{"id":25348,"date":"2023-04-14T02:14:55","date_gmt":"2023-04-14T02:14:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/saj.pachecostudios.com?p=25348"},"modified":"2023-04-14T02:25:21","modified_gmt":"2023-04-14T02:25:21","slug":"cassandra-bosco-trailblazing-industry-leader","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/national-news\/cassandra-bosco-trailblazing-industry-leader\/%20","title":{"rendered":"Cassandra Bosco: Trailblazing Industry Leader"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Photo above – Over her 35+-year career, Cassandra Bosco has experienced many opportunities to enjoy the spirit of flight. Here Cassandra flies in the Goodyear Blimp relishing the view from the right seat. (Courtesy photograph).\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

by\nPenny Rafferty Hamilton, Ph.D.  <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Harken back to the late 1980s when Cheers (<\/em>Where everybody knows your name) and The Golden Girls<\/em> ruled the TV screen. Harrison Ford, as Indiana Jones, was again on the big screen and Cassandra Bosco joins the aviation industry. Over the years, she cultivated skills and knowledge in association management, advocacy, media relations, public relations, event planning, industry representation, educational program development, and publications reaching leaders and practitioners in virtually every facet of the aviation and aerospace industry. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Cassandra Bosco<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

She became an effective and passionate industry advocate\n\u2013 helping to craft, and participate in, the dialog concerning the benefits,\nopportunities and challenges associated with powered flight. Here is\nCassandra\u2019s story. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s\nyour first memory of aviation?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I had just graduated college and was visiting friends\non Long Island. One of them took me on a flight in his general aviation\nairplane. He flew me over my family home in Connecticut and tipped his wing at\nmy house. We were so close I could even see my dog\u2019s little house! It was thrilling.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How did\nyou first get inspired to work in the aviation industry?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

My first job in aviation came years after that first\nflight. I answered an ad for a communications position with the General\nAviation Manufacturers Association, where I met and got to work with The\nHonorable Ed Stimpson and his team. It was fascinating to watch the\nmanufacturers develop new technologies. Part of my job was to manage national press\nmisconceptions about GA flying, which was, of course, challenging and still is.\nGAMA also had use of a Bonanza at the time, and we used it to fly to meetings\nacross the country, so we experienced first-hand the benefits of being able to\nget to smaller communities with general aviation aircraft. Flying over New York\nCity in the late 1980s in the Bonanza and seeing a Concorde about to land is a\nsight I will never forget.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After five years at GAMA, I went on to do\ncommunications for the National Business Aviation Association. In addition to\ncommunications, I was able to pursue my passion for education by creating\nNBAA\u2019s aviation education program \u2013 AvKids. At last, my love of communications,\naviation and education was all rolled into my current responsibilities. While\nat NBAA, I had the opportunity to work on some amazing projects including the\ncreation of their No Plane. No Gain.<\/em> campaign, volunteering at the\nCessna Citation Special Olympics Airlift, creating a business aviation exhibit\n\u2013 Business Wings — at the National Air and Space Museum and celebrating the\n100th<\/sup> Anniversary of flight with a trip to the Franklin Institute in\nPhiladelphia where our team got to pore over (with gloved hands, of course),\nthe Wright Brothers\u2019 original documents. Talk about touching history!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to communications, it has been my mission,\nthroughout my career, to encourage others (especially women and underrepresented\ncommunities) to embrace a career in aviation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After an amazing 17 years at NBAA, I left the nest and\nfounded TailWinds Communications, a communications and workforce development consultancy.\nAt TailWinds, I get to work with many of the industry\u2019s best and brightest to\nhelp them tackle their challenges and opportunities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Bosco has made a lifetime commitment of encouraging aviation careers. These Young Professionals were photographed at the 2020 WAI Networking Event. Cassandra enjoys working with our future aviation leaders. She is shown far right in the first row, next to last. (Courtesy WAI) <\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

