Mentoring Program

IAWA believes in Lifting Women into Leadership and Mentorship is critical to developing leadership opportunities and facilitating professional growth.  The goal of the program, which is entering its fourth year, remains to continue building programs that attract, retain, expand, and advance the diverse leadership talent within the aviation industry and further enhance the experiences of IAWA’s members. Mentoring pairs meet at least six times during the pairing and work on realizing at least one goal. 

The fourth round of IAWA’s 12-month program opens on February 1, 2025 and all participants must be active IAWA Members.  The Mentoring Program is a benefit of IAWA Membership.  No fees are directly charged to anyone who participates in IAWA’s Mentoring Program.  IAWA Members are responsible for sustaining the Mentoring Program through human interaction and sponsorship capital support. 

Anything worth doing is worth doing well and the effectiveness of the program is critical to ensuring that IAWA meets its Mission.  The focus remains on building the pipeline of future female leaders in the aviation industry and strengthening the engagement of IAWA’s members who are leaders in the aviation industry.  

Here is how we are measuring effectiveness in the program’s fourth year:

• Global Diversity - Over 30 Countries across five continents are represented
  
• Segments of the Aviation Industry: Legal, Business Aviation, OEM, Airline, Cargo, Military, Insurance, Finance, MRO, and other Service Providers (nongovernmental agencies) 
  
• Focus on Meetings and realizing goals - Over 250 meetings were completed with 29 goals realized
  
• Advancement in Careers - 37 of the 125 people who participated took steps forward in their careers. This reflects the dedication of the participants to grow and support the professional growth of others.
  
• Member Retention and Growth - Mentors report an increased job satisfaction and are becoming more engaged members.  This is retaining and attracting new membership across all categories – Members, Advocates, Apprentice, and Scholars – as noted from the response of our April 2023 marketing campaign with five new Members and five new Apprentices.
  
• Sponsorship beyond Mentorship - Four of our mentees earned internationally recognized commendations by their peers and other program members participated in panels and coauthored articles.
  
• Feedback - The program received a perfect Net Promotor Score on all areas evaluated and three Mentors received 5 out of 5 stars by their Mentees.

In 2024, IAWA received a grant for the third consecutive year from the ISTAT Foundation, which materially supports the cost of an app-based, AI powered platform (Qooper) that pairs a Member/Advocate with a Scholar/Apprentice that facilitates and guides the members throughout the program.

If you are an active IAWA member and interested in participating in the IAWA Mentoring Program, please read the detailed FAQs. 

If you are ready to become a Mentor or Mentee AFTER reading the FAQs, please contact info@iawa.org.