- The aerospace industry, like many STEM fields, has historically been dominated by men.
- Insider asked experts which women are having the biggest effect on the industry.
- Here are 15 of the most influential women in aerospace.
The global aerospace and defense industry brought in $697 billion in revenue in 2020 and spans a broad range of sectors, each aiming to achieve major breakthroughs. The commercial aviation sector is working to make air travel faster and more eco-friendly. Meanwhile, the urban air mobility sector is working to make flying cars a reality. And the commercial space sector is working to bring space tourism to life.
Women are relatively well represented in the aerospace industry as a whole. In 2019, women held 19% of CEO positions in aerospace in the US, a far higher percentage than found on average in the business world, per a study conducted by the International Aviation Womens Association and Korn Ferry, a management-consulting firm in Los Angeles.
But within individual sectors of aerospace, the numbers are dismal. For example, the report found that in 2019, 3% of global airline CEOs were women. It also found that the number of women holding leadership positions across the industry was unlikely to significantly increase in the near term.
The aerospace industry faces a long road to achieving gender equality, and a number of women in the industry today are working to pave the way. Insider asked seven aerospace experts whom they considered the most influential women in the industry. Here are 15 women they said are having a big effect.
Lynn Bamford, president and CEO of Curtiss-Wright
Bamford took over as the president and CEO of Curtiss-Wright in January, replacing David Adams, who had been in the role since 2013 before retiring. She has more than 30 years of experience in the aerospace, defense, and commercial industries, a Curtiss-Wright press release said, and she joined the company in 2004 when it acquired Dy4.
Bamford, who previously served as Curtiss-Wright's vice president and general manager of the defense solutions division, as well as its president of defense and power, has led the company through nine acquisitions.
Curtiss-Wright, headquartered in Davidson, North Carolina, was founded by the Wright brothers and Glenn Curtiss, the aviation pioneer who sold the first private airplane. Today, it's a multibillion-dollar company that manufactures components to supply the commercial, industrial, defense, and energy markets.
Natalya Bailey, cofounder and chief strategy officer of Accion Systems
Bailey cofounded Accion Systems with Louis Perna in 2014, shortly after getting her Ph.D. from MIT, where she developed the technology that is now the core of Accion Systems, her company biography said. The Boston company makes propulsion engines for satellites and spacecraft to help them move around more efficiently once they're in space.
Bailey started as Accion Systems' CEO, became its chief technology officer in July 2020, and then assumed the role of chief strategy officer last October. As CSO, she's responsible for creating and communicating the company's vision and strategy, her LinkedIn profile said.
Bailey is also a senior tech advisor at Venus Aerospace, a hypersonic transportation company, and an investment partner at XFactor Ventures, which focuses on companies founded by women. She's also been named to Forbes' 30 Under 30 list.
Leanne Caret, president and CEO of Boeing Defense, Space & Security
Caret has been with Boeing since 1988 and now serves as the president and CEO of the company's Defense, Space & Security department, which operates in the US, Australia, India, Saudi Arabia, and the United Kingdom. The department made more than $34 billion in revenue in 2020, Caret's company biography said.
Caret has been named one of Fortune's most powerful women for five consecutive years and was inducted into the Women in Aviation International Pioneer Hall of Fame in 2019. She's also a fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society and sits on the Women's Initiative Policy Advisory Council at the George W. Bush Institute.
Some of her past roles at Boeing include president of its global services and support organization and general manager of global transport and executive systems. She holds a bachelor of science degree from Kansas State University and a master's in business administration from Wichita State University.
Boeing announced on March 28 that Caret would retire later this year, and that Ted Colbert would succeed her as president and CEO on April 1. Until her retirement, Caret is expected to serve as the executive vice president and senior advisor to the CEO.
Lisa Costa, chief technology and innovation officer of the US Space Force
Costa is the first permanent CTIO for the US Space Force, and she's responsible for developing strategies and policies to advance the Space Force's science and technology research. She's also responsible for managing the Space Force's data and making sure its IT needs are met.
