The voting members of the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) re-elected two individuals to the association’s Board of Directors during an annual meeting held during NBAA’s Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (NBAA-BACE).
Additionally, Elizabeth Dornak, of DuPont Aviation, succeeded Gen. Lloyd “Fig” Newton, of L3 Harris Technologies, Inc., as chair; also, Monte Koch, of Falconshare LLC, will serve as NBAA’s new vice chair/treasurer.
Leadership on NBAA’s Advisory Council, formerly known as AMAC, also changed today, with Sheryl Barden, of Aviation Personnel International, replacing Todd Duncan, of Duncan Aviation, as chair, and David Davenport, of FlightSafety International, becoming vice chair. As leaders of the Advisory Council, Barden and Davenport will serve as the Business Member Advisors on the board of directors.
Dornak is the director of aviation for DuPont. In addition to serving on the NBAA Board of Directors since 2007, she has experience with NBAA’s Operations Committee, and was a member of the Certified Aviation Manager Governing Board. With extensive international experience, she was selected to serve as the NBAA Board’s representative to the International Business Aviation Council (IBAC). Dornak is type rated in Gulfstream, Hawker and Citation aircraft, and holds an ATP certificate with more than 8,500 hours of flight time. She is a graduate of Purdue University, and has completed the Aviation Safety Certificate Program at the University of Southern California. Her term as chair will conclude in 2021.
Koch is a partner at BDT & Company, and head of the Real Estate and Hospitality Industry Sector. He also serves as a generalist in a broad variety of other industries, including aviation and technology. With more than 25 years of investment banking experience, he served as chairman of M&A for the Americas and global head of Real Estate Investment Banking at Deutsche Bank. In late 2012, Koch left Deutsche Bank to serve as co-founder, co-CEO and later vice chairman of Ten-X/Auction.com, the largest online marketplace for residential and commercial real estate transactions. He is a director of publicly-traded Choice Hotels International. Koch holds an ATP license, is type rated in the Falcon 10 and is the manager of Falconshare LLC, He graduated from the College of William & Mary with a BBA in management. His term as vice chair/treasurer will conclude in 2021.
Sheryl Barden has spent a lifetime in aviation, having grown up in and around the business aviation recruiting firm Aviation Personnel International, where she now serves as the company’s president and CEO. Barden is a leading authority on hiring and leadership development practices, and is a frequent industry speaker. She is an active member of the Society for Human Resources Management, Flight Safety Foundation, Women in Corporate Aviation and the International Women’s Forum. She earned an MBA from the Masagung School of Business at the University of San Francisco and a bachelor of science degree in management, with an emphasis in personnel management, from Pennsylvania State University. She has been a member of the board since 2017, and her term as Advisory Council chair will conclude in 2021.
Davenport is president and CEO of FlightSafety International, which he joined in 1996. He held several positions throughout the country before relocating to the company’s corporate offices in New York in 2012, following his promotion to vice president. He most recently served as executive vice president, commercial. Prior to joining FlightSafety, Davenport was executive director of the Florida Division of American Flyers. He graduated from the United States Air Force Academy in 1982 with a degree in business management, and served as a Squadron Operations Officer and member of the Squadron of the Year for two consecutive years. David piloted the Cessna T-37 and the supersonic Northrop T-38 jet aircraft through the U.S. Air Force Undergraduate Pilot Training program. Davenport serves on the Board of Governors of the Wings Club Foundation and the Air Charter Safety Foundation. His term as Advisory Council vice chair will conclude in 2021.
In addition to the leadership changes, Rich Walsh of American Express and Dan Williams of Walmart were re-elected to three-year terms on the board of directors.
Walsh is currently the vice president of aviation for American Express, where he is responsible for leading all facets of the aviation operation. Prior to his appointment at American Express, Walsh served as vice president of global aviation and travel security services for Hewlett Packard Enterprise. He also worked as vice president of aviation and business continuity for Cardinal Health, and spent 20 years with United Airlines in multiple training and flight operations leadership roles. He is past chairman of the NBAA Safety Committee and currently serves on the Southern Illinois University Aviation Management Advisory Board. He has accumulated more than 17,000 hours of diverse flight experience, and is type rated on seven different turbo-jet aircraft. Walsh joined the board in 2013.
Williams is the vice president of aviation and global travel for Walmart Inc. He joined the flight department in 2000 as a first officer. He rose through the ranks, and has been in his current role since 2007. Before joining Walmart, Williams was a professional pilot for business flight departments and airlines. He has been a pilot for 34 years, and has an airline transport pilot rating with more than 9,000 accident-free, incident-free flight hours. An Arkansas native, Williams holds a bachelor’s degree in management information systems from Florida State University. He resides in Bentonville, AR. Williams joined the board in 2016.
Review all members of the NBAA Board of Directors and Advisory Council.
