are staggering, with estimates of 120,000 maintenance technicians, and nearly as many pilots, needed in North America just in the next 20 years. Though it sounds daunt- ing, aviation’s challenge may just be a veiled opportunity to reimagine what makes it so special. There’s plenty of magic left in this young industry, as evidenced by the fact that the opportunity to explore a shop floor, a flight deck or the airside maze of a busy airport rarely results in any- thing less than fanatical devotion to a life tied to aircraft. SAME PROBLEMS, DIFFERENT SOLUTION Ethan Martin, CEO of the Aviation Community Foundation (ACF), has faced aviation detractors head on. As a successful entrepreneur—and a pilot—Martin has had plenty of chances to interact with clients of all back- grounds, but it was his focus in Silicon Valley that high- lighted some of the aviation industry’s challenges. While the tech industry maintains a breakneck pace of innova- tion and experimentation, aviation looks near-stagnant by comparison, making it difficult to attract interest. Aviation is more heavily regulated, and the safety implica- tions are perhaps a bit more obvious than the repercus- sions of a badly written line of code. Nevertheless, while Martin acknowledges that regulation and deliberative advances are a part of aviation, he also points out that we don’t market ourselves well, and that a large part of aviation’s reluctance to adapt quickly is self-induced. Determined to address the workforce and engagement issues plaguing aviation—and to harness the transforma- tive power of the industry more readily—Martin partnered with a small team in 2016 to create the Aviation Community Foundation (ACF), a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit dedicated to helping young people navigate their futures by providing mentorship and support through a flight plan for life. For program leaders, that means ACF works to identify and connect top aviation educators and support them in leader- ship, strategy, collaboration and mentorship. For students, ACF’s impact is focused on providing life-changing aviation experiences for those who aren’t ordinarily exposed to the aerospace industry, and then supporting them in finding a path through aviation to become community, career and college-ready. Rising costs of entry into aviation, poor public understanding of the industry, and a shrinking talent pool for aviation are all challenges ACF was designed to address. Ethan Martin, ACF CEO, addresses the Elevate II audience MAKING SOMETHING FROM NOTHING There are some terrific aviation-centered education pro- grams producing outstanding results in schools across the country, most led by teachers who are just as excited about aviation as the students they serve. In some cases, these programs outperform their traditional education counter- parts—in measures like graduation rate, job placement, college acceptance, and GPA—by incredible margins. Many programs are accomplishing successful outcomes with very limited, or even zero, external funding. These programs have no contact with similar programs. They ‘go it alone,’ and educators are left to work through aviation’s unique chal- lenges with no resources, often taking years to solve a prob- lem that has already been answered by another program. Martin’s team at ACF started to address these issues by first identifying what was already working. Aviation Community Foundation staff traveled the U.S. to visit over 30 aviation education programs, meet with stu- dents, speak with leaders and evaluate what was work- ing to effectively leverage aviation to help young people succeed. What they found was no shortage of passionate inspiration, but a lack of connection to actionable steps to enter the industry once students left the programs, which were predominantly high school focused. Teachers and students were doing the best they could with what few resources they had; and they simply didn’t know how to connect to an industry that often places a lot of fences, real and metaphorical, between itself and the public. Continued on page 50 Aviation Business Journal | 2nd Quarter 2018 49
