responsible for multiple new Software Development Engineers in Test (SDET) joining Karsun.

Integrity

We conduct ourselves with honesty and fairness. That means doing the right thing for both our employees and our customers. That also includes acting proactively to ensure we do things the right way every time. We recently recognized a member of our quality assurance team for his management of our Software Process Engineering Group (SPEG). Under his management, that group is responsible for designing and executing quality assurance programs across Karsun teams to ensure we continually meet audit standards and best practices.

Fun

From day one, Karsun celebrated fun as one of our core values. That includes both a commitment to spending meaningful time together through events such as family picnics and team celebrations to ensuring our teams use their time in the way that is most efficient for them. Several of our core value award winners were recognized for going beyond one of the core values described above to improve the culture of their team. Nominations for our awards frequently mention how these stellar individuals improve team morale, bring empathy to their projects and improve the overall experience of working at Karsun.

Our core values inspire us to deliver extraordinary solutions to our government customers. These values are important to us, and we hope they might be important to you. If these stories inspired you to join a team where we honor and recognize strong values, then it is time to Find Your Next at KarsunCareers.com.

The Great Resignation is out, and the Big Stay is in. At least according to a recent report from ADP, which observes many people are opting to stay in their current roles rather than risk an unsteady job market. However, at Karsun, we are still growing and want you to grow with us! 

Here growth is about more than moving up (though if that is important to you, we hope you do that too!). It is also about growing your expertise and technical skills in government technology projects. We are an information technology consulting company, but our teams exclusively serve the federal government. If you want to grow your career in public sector IT, there is no better place to be than Karsun. 

Grow to Serve the Mission

We support important missions at agencies such as the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). We prioritize training to ensure our support of the mission continues. We proudly recall several examples when our teams persevered, despite external constraints. During the 2019 Government Shutdown, rather than send our teams home, we created a training program focused on developing the skills and tools that would best support our agency customers the moment the work stoppage lifted. Likewise, during the early days of the pandemic, one of our teams not only continued delivery on their current project but due to their expertise in enterprise modernization and grants management systems onboarded a new program to support first responders. 

Because our training programs anticipate the needs of our agency customers, we can ensure they meet their missions. And as our customer wins, our teams share in those successes while growing their experience in new technologies and tools. Our Innovation Center has dedicated technical practice areas and experts focused on modernizing Acquisition, Aviation, Grants, and Fleet management systems. These same practice leaders work with our Karsun Academy team to develop tailored training programs to support the needs of our customers and our teams serving them. 

Grow with our Industry

In addition to our in-house resources, we also proudly support local industry organizations like the American Council for Technology-Industry Advisory Council (ACT-IAC).  In fact, eleven Karsun leaders are ACT-IAC fellows, graduating from one of its exclusive professional development cohorts. We also support organizations such as Women in Technology to ensure our region has diverse opportunities to grow and excel. 

Join our team and not only grow your technical skills but grow your knowledge and experience in public sector IT. In fact, you do not have to be based in the D.C. region to utilize our resources. Karsun hires remote roles nationwide, and all of our team members have access to Karsun Konnect, our virtual portal where they can access the same Innovation Center resources available to our local employees. Many of these tools and courses are designed for remote/asynchronous learning. Visit our Career Development page to learn more about growing with Karsun or apply today at KarsunCareers.com.

It didn’t surprise us that employee experience roles, including Chief People Officer (CPO), topped LinkedIn’s list of fastest-growing job titles for 2022. While these roles may have dominated the professional networking site’s Jobs on the Rise report this year, we long ago made a commitment to an employee-centric culture. We brought in our first CPO this year, Kelly Demaitre, as we continued our investment in our Karsun team. Throughout this year, we continued our journey to building a culture where everyone can Grow with Karsun and Do Extraordinary. 

Creating a Collaborative and Diverse Culture

This year Karsun won its second Best CEOs for Diversity award from Comparably.com. The rating site asks current employees to rank leadership, including our CEO Sundar Vaidyanathan, on traits associated with diverse and inclusive spaces. For the second year in a row, we also won a Best Company Outlook award from the site. Part of our commitment to an open, collaborative environment is facilitating small and large gatherings where Karsun team members ask questions and learn about the future of the organization. This includes our monthly Coffee and Lunch with Leadership programs. Hosted by the Karsun executive team, small employee groups share their experiences and provide direct feedback to the highest level decision makers in our organization for review and action.

Our executives also host recurring All Hands and Fireside chat events throughout the year. For the first time this year, those All Hands events included new Core Value, Do Extraordinary, and Team MVP awards. More than 20 people were recognized for their commitment to excellence, innovation, teamwork, integrity, and incorporating fun while doing extraordinary for Karsun customers. 

Another unique fireside event was this year’s Celebrating Women Leaders session. In this moderated session, women leaders across our company shared their experiences managing large teams, growing their careers, and excelling in the IT industry. This is one of several events Karsun engaged in for Women’s History Month. In addition to the fireside chat, we also sponsored the Future of Work: Pandemic Pivot virtual conference for International Women’s Day and appeared at local events in the Washington, D.C. region, including the Women in Technology Career Fair

In addition to special events, Karsun also launched new training and professional development programs this year. As our team members still hone their technical skills through bootcamps and other offerings included in Karsun Academy, we also offered new comprehensive management and people leader training. For those based near our newly reopened Herndon, Virginia office, we hosted offsites with opportunities to collaborate in person.  