Before joining the Space Force, Costa served as the director of communications systems and chief information officer for US Special Operations Command at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa. She has previously worked as the senior director of innovation and technology at Engility Corporation and vice president of intelligence and chief scientist at PlanetRisk.
Costa helped to shape the US model for homeland security and developed new ways to detect weapons of mass destruction, her government biography said. She holds a master's degree in business administration from Tampa College and a doctorate in computer science and engineering management from Union Institute & University in Cincinnati.
Laura Crabtree, cofounder and CEO of Epsilon3
Crabtree worked for SpaceX for 11 years before leaving the company in 2021 to start Epsilon3, which is developing a software suite for space-launch operators. Crabtree said in a company blog post that Epsilon3, founded with Max Mednik and Aaron Sullivan, was what she wished she'd had during her time at SpaceX. The LA startup calls itself "the OS for aerospace operations" and is building an operational software platform to be used by launch providers, satellite operators, and space manufacturers.
Crabtree was one of the first members of the operations team for SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft, an Epsilon3 company spokesperson told Insider. At SpaceX, she was responsible for crew and ground-operator flight training and was part of the mission that took astronauts to the International Space Station in 2020.
Crabtree began her career at Northrop Grumman and holds a bachelor's degree in astronautical engineering and a master's degree in systems architecture, both from the University of Southern California.
Susan Doniz, chief information officer and senior vice president of information technology and data analytics at Boeing
Doniz joined Boeing in May 2020, where she leads all of the company's information technology, information security, and data and analytics operations. She previously worked as the group CIO of Qantas Airways, as well as in various leadership roles at SAP and Aimia, after spending 17 years at Procter & Gamble, where she led programs to digitize the company.
Doniz is a board member of several nonprofits, including The Women's College Hospital Foundation, Salvation Army, and Engineers Without Borders. In 2011, WXN named her one of Canada's most powerful women, and she holds an engineering degree from the University of Toronto.
Diane Howard, director of commercial space policy at the National Space Council
Howard became the director of commercial space policy in November after serving as the vice president of the International Institute of Space Law for seven years. She's an attorney with a doctor of civil law degree in international space law from McGill University.
Howard previously served as counsel for the Office of Space Commerce under the Trump administration. She's a nonresident scholar at The Robert Strauss Center for International Security and Law at the University of Texas, where she also works as an adjunct professor in the university's law school.
Howard first became involved in the space industry in 2004, her Strauss Center biography said, when she was a citizen advocate for the Commercial Space Launch Amendments Act of 2004, which provided guidelines for regulating commercial human spaceflight in the US.
Sam Marnick, chief operating officer of Spirit AeroSystems
Marnick joined Spirit AeroSystems shortly after the company formed in 2005, and she oversees its global commercial aviation operations, her LinkedIn profile said. She's held a number of roles at the company, including chief administration officer, vice president of labor relations and workforce strategies, and director of communications and employee engagement.
Spirit AeroSystems, in Wichita, Kansas, is one of the largest manufacturers of aerostructures for commercial airplanes in the world. It makes parts for planes, such as fuselages and wing components, and has made pieces of Boeing's aircraft.
Before joining Spirit, Marnick was a senior consultant and principal for Mercer Human Resources Consulting. She has a master's degree in corporate communication strategy from the University of Salford and is working to get her MBA in international business.
Phebe Novakovic, CEO of General Dynamics
Novakovic has been serving as the chair and CEO of General Dynamics since 2013, after previously serving as its chief operating officer. She's been in a number of leadership roles at the company, which is one of the world's largest defense contractors, including vice president of strategic planning and senior vice president of planning and development, her Aerospace Industries Association biography said.
She has a background with the CIA, serving as an operations officer from 1983 to 1986. From 1997 to 2001, she served as the special assistant to the secretary and deputy secretary of defense, and she was tasked with managing processes for major Defense Department budget and policy decisions.
Novakovic led General Dynamics' $9.8 billion takeover of CSRA, Forbes reported. It also named her one of the most powerful women in business. She's been ranked one of Fortune's most powerful women as well, and she holds an MBA from the University of Pennsylvania.
