( ENSPIRE Community Spotlight ) Baltimore’s Women-Led Organization Making History By Breaking Barriers in STEM While Uplifting the City’s Youth
ENSPIRE Contributor: Katherine Moy
In the heart of Baltimore, a revolution in STEM education is taking flight. Baltimore’s Women-led Organization, Empowerment Through Aviation (ETA), is rewriting the narrative for the city’s youth. ETA strives to fight inequality by increasing access to high-paying STEM careers for young women by inspiring and preparing them for careers in aviation. With support from the Baltimore Children & Youth Fund (BCYF), this women-led initiative is dismantling traditional barriers in male-dominated fields while equipping young people with the skills, confidence, and mentorship needed to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
Its innovative approach–through the expansive world of aviation–creates pathways to success where few existed before. Leaders and young trailblazers from ETA share their reasoning for utilizing variation in STEM education and the barriers women face in male-dominated STEM fields. In addition, they share how their programs have influenced the career direction of young women. Lastly, they delve into the successes and hopes for their programs with the support of BCYF in making the STEM education landscape more inclusive for all genders and people of color.
Empowerment Through Aviation uses unconventional approaches to STEM education. How did you identify dirt bike culture and aviation as effective entry points to engage Baltimore’s youth in STEM fields?
Aviation is a unique and powerful entry point into STEM education because it naturally integrates physics, engineering, mathematics, and technology in an exciting, hands-on way. For many students, traditional classroom-based STEM instruction can feel disconnected from real-world applications. Still, STEM concepts come to life when they sit in a cockpit, learn about aerodynamics, or take their first flight.
At ETA, we saw an opportunity to use aviation to introduce students to STEM and inspire them to pursue careers in fields they may have never considered. The thrill of flight captures students’ imaginations and builds confidence, showing them they can achieve goals that once seemed out of reach with the proper training and support. Using aviation as a gateway, we’re not just teaching STEM—we’re fostering problem-solving skills, resilience, and a sense of limitless possibility.
What barriers do young women in Baltimore face when pursuing STEM careers, and how do your programs address these challenges directly?
Young women in Baltimore face several barriers when pursuing STEM careers, including limited exposure to role models in the field, financial constraints, and a lack of access to hands-on learning opportunities. Many students do not see STEM as an attainable path simply because they haven’t encountered professionals who look like them or experienced real-world applications of STEM concepts.
Empowerment Through Aviation addresses these challenges by providing direct access to aviation education, mentorship from female pilots, and hands-on flight training. Our programs expose young women to the possibilities within STEM through aviation, an industry that naturally integrates physics, engineering, and technology. By offering financial support through scholarships and structured training programs, we remove economic barriers that might otherwise prevent students from pursuing aviation careers. Most importantly, we create a supportive network where young women can see themselves represented, gain confidence in their abilities, and recognize that they belong in STEM fields.
Can you share a success story of someone whose trajectory was changed through your program? What transformation have you witnessed?
One of our Phase II students exemplifies the transformative impact of ETA’s programs. After logging about five flight hours with a certified instructor through our program, she earned her Private Pilot’s license through the Air Force Flight Academy high school summer program. This license is the first significant step toward an aviation career, and her experience with ETA gave her the foundation and confidence to succeed in such a rigorous program.
Beyond individual success stories, many Phase II students complete the program with a newfound belief in their potential as pilots. The hands-on flight experience they receive not only exposes them to aviation but also shifts their mindset—showing them that their goals are achievable and that they can accomplish their dreams with determination and hard work. Many of these students refine their post-high school plans and consider new trajectories based on their experience with ETA.
How does seeing women in traditionally male-dominated fields like aviation and dirt biking impact the confidence and career aspirations of the young people in your programs?
Representation is powerful, and seeing women excel in traditionally male-dominated fields like aviation has the potential to profoundly impact the confidence and career aspirations of the young people in our programs. It is likely that before participating in ETA’s programs, some of our students have never met a female pilot. When they see that African American women have forged a path in aviation and engage with our mentors—women who have successfully navigated careers as military and commercial pilots—they begin to see themselves in these roles and realize that these careers are within reach.