While most Karsun roles have the option to work 100% remotely, we are also proud that our local employees continually rate their experience working with us highly. For the second year in a row, Comparably ranked us a Best Company in Washington, D.C. and among the Best Companies for Perks and Benefits. Meanwhile, the Oklahoman named us among the Top Workplaces in Oklahoma. Comparably also described Karsun as a place where we solve interesting engineering problemsencourage flex work, and grew together as we overcame pandemic challenges.

Recognition for our commitment to flexibility and investment in valuable perks and benefits underscores the importance of a good workplace experience for our employees. At a recent All Hands, we announced new benefits for the coming year, including enhanced Paid Leave and new Parental Leave offerings. Maintaining this commitment to the employee experience is essential to our culture and growth. We hope you join us as we discover what’s next together.

As the Great Resignation gives way to the Great Return, 4.2% of employees returned to a former employer, per Bloomberg. That story lists culture, stability, and colleagues among the reasons team members return. While this is great news for people looking for a career that best suits their needs, it is also great news for employers.

An Opportunity for Employers

A recent Comparably Insider blog post included some of the employers actively seeking these boomerang employees. Among them, Karsun Solutions. Our teams are made up of collaborators, innovators, and experts who deliver what’s possible for government agencies. And since the start of the pandemic, 18 employees have returned to Team Karsun! Already empowered to Do Extraordinary, returning team members are familiar with our collaborative culture, innovative spirit and opportunities for growth.

In particular, they are likely connected with one of our five Practice Areas hosted by our Innovation Center. These employee-centered teams, headed by a practice advocate, plan training and professional development opportunities, sponsor talks by industry experts, connect teams to prototyping and innovation resources and maintain libraries with toolkits supporting best practices. Coming into Karsun aware of these resources creates an added synergy and helps us build greater technology solutions together.

Connecting and Growing Together

Many of these team members stay connected through their managers and leaders who are personally invested in their growth and development. Karsun invests in the professional development and growth of every team member. We embrace a career journey mindset and understand some of our team may leave us to pursue their next opportunity.

Nevertheless, when former employees start a new path, we stay connected. Social media aids in this connection. This pattern is not uncommon, as Fast Company notes a survey of 5,000 US and UK employees found that 75% of respondents were interested in maintaining contact with their previous employer after resigning.

At Karsun, this is often through the same professional development organizations we supported when they were a team member. We are a longtime supporter of industry development programs like those offered through the American Council for Technology and Industry Advisory Council (ACT-IAC). Many team members also participate in Meetups allowing them to maintain a connection with their colleagues regardless of organization.

Later, when these former teammates seek a career change, they reconnect with current Karsun team members and previous colleagues. Given the opportunity to our teams, we frequently welcome these returning employees. Whether following the Great Resignation or as a result of a different change in career, we find new and exciting possibilities to Do Extraordinary once our boomerang team members return.

Rejoin Our Team or Start Your Next Adventure

Karsun is actively hiring former and new team members to fill remote positions for teams supporting agency missions across the federal government. Recognized for culture and innovation, this is a fantastic opportunity to join an organization with over a decade of continuous growth. Open roles range from Full Stack Developer to Data Architect. Apply today at KarsunCareers.com.

About Karsun Solutions

Karsun Solutions modernizes enterprise systems enabling agencies to make the next technological advancement their next opportunity to elevate mission capability. IT solutions from Karsun are tailored to meet agencies’ unique needs and optimize operations. These solutions adapt and stay relevant to current trends while using secure, digital architecture built to last. It is a proven modernization partner whose expertise elevates agency capabilities and ensures every next opportunity is within reach.

Employees and their children recently joined together at Karsun Solutions’ Herndon, Virginia headquarters for their annual Take Your Child to Work Day. Each year the Karsun Events Council, an internal team lead by employees across programs, selects an event theme. This year students were asked to demonstrate teamwork and imagination by planning a multi-day trip to a destination of their choice. Demonstrating their public speaking and presentation skills, they pitched their travel plans to their parents at the end of the day.

Students formed teams and worked together to build their complete travel plan. Acting as mentors throughout the day, Team Karsun joined the students to teach classes on brainstorming, budgeting, and planning. Teams also learned about the planes that allow them to travel to far off destinations. Staff taught additional classes on everything from paper airplanes to weather.

Meanwhile, employees led informative sessions on Karsun Solutions’ enterprise modernization work. Karsun’s executive team gave a brief introduction to Karsun Solutions. Then teams supporting both our General Service Administration and Federal Aviation Administration programs spoke on travel-related programs supported by Karsun. Tammie Bowman spoke on GSA’s City Pairs program and led a question and answer session. An FAA session was led by Debbie Richards. As the day closed student teams presented their plans to the Karsun team. Students completing the program received a certificate along with a Karsun giveaway bag.

Take Your Child to Work is one of several yearly traditions at Karsun Solutions. Here fun is a core value! The Karsun Event Council plans and hosts monthly employee events in addition to Karsun’s wellness events and informative brown bag seminars. Take Your Child to Work Day is one of our two yearly traditions celebrating Karsun families. The yearly picnic is held every June. To learn more about life at Karsun visit our Employee Events page or join our recruiters for our weekly chat event.