Feb. 25, 2025
For her decades of work on behalf of business aviation, and her enduring dedication to NBAA and its committees, NBAA recently presented Lisa Swartzwelder with its prestigious Silk Scarf Award.
“Lisa is a true leader in the industry, having devoted countless volunteer hours to NBAA and its committees to support and advance business aviation,” said NBAA President and CEO Ed Bolen. “We are pleased to recognize her with the Silk Scarf Award.”
Swartzwelder served on NBAA’s Schedulers & Dispatchers Committee in the 1990s and early 2000s, culminating in her role as chair of the group and its 2003 Schedulers & Dispatchers Conference. In 2018, she was honored with the Schedulers & Dispatchers Outstanding Leadership Award.
In addition, she previously served on NBAA’s Domestic Ops Committee Shuttle Working Group and was one of the essential industry experts on cultivating a flight department internship program – contributing much of the content in NBAA’s Management Guide on this subject.
On the state level, Swartzwelder partnered with local aviation stakeholders and groups including the Ohio Regional Business Aviation Association, leading the charge to implement business aviation into aviation degree programs within Ohio.
Until recently, she served as director of shuttle operations and flight administration for a Fortune 500 company’s flight department in Columbus, OH. In addition to spearheading the company’s shuttle program, Swartzwelder co-led its flight operations internship program, Crisis Response Team and its partnership with the Corporate Angel Network, which arranges for cancer patients’ free travel to treatment centers across the country using empty seats on business aircraft.
Swartzwelder currently serves as president and COO of the Columbus-based nonprofit PAST Foundation (Partnering Anthropology with Science and Technology). Before taking this new leadership role, she served on the PAST Foundation Board of Directors and co-led the creation of Girls Soar, a program designed to introduce Columbus public middle school girls to aviation through hands-on design challenges.
International Business Aviation Council Ltd.