Women Aviation Enthusiasts Connect, Inspire and Enjoy EAA AirVenture
By Maxine Scheer
AirVenture 2017 marks the 10th Anniversary of the WomenVenture, a collaboration between EAA and Women in Aviation, International. Dozens of programs were offered throughout the day, providing women aviation enthusiasts (and supporters) the opportunity to connect with and inspire one another while enjoying one of the worldís greatest aviation events.
WAI Executive Director Dr. Peggy Chabrian kicked off the day at the annual WAI Connect Breakfast at the EAA Nature Center, welcoming an overflow crowd of over 400 women wearing this yearís blue WomenVenture t-shirts. Adding to the enthusiasm were high school girls who participated in the EAA Aviation Day Camp, Women Soar You Soar.
The WAI breakfast also included many WAI supporters and sponsors, both men and women, including P. Barry Butler, Ph.D., the new President of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Sharon Rossmark, CEO and Founder of Women in Drones, and two keynote speakers, Connie Bowlin, President of Warbirds of America and Susan Dusenbury, President of the Vintage Aircraft Association, two of EAAís largest affiliate organizations.
Peggy announced two major events in September 2017. On September 23rd is Girls in Aviation Day, a dedicated global outreach effort to inspire more young women, ages 8-17 to pursue their aviation dreams, and hosted by the expanding WAI chapter network. WAI now has over 110 chapters around the world, and in 2017 opened new chapters, including Brazil, with 80 new members. Also in September, WAI will connect the history and future of aviation at a two-day event, September 29-30th, in Dayton, Ohio.
WAI always brings good news to AirVenture about scholarships. Since 1995, Women in Aviation has awarded over $10 million in scholarships that have launched hundreds of women, and men, into aviation careers and avocations. Over one hundred scholarships, totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars, will be awarded during the 29th annual International Women in Aviation Conference in Reno, Nevada, March 22-24, 2018. Scholarship applications open in July and close on November 1, 2017.
Other events today included the annual photo shoot on Boeing Plaza where hundreds of women aviators surrounded a United Parcel Service (UPS) 767-300, flown into Oshkosh by an all women flight crew.
The WomenVenture Power Lunch at Theatre in the Woods featured Dr. Janet Lapp, pilot and change leadership speaker, and the recently confirmed Secretary of the Air Force, Heather Wilson (pictured).
Secretary Wilson answered questions from front row participants in the EAA Women Soar You Soar program and described her introduction to aviation, which included being displaced from her bedroom as a child to make room for a homebuilt aircraft project.
Secretary Wilson also described her education and career path that included graduating from the Air Force Academy and Oxford, as a Rhodes Scholar, serving for ten years in Congress, and leading the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. Secretary Wilson responded to numerous questions about her career and work/life balance. She offered examples of some of the best advice sheís been given, "get a good education, take the hardest math and science courses you can, and in addition to your career, find something bigger than yourself."
Other WomenVenture events continue throughout the week of AirVenture 2017, and include a program on Friday with Lori Garver, General Manager of ALPA and former Deputy Director of NASA, and screening of the film "Hidden Figures" at the EAA Fly-In Theatre.
(Staff images)
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