Sign Up Now for NBAA’s Business Aviation Mentorship Program

July 31, 2023

The 2023/2024 sign-up period for the NBAA Mentoring Network has kicked off, continuing the program’s ongoing mission of reaching out to young professionals who want to expand their business aviation careers or learn more about the industry and what it has to offer.

Started in 2018, the NBAA Mentoring Network matches mentors and mentees based on location, industry objectives and other factors to provide an engaging and fulfilling experience. The network operates via a partnership between an experienced individual and someone who desires to learn.

Mentoring relationships are driven by the needs and ambition of the mentee, as the two work collaboratively to achieve specific, defined goals that focus on developing the mentee.

Program sign-up is easy.

“You just log onto NBAA Mentoring Network and sign up to be a mentor or a mentee,” said Noah Yarborough, NBAA operations manager of the program. “When you become a mentee, you have access to the full mentor list. From there, the mentee can look at the mentor profiles and pick someone who is a good fit.”
Once the mentee finds the appropriate candidate, they request to work with the mentor. The mentor receives the request to review and accept.

For the 2022/2023 period, 124 mentees and 73 mentors participated in the program. “We limit two mentees per mentor, because we don’t want someone to sign up and not get the attention that they need,” added Yarborough, adding that this year the program is urging more industry professionals to sign up as mentors.
Those who have participated in the program say they are motivated by a desire to pass on their knowledge and experience to young people with a desire to grow their business aviation careers.

“As a leader who has gained knowledge and learnings over my 30-plus years in aviation, it’s important for me to share this with early and mid-career aviation professionals from around the world,” said Tony Brancato, president, business aviation of StandardAero. “It’s a small way to give back to our future leaders in aviation.”

Brancato said he also has gained insights and has grown in his career from the experience.

“I’ve learned from what they’re experiencing in aviation,” he said, adding that he has worked with two mentees. “We have exchanged ideas and thoughts about how to address challenges they face and how they might approach a resolution.”