Story ID: 300
WomenVenture Celebrates 11th Anniversary at AirVenture
By: Samantha Cartaino
Caption: The organization, which is a partnership between EAA and Women in Aviation International, has events planned during AirVenture from July 23 to July 29.
Word Count: 392
WomenVenture is celebrating 11 years at EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh this year. The organization, which is a joint partnership between EAA and Women in Aviation International (WAI), has many events planned this week during AirVenture.

“WomenVenture sets the tone and spirit for so many of us in Oshkosh each year with the extraordinary sense of camaraderie,	belonging, and friendship,” said Dr. Peggy Chabrian, president and founder of WAI. “WomenVenture means a great deal to many women who come to enjoy all that Oshkosh has to offer.” 

Women Venture kecked off this year’s events with an ice cream social sponsored by Endeavor Air yesterday. The Aviation Appreciation dinner, which features CEO of Lightspeed Allan Schrader, will be held Today at the EAA Nature Center at 6 p.m. and will be presented by the Ninety-Nines.

Tomorrow, on Wednesday, WAI is hosting its annual Connect Breakfast, which is sponsored by Avevmco and MzeroA.com. The featured speakers include retired Lt. Col. Olga E. Custodio, the first female Hispanic U.S. military pilot, and Dianne White, executive director of Malibu M-Class Owners and Pilots Association. The event will take place at 8 a.m. in EAA’s PHP tent outside the main gate.

This year’s WomenVenture group photo is expected to include 1,000 women. The photo will take place in Boeing Plaza at 11 a.m. on Wednesday and those who participate can receive a WomenVenture T-shirt, which can be picked up at the AirVenture Welcome Center, Women in Aviation International booth (Hangar B; Booth 2041), and the Ninety-Nines Inc. booth (Hangar B; Booth 2120) starting Monday. 

Right after the group photo is the Power Lunch at 11:30 a.m. in EAA’s Theater in the Woods with speaker Heather Penney, a senior resident fellow at the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies.

The theme for the discussion on Wednesday evening is “Celebrating Powerful Pilots.” Starting at 6 p.m. in EAA’s Theater in the Woods, the event will feature Penney, command pilot Lt. Gen. Stayce Harris, and KC-10 instructor pilot Capt. Jessica Hodson from the U.S. Air Force Reserve and her all-female crew.

“Once more, we thank EAA for being our partner and making WomenVenture possible,” says Dr. Chabrian. “WomenVenture adds that much more fun to a week that’s already chock-full of activity.”