Through hands-on flight experiences and mentorship, our students gain technical skills and the self-assurance to pursue ambitious goals. Witnessing women break barriers in aviation instills a mindset of resilience and possibility, reinforcing the idea that they can succeed in STEM fields and beyond. Many of our students complete our programs with a new sense of purpose and a belief that they belong in spaces where they may have previously felt excluded.
What outcomes do you use to measure the success of your programs, and what results have you seen so far in terms of educational achievement, career placement, or community impact?
We measure the success of our programs through several key outcomes, including educational achievement, career placement, and overall community impact. One of the most tangible indicators is the number of students who complete our flight training programs and pursue further aviation education or careers. The path to a career in aviation is long – it takes many years to log enough flight time to be employed as a pilot. Because we have only been operating for four years, it will be some time before we can see our program’s full effect on student career outcomes. We have already, however, had one Phase II student go on to complete the Air Force Flight Academy high school summer program and earn her Private Pilot’s license.
In the near term, measuring our success by evaluating our impact on the students and schools we serve is easy. We utilize surveys to track our programs’ impact on our students, and we gather feedback from our teacher/liaisons to measure intangibles. In 2024, over 90% of our Phase I participants reported that they would be more likely to pursue a career in science or math after taking part in our program and 100% of our Phase II students reported that they had a serious interest in a career as a pilot and that they felt well prepared to continue flight training.
How has funding and support from the Baltimore Children & Youth Fund enabled your organization to expand its reach or develop new initiatives?
Funding from the Baltimore Children & Youth Fund (BCYF) has been instrumental in expanding our reach and deepening our impact. With BCYF’s support, we are prepared to double the number of Private Pilot scholarships offered through our Phase III program, allowing two young women from Baltimore City Public Schools to earn their Private Pilot’s license during their senior year. This certification is a critical milestone in the journey toward an aviation career, providing our students with a competitive edge when applying to aviation and military academies, college aviation programs, and prestigious industry scholarships.
Without this funding, the cost of flight training would likely be a significant barrier for our students and their families. BCYF’s investment has helped break down financial obstacles and create pathways for young women who may not have otherwise considered aviation as a viable career option. Beyond individual student success, this expansion contributes to a broader effort to diversify the aviation industry, inspiring future generations to pursue STEM-related careers.
The long-term impact of BCYF’s support extends beyond flight training. It is helping to build a sustainable pipeline of diverse aviation talent and ensuring that young women in Baltimore have the resources, mentorship, and opportunities they need to achieve their dreams.
Looking ahead in a few years, what’s your vision for how these programs might evolve, and what systemic changes do you hope to see in Baltimore’s STEM education landscape?
Looking forward, we can expand in ways that allow many more young women to participate in our programs than we can currently enroll. For the youngest participants, this means inspiring more girls to pursue careers in STEM and giving more young women the confidence to pursue their career dreams, whatever they may be. This expansion could involve offering our programs to more young women at each school we serve, serving additional schools, or both.
For our high school participants, an expanded ETA will provide more flight experience to young women and will see several women across Baltimore earn Private Pilot’s licenses each year. These plans are dependent on increased donor support. We currently serve a minimal number of students at only a few schools. With increased public and corporate sponsorships and a sustainable, predictable cadre of regular donors, the possibilities for expansion solely in Baltimore are staggering.
When it comes to how we fit into the STEM education landscape here in Baltimore, I would love to see programs like ETAs become integrated with Baltimore City Public School’s curriculum—and with local colleges—in a way that ensures their long-term health and effectiveness. This could add efficiencies, increase reach, and allow leaders to take a holistic view, ensuring that STEM programs provide continuity from Pre-K through college whenever applicable and appropriate.
As Empowerment Through Aviation continues to break ground in Baltimore’s STEM landscape, its impact extends beyond technical skills. This women-led organization is redefining what’s possible for the city’s youth, particularly young women and people of color who have been historically underrepresented in STEM fields. With continued support from the Baltimore Children & Youth Fund and other community partners, ETA is not just preparing the next generation of engineers, pilots, and STEM professionals; it’s cultivating leaders who will uplift their communities. As Women’s History Month reminds us of barriers broken in the past, these organizations are actively dismantling obstacles in the present. For more information on ETA and supporting its mission, visit https://empowermentthroughaviation.org/our-mission/.
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