Melinda Viteri

Melinda Viteri is a renowned aviation youth mentor and aerospace educator, dedicated to inspiring the next generation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Her unwavering commitment to engaging young learners earned her the Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award in 2024, presented at the White House for her contributions to youth education in STEM and aviation.
Melinda began her career as a travel agent but soon realized her true calling was in education. She turned down an opportunity to study piano at the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music (ABRSM) in London, later obtaining a teaching certificate from ABRSM to share her love of music with students.

Before her foray into aerospace education, Melinda held a prominent role in the deaf education community, serving on the leadership team for deaf and blind education with Leeds City Council in the UK. Melinda is fluent in British Sign Language. Her commitment to inclusivity laid a strong foundation for her future educational endeavors.

Melinda learned to fly a Piper Warrior in England and began learning to fly helicopters in 2024. She also served as the Education Chair for the Royal Aeronautical Society for ten years, promoting aerospace education.

To date, Melinda has empowered over one million students globally in aviation and space STEM education. This includes her work in Ghana, where she has created opportunities for youth to explore aviation careers and access scholarships.

As a sought-after motivational speaker, Melinda has lectured at NASA Houston on the health of astronauts and pilots during long-duration flights. She currently teaches science at the Milton Gottesman Jewish Day School and established a successful aerospace camp that has operated for nine years. A twice lung cancer survivor, Melinda remains hopeful about returning to flying. Her journey exemplifies resilience and inspires youth to pursue their dreams in aviation and STEM fields.

Captain Laura Savino was a pilot on the B777, B767, B757, B747, B737, A319 and A320 with United Airlines, and is the author of JET BOSS: A Female Pilot on Taking Risks and Flying High.

Laura flew for Eastern and Pan Am regionals before that. On her way to becoming a commercial airline pilot, she worked as an instrument flight instructor, charter pilot, freight pilot, aerial sightseeing tour pilot, ferry pilot and aircraft repossessor. She has flown planes as tiny as a car and widebody aircraft larger than a football field.

Laura’s Eastern and Pan Am uniforms have been accessioned into the National Collections and Archives of the National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC. Her United Airlines maternity uniform is on permanent display at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, (ATL) in the Blue Skies: Breaking Barriers exhibit.

Learning to fly as a teenager at Morristown Municipal Airport (MMU) in New Jersey, Laura continued her aviation education at Purdue University, graduating with an AS in Applied Science and a BS in Aviation Technology. Laura is currently a member of the Purdue University School of Aviation & Transportation Technology Industrial Advisory Board.

Bringing her love of flying and family to the pages, Laura has written the book JET BOSS, which is featured in the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum gift shops. As an award-winning author, her inspirational stories can also be found in four editions of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series, published by Simon & Schuster – Be You, The Magic of Cats, Attitude of Gratitude and Hope, Faith & Miracles.

Laura is the Chairman for the Old Dominion chapter of the Ninety-Nines International Organization of Women Pilots. She is an active member of the International Society of Women Airline Pilots (ISA+21), Women in Aviation International (WAI), the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA), and Smokehouse Pilots Club, where she lives in Virginia with her two sons, two cats and a lizard.

Laura is now in the position to be the mentor she wished she knew as a young pilot entering the aviation industry. Enthusiastic to help others find their place in STEM fields, and to encourage every individual to never sell themselves short in life.

Born in England but raised in Canada, Tracey Curtis-Taylor had her first flying lesson at age sixteen.  She emigrated to New Zealand from the UK in the early 1980's and began flying in earnest, gaining her private and commercial licenses before qualifying as a flying instructor.

Tracey developed an early fascination with old aeroplanes after seeing the film 'Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines'.  She joined the New Zealand Warbird Association which gave her first-hand experience of flying early biplanes and WW2 training aircraft, including the North American T-6 Harvard.  She went on to work in the aerial photography and mapping industry for several years before returning home to the UK to pursue her interest in historic aviation. 

Between 2013 - 2017, Tracey embarked on a series of flying expeditions in her 1942 open-cockpit Boeing Stearman biplane following history-making solo flights by two pioneering women pilots in the Golden Age of Aviation:  Lady Heath’s 1928 flight from Cape Town to England and Amy Johnson’s flight from England to Australia in 1930.  Tracey also flew the US Transcontinental from west coast to east coast following the historic US Airmail route, one of the first of its kind in the world.  On her first attempt, Tracey crashed in the Arizona desert with an engine failure, but had the Stearman airlifted back to Europe for a rebuild and returned the following year to successfully fly across America.  This culminated in an epic flight around the Statue of Liberty and up the Hudson River along the New York skyline.

Tracey’s flights across 5 continents, through 39 countries covering nearly 40,000 miles were in tribute to the historic achievements of those early pioneers.  In 2015 the BBC screened the award-winning documentary of Tracey’s flight up Africa, titled, ‘The Aviatrix – The Lady Who Flew Africa’, which told the largely forgotten story of Lady Mary Heath, who was the first person to fly solo in a light aircraft from Cape Town to England. Tracey has written a book, titled ‘Bird’, about her flying expeditions and life experiences as an aviator. A second documentary, also titled ‘Bird’, is set for release in 2027. 

Now based in California with her Boeing Stearman, Tracey has been working in aviation outreach with the Si Robin Foundation since 2024.  As a co-founder of the Aviation Aspire Initiative, Tracey is committed to bringing the inspiration of aviation to young people across America.