WAI Concludes Successful Conference, Scholarships Open

At the 32nd Annual International Women in Aviation (WAI) Conference, which took place 11-12 March,  a total of $475,805 in scholarships were awarded, and another 48 scholarship opportunities totaling $256,000 are now online with applications due May 18, 2021.

The conference brought in more than 2,300 people from around the world, and the exhibit hall hosted 105 separate companies and organizations. A total of 101 scholarships were distributed to WAI members at every stage of life for both academic use, lifestyle enhancement, and flight training, including type ratings.

The industry needs to learn how to recruit, train and retain new pools of people. For more on this topic, read  Woefully Under-Represented.

"We made the decision last fall – for the safety of all our attendees during the pandemic – to take our annual gathering to an all-virtual platform with the goal of delivering the same content to include a wide variety of keynote speakers and exhibitors, seven education session tracks, professional development seminars and workshops, scholarship awards, and the Pioneer Hall of Fame induction ceremony,” said WAI CEO Allison McKay.

This year’s Hall of Fame inductees include: Joan Robinson-Berry, a Boeing executive in the field of aerospace; Maj. Gen. Carol Timmons (ret.), the first woman to lead the Delaware National Guard; and U.S. Marine Corps’ First Class of Women Aviators, this group of 10 pioneers represented the first women to go through pilot and naval flight officer training in the U.S. Marine Corps.

At the WAI membership meeting, Capt. Deborah Hecker, Michaela Lucas, and Marci Veronie were re-elected to the board, and outgoing board members Brian Bolt and Abingdon Mullins were thanked for their years of support.

Visits to the active exhibit hall were interspersed with general sessions on Friday and Saturday mornings, with dozens of education sessions held both days.

WAI continued its successful youth outreach with a virtual Girls in Aviation Day Reno on Saturday, March 13, where over 1,800 registrants from 16 countries were introduced to the possibilities of an aviation career though interviews with Jasmin Moghbeli, NASA Astronaut, and female members of the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds.  This youth outreach will continue with WAI's international Girls in Aviation Day on September 25, 2021, where WAI’s network of local chapters will plan and execute their own events for girls 8 to 17 years old.

"Our industry is significantly smaller than it was at the beginning of 2020, and any gains we made in creating a more diverse workforce have been impacted by industry wide furloughs and layoffs,” said McKay. “I invite companies to support WAI’s continued mission of creating a more diverse workforce by joining our organization. We have the opportunity to rebuild our industry with the diversity that was lacking before the pandemic.”