{"id":27335,"date":"2023-12-04T16:12:04","date_gmt":"2023-12-04T16:12:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/saj.pachecostudios.com?p=27335"},"modified":"2023-12-04T16:12:06","modified_gmt":"2023-12-04T16:12:06","slug":"aviation-groups-mourn-the-passing-of-ga-advocate-selena-shilad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/national-news\/aviation-groups-mourn-the-passing-of-ga-advocate-selena-shilad\/%20","title":{"rendered":"Aviation Groups Mourn the Passing of GA Advocate Selena Shilad"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The general aviation community lost a \u201cfierce advocate\u201d with\nthe November 24 passing of Selena Shilad, the executive director of the\nAlliance for Aviation Across America (AAAA). Shilad, who was 45, died after a\nbrief illness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Selena Shilad<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

She joined the Alliance after it was formed in 2007 and was\npromoted to executive director within a year, holding that role until she\npassed on Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSelena was one of the most committed, passionate,\nresourceful and effective coalition builders and aviation advocates\nimaginable,\u201d said NBAA President and CEO Ed Bolen, who currently serves as\nchair of the Alliance. \u201cEvery single day, she engaged with community leaders,\norganizations and individuals from across the country to powerfully communicate\nthe central role of general aviation in America.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under Shilad\u2019s leadership, the AAAA grew to more than 7,000\nindividuals, businesses, agricultural groups, FBOs, small airports, local and\ncommunity elected officials, charitable organizations, law enforcement\nassociations, think tanks, tribal leadership and leading aviation associations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to building the Alliance from the ground up,\nShilad\u2019s achievements also include numerous state and local proclamations\ndetailing the benefits of general aviation, countless local and regional news\nstories and economic impact surveys in nearly all 50 states. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMost importantly, we remember Selena as a person of endless\npassion, indefatigable energy, loyal and joyful friendship, infectious optimism\nand integrity,\u201d Bolen added. \u201cOur entire industry is stronger and better for\nher efforts and having known her.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Selena worked with many state aviation officials including Henry Ogrodzinski, President and CEO of the National Association of State Aviation Officials (NASAO), in this 2011 photo by Kim Stevens.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Prior to her work with the AAAA, Shilad was a renowned\nlegislative advisor who held key leadership positions in several statewide and\nnational campaigns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNATA and its members join our colleagues and friends in\nmourning the loss of a true industry champion. Selena\u2019s skill in creating\ncommunity and strategizing for the greater good of general and business\naviation was unmatched and will be dearly missed. Our hearts and thoughts go\nout to her family and countless loved ones,\u201d stated NATA President and CEO Curt\nCastagna.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shilad held a bachelor\u2019s degree in political science and a\nmaster\u2019s degree in international relations from the University of Chicago, as\nwell as a master\u2019s degree in leadership from the McDonough School of Business\nat Georgetown University. She is survived by her parents Shafi and Karen, her\nbrother, Justin and her daughter, Amaya.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The general aviation community lost a \u201cfierce advocate\u201d with the November 24 passing of Selena Shilad, the executive director of the Alliance for Aviation Across America (AAAA). Shilad, who was 45, died after a brief illness. She joined the Alliance after it was formed in 2007 and was promoted to executive director within a year, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"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-27335","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-national-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27335","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=27335"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27335\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27338,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27335\/revisions\/27338"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27335"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27335"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27335"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}