June 26, 2024
As dozens of young industry leaders gather at NBAA’s Washington, DC headquarters this week for an annual review of applicants for the NBAA Business Aviation Top 40 Under 40 Award, a record 702 nominations have been submitted for the prestigious annual honor.
That’s up from 550 nominations received in 2023, which also was a record. The award, which recognizes the next generation of business aviation leaders making a difference in the industry today, is presented by NBAA’s Young Professionals (YoPro) in Business Aviation group, and each year’s honorees are voted on by the YoPro Council during the meetings held in the nation’s capital.
“I think the council has really worked on expanding the reach of the award program to young professionals,” said NBAA Marketing Manager Ashley Granada, who serves as co-staff liaison to the group. “More people are hearing about it, and wanting to get engaged with it.”
Noah Yarborough, NBAA manager, flight operations and co-liaison to the group, added that a growing number of people are nominating deserving young professionals for the award.
“Everyone’s seeing the value in the award and showing the industry they’re passionate, creative individuals who want to meaningfully contribute to a community that has given much to them.”
Granada said the council reads through each recommendation it receives and looks at several key areas, including not just nominees individual career achievements, but also the ways nominees are giving back to the industry, helping others in their local communities, and making investments in their own career advancement.
“There are so many individuals deserving of the award,” Granada added. “It’s a challenge to narrow it down to 40 recipients.”
The NBAA Business Aviation Top 40 Under 40 Award, which has been presented annually since 2018 at the NBAA Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (NBAA-BACE), is given to recipients in in eight leadership categories, including business management, scheduler/dispatcher, maintenance, airport business pilot and marketing.
