Vicki Payne

Manager, Corporate Citizenship
Northrop-Grumman Corporation,
Military Aircraft Systems

Vicki Payne is a champion for education outreach. During her more than 25 years at Northrop Grumman, she has been instrumental in establishing programs that are designed to help bridge the gap between schools and businesses while providing students the opportunity to experience firsthand observation of Northrop Grumman and learn a little about the fields they are aspiring toward. Vicki believes that these experiences impart additional motivation for the students and make a profound difference in their overall educational experience.

Vicki is the corporate citizenship manager at Northrop Grumman Military Aircraft Systems in Bethpage, N.Y. She is responsible for the organization's philanthropic and volunteer programs, employee recognition and services, and K-12 STEM education outreach.

She is an advocate for education outreach, striving to turn relationships into partnerships, with the primary focus being the benefit of the students. In 2010, the success of the programs manifested when two former STEM High School Involvement Partnership (HIP) experience students were hired as engineers at Northrop Grumman. The program worked!

Vicki also coordinates shadow days, engineer speakers, career day participation and other multi-discipline site or classroom visits. Currently, she is a member of the Long Island STEM Hub recently formed with a focus on preparing students for the LI workforce through enhanced STEM experiences.

"She has worked tirelessly to provide opportunities for the students of Baldwin Senior High School to participate in shadow day programs, internships, Engineering Week activities, seminars and the FIRST Robotics programs," wrote her Education Partner Award nominator.

Vicki lives in Suffolk County with her husband, David, her dog Saylor, and her cats Sammy and Pugsley. She loves being "Gam" to grandchildren Luke and Brooke, and in her leisure enjoys boating on the Great South Bay.