On any given day, some form of outreach is happening across the nation to inspire young professionals into aviation. Whether it is an airshow, conference, fly-in, school event, or a pilot taking a moment at the airport to talk to a curious kid, we intentionally inspire the youth. The industry has been committed to this vital work for the past decade. I know this because in 2017, the aviation community came together and supported Dreams Soar, Inc., and our mission to inspire the youth through a flight around the world.
Hi, I'm Shaesta, Founder, and CEO of Dreams Soar and STEM Ambassador to the FAA. In 2017, through government and industry support, I set the world record of becoming the 8th woman to fly solo around the world in a single-engine aircraft while participating in outreach events along the trip to inspire young professionals to get into aviation. Having met over 25,000 children through over 60 outreach events Dreams Soar has participated in, we realized that inspiring the youth to get into aviation was relatively 'the easy part.'
The challenge would come after when these young professionals wanted to learn more and get connected. Additionally, for the students we inspired, we discovered that we needed some form of infrastructure to measure their progress or provide them with the tools we knew they needed to succeed.
This had us at Dreams Soar wondering, what if there was a centralized online Hub where students, parents, educators, and companies could visit and access our industry with clear pathways and resources? And why a one-stop Hub?
For one, the FAA established the Youth Access to American Jobs in Aviation Task Force (YIATF) in 2022 to find solutions to getting more students into aviation. One of the key solutions in the final report by the Task Force, which cited Dreams Soar as one of the organizations doing the work, was an industry Hub.
Coincidentally, in the Spring of 2021, at Dreams Soar, we began putting the pieces for an industry Hub and were pleased to discover that the findings in the report validated our idea. Now, with the details in place, we are excited to bring the solution to market.
At the same time, as the world emerged from the pandemic, demand for private and commercial aviation intensified so much that businesses—instead of benefiting from the tailwinds— discovered that their ability to keep up was restricted because they couldn't find enough workers. Even with tough economic headwinds, air travel has been one of the industries that have proven to be indispensable.
Therefore, the need for a centralized place to inspire, connect and empower young professionals to maintain AND grow the industry is no longer aspirational but critical.
Our industry is already doing a lot of the work. We need a Hub to pull it all together and allow you insights, track your progress, and the tools to make it count.
The workforce solution is here. We’d love for you to sign the Pledge and get on board.
