{"id":24927,"date":"2023-02-28T02:59:34","date_gmt":"2023-02-28T02:59:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/saj.pachecostudios.com?p=24927"},"modified":"2023-02-28T02:59:35","modified_gmt":"2023-02-28T02:59:35","slug":"wai2023-conference-hosts-record-number-of-attendees-exhibitors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/state-news\/california\/wai2023-conference-hosts-record-number-of-attendees-exhibitors\/%20","title":{"rendered":"WAI2023 Conference Hosts Record Number of Attendees & Exhibitors"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Women in Aviation International held one of its largest and\nmost successful annual gatherings during the 34th Annual Women in Aviation\nInternational Conference at Long Beach Convention Center in Long Beach,\nCalifornia, February 23-25. With its unique blend of world-class speakers, busy\nexhibit hall, an array of education sessions, and more than 120 scholarship awards,\nthe WAI2023 conference delivered numerous opportunities to connect and network\nwith female peers in the aviation and aerospace industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Allison McKay<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWAI\u2019s strength is in our membership. A more passionate,\ndiverse, and inclusive group doesn\u2019t exist anywhere in the industry. We gather\nto celebrate, support, and advance each other while expanding our knowledge and\nskills, and raising our own expectations for what\u2019s possible. This week\u2019s\nconference brought our largest group of members together with more exhibitors and\nhiring companies in history,\u201d said WAI CEO Allison McKay. \u201cWe hosted dozens of\nnetworking and education sessions, assembled another extraordinary group of\nkeynote speakers, honored unique trailblazers during our annual Pioneer Hall of\nFame induction, and presented nearly $890,000 in scholarships to deserving WAI\nmembers. Thanks to the generous support of our sponsors, our passionate members\nand volunteers, and an impressive collection of exhibitors, WAI2023 was an\namazing venue as we prepare to celebrate Women\u2019s History month in March.\nWithout a doubt, WAI continues to advance our mission to connect, engage, and\ninspire our current and future workforce of diverse and accomplished members,\u201d\nshe added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A highlight of every conference is the induction of women\ninto WAI\u2019s International Pioneer Hall of Fame. This year\u2019s inductees include\nNancy Bird, founder of the Australian Women Pilots Association; Martha and John\nKing, co-owners of the King Schools; Col. Merryl Tengesdal, USAF (ret.), the\nfirst and only Black woman to pilot the U-2 Dragon Lady reconnaissance\naircraft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Visits to the sold-out exhibit hall were interspersed with\ngeneral sessions on Friday and Saturday mornings, with dozens of education\nsessions and professional development seminars and workshops held Thursday\nthrough Saturday where attendees could choose which sessions were best for\ntheir career goals and personal interests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the WAI membership meeting, Christine Bohl, Leah\nGreene, and Dawit Lemma were elected as new board members, and Andrea Berry and\nBrittany Tough were re-elected. In addition, WAI announced an all-new Mentor\nConnect program for members with a focus on setting and achieving goals,\ntraining, and best mentoring practices. WAI also announced a new WAI Giving\nCircle to support future growth of educational content and resources for its\nmembers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

New this year, WAI expanded its scholarship program by\npartnering with Harvard University for an Emerging Leaders professional\ndevelopment program. Applications are due by March 15, 2023, for this fully\npaid three-day learning experience. More WAI international scholarships will be\nannounced in the second quarter, and WAI2024 scholarship opportunities will be\navailable for member applications beginning July 1, 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Girls in Aviation Day Long Beach<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

On Saturday, February 25, 250 girls along with their\nchaperones, were hosted by more than 100 WAI volunteers, at Girls in Aviation\nDay Long Beach at the Long Beach Convention Center. The girls, ages 8-18,\nvisited over 20 activity stations and heard about six different aviation\ncareers during a career panel. Stephanie Chung, Wheels Up global brand\nambassador, had a conversation with the attendees about always striving for\nexcellence. The older girls had the opportunity to meet with college\nrepresentatives about their aviation-focused programs including California\nAeronautical University, Central Washington University, Cypress College, Drone\nSoccer, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Liberty University School of\nAeronautics, Saint Louis University, SUU Aviation, United Aviate Academy, Utah\nValley University-Aviation Science, and Western Michigan University College of\nAviation Each participant earned a WAI Aviation Girl Fun Patch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other conference highlights include:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

  • A total attendance of over 4,500 includes 136\ninternational representatives from 32 countries including Canada, Ghana,\nNorway, United Kingdom, Nigeria, Kenya, Germany, and others.<\/li>
  • The WAI Chapter network has reached 167 chapters\nin 23 countries worldwide.<\/li>
  • The exhibit hall hosted nearly 200 separate\ncompanies and organizations, representing all aspects of the aviation\ncommunity, and livestream video coverage on WAI\u2019s new YouTube channel\n@WAIOnAir.<\/li>
  • 123 scholarships were distributed to WAI members\nat every stage of life for both academic use, lifestyle enhancement, and flight\ntraining, including type ratings. A total $889,140 in scholarships was awarded,\nbringing the total scholarships awarded since 1995 to more than $15.4 million.<\/li>
  • Several industry milestones were celebrated\nduring conference including Wings with Jazz Band\u2019s 20 years of performing at\nconference, Women in Corporate Aviation\u2019s 30-year anniversary, Women in Combat\nOperation\u2019s 30th anniversary, as well as 50 years of Women Flying in Naval\nAviation.<\/li><\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Women in Aviation International held one of its largest and most successful annual gatherings during the 34th Annual Women in Aviation International Conference at Long Beach Convention Center in Long Beach, California, February 23-25. With its unique blend of world-class speakers, busy exhibit hall, an array of education sessions, and more than 120 scholarship awards, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":24930,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,114],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24927","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-california","category-international-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/WAI-Exhibit-Hall-2023-edit.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24927","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24927"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24927\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24931,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24927\/revisions\/24931"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24930"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24927"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24927"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24927"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}