NBAA’s Jo Damato to Serve Second Term on ABBI Board

Aug. 12, 2025

NBAA Senior Vice President, Events and Professional Engagement Jo Damato, CAM, was recently reelected to another three-year term as an industry trustee of the Aviation Accreditation Board International (AABI) – the only organization that certifies individual collegiate aviation programs.

“NBAA is passionate about attracting, retaining and developing the aviation workforce. My involvement in AABI ensures that business aviation is a part of the conversations in these accredited institutions,” Damato said.

“It’s important for industry to ensure that our academic partners know what trends we’re seeing, what we’re advocating for, what regulatory changes are taking place and how these can be best introduced, topics like mental health,” she added. “It is important that we remove the stigma surrounding mental health early, and we can do that at the collegiate level, before students are employed, to understand that resources and support are available.”

NBAA has a long history with AABI. Damato’s predecessors on the board include retired NBAA staff members Jay Evans, CAM, and Steve Brown, who each held leadership positions at AABI.

Industry members are required for all accreditation audits. Visiting team audits include reviewing the program education goals, learning outcomes and curriculum, understanding the safety culture, and physically viewing the facilities.

Additionally, Damato said, the audit includes one-on-one conversations with a sampling of students and professors, as well as administrators. Accreditation audits also include a look at the available financial aid and graduation and course success rates, both for a generic university degree and more specifically, for an aviation program.

As a graduate of both the Florida Institute of Technology and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Damato said she has been a consumer of the [AABI] product herself and has children attending AABI-accredited schools. Her role on the board highlighted for her the rigorous AABI audit process that a school undergoes to earn and maintain accreditation.

“We must be engaged with our collegiate partners and the next generation of students entering our workforce,” she said.