Eren Ozmen, chair and president of Sierra Nevada Corporation
Ozmen is the chair, the president, and a co-owner of Sierra Nevada Corporation, a private aerospace and defense contractor. Ozmen and her husband, Fatih, who is Sierra Nevada's CEO, have owned the Sparks, Nevada, company since 1994.
Sierra Nevada makes aircraft, spacecraft, ground vehicles, electronics, hardware, and software for aerospace and defense purposes, and it's a contractor of the Department of Defense.
In June, the company launched an independent commercial space company called Sierra Space, which has a partnership with Blue Origin to develop Orbital Reef, their vision for a commercially operated space station. Sierra Space's Dream Chaser spacecraft is under contract with NASA for at least seven cargo missions to the International Space Station, with the first scheduled for late 2022, a company spokesperson told Insider.
Under Ozmen's leadership, Sierra Nevada has completed 20 acquisitions, her company biography said. She and her husband acquired the company when it had 20 employees, and they've grown it to comprise almost 5,000 people.
Gwynne Shotwell, president and chief operating officer of SpaceX
Shotwell joined SpaceX in 2002 as the vice president of business development, and she was the 11th employee at the company, Forbes reported. She's responsible for day-to-day operations and for managing customer and strategic relations, her National Academy of Engineering biography said.
Before joining the Hawthorne, California, company, Shotwell was the director of the space systems division at Microcosm, a defense and space manufacturing company in Torrance, California. Prior to that, she spent more than 10 years at the Aerospace Corporation, a nonprofit in El Segundo, California, that gives guidance on space missions to military and commercial customers.
Shotwell has won numerous awards in her career, including the World Technology Award for Individual Achievement in Space, and was inducted into the Women in Technology International Hall of Fame in 2012. She is also a fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.
Sara Spangelo, senior director of satellite engineering at SpaceX
Spangelo became the senior director of satellite engineering at SpaceX in 2021 when it acquired Swarm Technologies, a company she cofounded. Swarm created nanosatellites and lists its goal as making the cheapest global communications satellite network in the world.
Before she cofounded Swarm with Ben Longmier, Spangelo worked on small satellites and autonomous aircraft at the University of Michigan, her LinkedIn profile said. She was also a lead systems engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab and worked as a systems engineer at Google. She got her doctorate in aerospace engineering from the University of Michigan.
Joanna Speed, chief growth officer of AeroMed Group
Speed became the chief growth officer of AeroMed Group in January, after serving for eight years as the managing director of aviation at Informa, an intelligence, events, and scholarly research group. Before joining Informa, Speed served for 12 years as the managing director of SpeedNews' conferences and subscription services, her LinkedIn profile said.
In her role as the chief growth officer of AeroMed, an aerospace and defense supply-chain-solutions company in Charlotte, North Carolina, Speed is responsible for the company's strategic growth initiatives. She's a recipient of the Service to the Flag Award for Industry by Women in Defense, a subsidiary of the nonprofit trade group the National Defense Industrial Association.
Jennifer Walter, vice president and chief financial officer of Moog
Walter, who has been with Moog since 2000, replaced Donald Fishback as its vice president and CFO in 2020. She's held several leadership positions at the Elma, New York, aerospace manufacturing company, including vice president of finance, corporate controller, and principal accounting officer.
Walter joined Moog after working as a certified public accountant at KPMG, one of the Big Four accounting firms. She received a BS in accounting, a BA in psychology, and an MBA from SUNY at Buffalo, her LinkedIn profile said.
Kathy Warden, CEO of Northrop Grumman
Warden became the CEO of Northrop Grumman, one of the largest aerospace companies and defense contractors in the world, in 2019. She's been with the company since 2008 and has served in a variety of leadership roles, including chief operating officer and president of the company's mission systems and information systems sectors, her company biography said.
In 2018, Warden led the company's $7.8 billion acquisition of Orbital ATK, which generated $1.44 billion in sales in the first quarter of 2019, SpaceNews reported.
Before joining Northrop Grumman, Warden spent almost a decade with General Electric and held leadership roles at both General Dynamics and Veridian Corporation. She received a bachelor's degree from James Madison University and an MBA from George Washington University.