What do\nyou consider to be the highlights of your career?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have been blessed to have witnessed and\/or\nparticipated in a wide range of activities that have allowed me to experience,\nfirst-hand, the many ways in which powered flight has shaped our world. I have\nflown the Goodyear Blimp at the launch of Wingfoot 3. I created a Corporate\nAviation \u201cBusiness Wings\u201d exhibit at the National Air and Space Museum. I have greeted\nSpecial Olympics athletes at the Citation Special Olympics Airlift. I shared in\nthe celebration of the 100th<\/sup> Anniversary of Flight at a special Wright\nMemorial Dinner. I got to tour one of the first Boeing 787 Dreamliners at a\npicture-perfect open-air Collier Dinner held at DCA\u2019s Signature Hangar that had\nbeen transformed into a dreamy cloud. Last year. I worked with Embry-Riddle\nAeronautical University to create a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) called\nLeadership for Women in Aerospace and Aviation that attracted more than 2,200\nattendees! But perhaps my greatest thrills have come from greeting and meeting\na number of industry icons and influencers, including Reeve Lindbergh, Eileen\nCollins, Gen. Chuck Yeager, Members of the WASPs and Tuskeegee Airmen, Wright\nBrothers and Collier Award winners, and countless other inspirational men and\nwomen who have defined or chronicled the history of aviation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Who has\ninspired you the most?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have had the opportunity to collaborate with and be\nmentored by industry giants such as Ed Stimpson (founder and president of\nGAMA), Stan Green (co-founder of GAMA), Dave Franson (Allied Signal, NBAA,\nBombardier), Henry Ogrodzinski (EAA, GAMA, Gulfstream, NASAO) and Phil Woodruff\n(FAA AvEd). It would be impossible to list everyone who has inspired me and\/or\nhelped to influence the path I\u2019ve been able to take, but I\u2019d also like to give\na \u201cshout out\u201d to Ed Bolen (GAMA), Shelly Simi (iBiz), Kerry Lynch (AIN), and so\nmany others like them who serve in the front lines of this industry, which\ntouches virtually every person on the planet. This industry is filled with professionals\nwhose passion motivates us all to move forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Cassandra Bosco introduced her daughter, Christina, to aviation career opportunities at the first WAI Bring You Daughter to the Conference Day. This annual event eventually became WAI Girls in Aviation Day. In this photograph (L-R) Christina Bosco, General Jeannie Leavitt (first woman USAF fighter pilot-1993), and Cassandra Bosco pause during a busy WAI event. (Courtesy photograph)   <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

In 1990, I was approached by Dr. Peggy Chabrian to\nbecome a Founding Board Member of Women in Aviation. The Founding Board, an\ninspiring group of women and men, remain lifelong friends, while WAI itself has\ngrown to be an industry lifeline and network for more than 13,000 members from\nall industry sectors throughout the world. It has also created opportunities\nfor young women from all walks of life to become part of the aviation community\nthrough its mentoring and scholarship programs, that latter which has provided\nmore than $15.4 million in financial support to help them pursue their dreams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Any\nAdvice for other women inside our industry or thinking about aviation and\naerospace?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is a vibrant and dynamic industry that is built\non expanding the influence of powered flight to every corner of the world. You\nwill meet smart, passionate, and innovative people who will inspire you to not\nonly become the best person you can be but, also, to pay it forward to others. I\nstrongly encourage you to grow your network at every opportunity and not only\nseek out those who will mentor you but develop the ability to mentor others.\nIt\u2019s a lifelong mission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The opportunities in aviation are boundless and, for\nmany, limited only by their imagination and vision. We currently need so many\nyoung men and women to become our future leaders and provide the \u201cmuscle\u201d to\nsupport the industry. No matter what you aspire to do, you can do it in\naviation \u2013 business management, pilot, aviation maintenance, ATC, photography,\nwriting, etc. All you need to do is attend an event, reach out to anyone in\naviation (we love to talk about what we do and why we do it), go online and\njoin an outreach group such as Women in Aviation, Grand Dames of Aviation, National\nGay Pilots Association, NBAA, EAA, NASAO, etc. There is no better time to get\nyour career in aviation started than right now. Come join us!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Author Note: Former Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, our first female African American to hold that office, said, \u201cWhatever you choose to do, you have one other obligation, and this is to yourself. Do it with passion.\u201d Cassandra Bosco has found the passion. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Photo above – Over her 35+-year career, Cassandra Bosco has experienced many opportunities to enjoy the spirit of flight. Here Cassandra flies in the Goodyear Blimp relishing the view from the right seat. (Courtesy photograph).\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 by Penny Rafferty Hamilton, Ph.D.   Harken back to the late 1980s when Cheers (Where everybody knows your name) and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":25349,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[115],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25348","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Goodyear-Blimp-SIC-edit.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25348","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=25348"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25348\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25354,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25348\/revisions\/25354"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25349"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25348"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25348"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25348"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}