Desiree Ekstein – Founder of On The Go Video and accomplished figure in the UAS industry. Ekstein is dedicated to promoting safety and education as a Lead FAASTeam Representative and AUVSI TOP Level 3 pilot. She is also involved in the “Girls Take Flight” initiative which encourages young women to explore careers in the science and technology fields.
Laurie Grindle – Deputy Center Director, NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center. Grindle assists in the management of the NASA field center, focusing on strategy, business processes, and institutional management. She has also served in multiple leadership roles overseeing Unmanned Air Vehicles and the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew vehicle abort test booster.
Sonet Kock – Director of Drone Policy & Regulatory Development. Sonet is Founder and Managing Director of AviComply (Pty) Ltd, a leading South African consulting firm specializing in Aviation Compliance Solutions. She is known for her expertise and extensive experience in Aviation Regulatory Compliance and has dedicated her efforts to ensuring quality and safety assurance for both crewed and uncrewed flight operations.
Mercy Makau – President and Founder of the Young Aviator Club of Africa as well as Chairperson of Drone Club Kenya. Makau is considered a passionate change maker, deeply committed to empowering youth and promoting gender equity in Africa’s aviation and aerospace industry.
Jenn Player – Senior Director of Global Aviation Regulatory Affairs at Skydio. Jenn collaborates with customers, regulators, and standards development organizations to advance autonomy and unlock safe and effective docked drone operations. Jenn’s early work to integrate drones into the National Airspace System led to the first long-range BVLOS civil flight in the continental United States.
Dr. Debbie Saunders – Founder, CEO and Chief Remote Pilot of Wildlife Drones. The Australian company is transforming biodiversity conservation by developing innovative technological solutions, including the world’s most advanced drone-based radio-telemetry sensor that empowers endangered and invasive species managers globally to simultaneously track the movements of many animals from a drone in real-time.
Annalisa Russell-Smith – Chief Strategy Officer, Flyby Technology. The company flew the COVID virus between laboratories and chemotherapy to isolated communities and Russell-Smith was the first civilian female in the United Kingdom to become a Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) pilot.
Abigail Smith – Executive Director (A), of the FAA’s UAS Security Office, which serves as the focal point for all matters related to drone and air mobility (AAM) security in U.S. airspace. Within this role Smith leads the FAA’s efforts to safely integrate detection and mitigation systems for drones and AAM operations into the National Airspace System.
