Reflections on managing the Brooke Owens Fellowship at the 2023 Summit

Brooke Owens Fellows and Alumni at the 2023 Summit.

Two weeks ago, my fellow Executive Team members and I got to meet the incredibly talented and passionate 2023 class of Brookies for the first time at the Brooke Owens Fellowship annual Summit! These 47 undergraduate women and gender minority students flew in to Washington, DC, from across the nations where they have been working hard at their internships at top aerospace companies and organizations.

Coming back to the Summit yearly is a great reminder of why I give back. I'm so grateful for how much I've grown through being a 2017 Brookie to my Executive Team leadership role because the Founders Lori Garver, Cassie Kloberdanz Lee, and William Pomerantz took a chance on me in the first year. It is so important to see the faces and talk with these shining Brookie stars who shine even brighter than me, and will transform the industry alongside me! Together we're taking over aerospace!

In the five days we spent together, the Brookies underwent a transformation--participating in incredible brainstorming sessions with their peers to answer a Grand Challenge question, hearing from incredible role models, receiving small-group and one-on-one mentoring, and bonding with each other to realize that we must work with each other to overcome the challenges in the industry.

We're also proud to partner with the Patti Grace Smith Fellowship for joint events and activities, including a banquet honoring Brooke Owens and Patti Grace Smith, a White House Space Council tour, and hearing from superstar speakers NASA Deputy Administrator Pamela Melroy, Webb Program Director Gregory Robinson, and JPL Director Dr. Laurie Leshin.

Introducing Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy before her keynote presentation at the Brooke Owens and Patti Grace Smith Fellowship Summit.

Group photo with NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy and former NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver, surrounded by Brooke Owens Fellows and Patti Grace Smith Fellows at the 2023 Summit.

I am so proud of the work that my Executive Team and I have accomplished this year, recruiting and bringing on the Class of 2023 Brooke Owens Fellows and giving them the tools to succeed in the industry, and bringing them into the growing alumni community. A huge thank you to my team members Kayla Watson, Emily Calandrelli, Lori Garver, and William Pomerantz, and my former team member Diana Trujillo.

Many thanks are in order for pulling off such an incredible Summit this year. A huge thank you as well to the amazing team that pulled off the BOF-PGSF Summit and the all-new Alumni Summit! In particular I want to give a big shoutout to Lori Garver (BOF) and Tiffany Russell Lockett (PGSF) for spearheading this year's Summit and to Morgan Irons for spearheading the Grand Challenge project, and the Summit Coordinators (names on the BOF side: Madeleine Tran, Nathalie Vilchis, Jennifer Berry) and the other Grand Challenge Coordinators (Kryn Ambs, Sarah Gomez, Raven Delfina Otero-Symphony, Lillian Sudkamp) and to the Alumni Summit organizers (Sarah Lappin, Ava Badii, Janay Bombino)! And thank you to the PGSF Executive Team (Caleb Henry, Khristian Jones, Tiffany Lockett, William Pomerantz) for the two-year partnership! There was so much heart on display this past Summit, and it gives me so much confidence in the shape of the future aerospace industry.

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Group photo of the Summit organizing teams for the Brooke Owens Fellowship and Patti Grace Smith Fellowship Summit, with the Executive Teams of both organizations.