Women in Aviation virtual conference attracts 2,300 worldwide

Women in Aviation‘s first virtual conference, held March 11-13, 2021, attracted more than 2,300 attendees from around the world.

Other highlights of the 32nd annual Women in Aviation conference included:

• The exhibit hall hosted 105 separate companies and organizations, representing all aspects of the aviation community.
• 101 scholarships were distributed to WAI members at every stage of life for both academic use, lifestyle enhancement, and flight training, including type ratings. A total of $475,805 in scholarships was awarded during the conference, and another 48 scholarships totaling $256,000 are now on line with applications due May 18, 2021. These additional 2021 Spring scholarships will put the total scholarships awarded since 1995 to $14 million.
• The WAI chapter network reached 147 global chapters in 22 countries worldwide.

“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 Women in Aviation International CEO Allison McKay.

“Our strength is in the celebration of so many like-minded women who come together to share their passion for aviation and aerospace, and we successfully delivered that opportunity at WAI2021. From a NASA astronaut, top-level women executives, engineers, pilots of all levels right through young students, and all aerospace professions, we are united in a desire to help one another and further our careers and personal lives,” she added.

A highlight of every conference is the induction of women into WAI’s International Pioneer Hall of Fame. This year’s inductees include

• Joan Robinson-Berry, a longtime, trailblazing 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, 10 pioneers who represented the first women to go through pilot and naval flight officer training in the U.S. Marine Corps.

The association also continued its successful youth outreach with a virtual Girls in Aviation Day Reno on Saturday, March 13, where more than 1,800 registrants from 16 countries were introduced to the possibilities of an aviation career though interviews with NASA Astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli and female members of the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds.

This youth outreach will continue with WAI’s international Girls in Aviation Day on Sept. 25, 2021, where WAI’s network of local chapters will hold their own events for girls 8 to 17 years old.

The 33rd Annual International Women in Aviation Conference will be held March 17-19, 2022, at Gaylord Opryland Resort in Nashville, Tennessee.