Meet Our Board

With over 20 years of experience in the aviation industry, I have flown many different types of aircraft both domestically and internationally. Some notable adventures include glider, mountainous, and medevac flying; flying for the national airline of the Netherlands Antilles, flying into the shortest commercial strip in the world, captaining a Dash-7 for the United Nations in the Middle East and Africa; and most recently, operating a B737NG for WestJet Airlines.

​

I am a former Royal Canadian Air Cadet, and an alumna of Sault College’s Aviation Flight Technology program, and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (BSc 2016, MSc 2020). I am passionate about aviation safety and in August of 2021, I will start my PhD at the University of North Dakota and will also take on an adjunct professor role for the undergraduate aviation safety degree program. In addition, I am a member in good standing of the International Society of Air Safety Investigators (ISASI) and is a current aircraft accident investigator with the Air Line Pilots Association, representing the WestJet Airlines MEC. I am also a volunteer on the ALPA President’s Committee for Diversity and Inclusion, and a member of the IFALPA Female Pilots Working Group. In 2020, I was awarded the Northern Lights Aero Foundation Elsie Award for the Flight Operations category. I am looking forward to continue mentoring the next generation of aviation enthusiasts.

Aviation has always been a part of my life. I grew up at the airport, learning to ride my bike in front of my parents’ helicopter maintenance company at the Kingston airport. I currently work for that company, AOG Heliservices, while I work on my instructors’ rating and time build. I graduated from the Algonquin College Aviation Management program in 2020 and decided to continue my education at Embry-Riddle. I am currently working on my bachelor’s degree in Aeronautics and a minor in Environmental Science. I found a passion for sustainability and plan to do my master’s in aviation sustainability!

I attended my first Women in Aviation International conference in 2020 and fell in love with the organization. I joined the Upper Canada Chapter and got involved in as many events as possible. Volunteering has been a passion all my life and I am excited to continue to grow with WAI. Today I am taking on the vice president role and I’m looking forward to working with the other board members to expand this amazing space for everyone to connect and inspire one another.

As a child, I was the kid whom, every other week, would always change what they wanted to be when they grew up. That was until one day, I looked up at the sky and saw a plane flying high overhead. The thought of being able to see such amazing views that not that many people in the world ever get to see, while meeting so many people I would have never encountered otherwise captivated me. As the first person in my family to go into the aviation industry, my parents were quite hesitant at first but eventually came around and, when I was sixteen, they gifted me my first introductory flight. Little did I know that this hour-long flight would change my life forever. After we landed and shut down, I knew there was nothing else I wanted to do but fly.

​

I began my flight training in 2014 with Seneca College. Then, in 2017 I got my flight instructor rating and began my first flying job as an instructor with Brampton Flight Centre. I finished my bachelor’s degree in 2018, then continued to focus on finishing the rest of my ratings while helping others start theirs. Like many of us, the year 2020 and the couple that followed had derailed some of the tracks I had set up, but I am so ecstatic to see our industry grow once again. In 2022, I got my ATPL signed off and I am excited to find out what the future holds and see where I end up next. 

​

Albeit late, I joined Women in Aviation in 2021 and immediately wished I had done so sooner. I met such an amazing, supportive, and diverse group of women who are so passionate about this industry. Wanting to give back what I received, in the Spring of 2022, I took on the role of Membership Chair. I cannot wait to hear from you all and help get you started in joining this wonderful organization.

I began flying in 1976 after a friend insisted that flying lessons didn’t really doesn’t cost very much. After a $10 familiarization flight, I decided it didn’t matter how much it cost, I loved it! By 1980 I had my private, commercial, multi-engine, instrument, and instructor rating.

​

I was hired by Air Canada in 1978 and worked in various departments over the years, retiring from flight dispatching in 2017, just short of 40 years at Air Canada.  In 1988 I became the first female hired into Flight Operations in a management position as a Boeing 727, then DC-8, then New Hire Pilot - Flight Operations Instructor. I enjoyed a short instructing career in the early ‘80s and mid 90’s and also really enjoyed my right seat time on a Navajo Chieftain flying charters and cargo.  As a member of the First Canadian Chapter of the Ninety Nines, I volunteered to fly for the Ontario of the Environment under the umbrella of Operation Skywatch. We’d take a C-172, one or more environment enforcement officers and fly all over southern and northern Ontario conducting aerial surveillance and photographing illegal dumping of waste materials by industries. 

Having co-chaired the 1995 (Hamilton), the 2005 (Ottawa), and the 2013 (Mississauga) Canadian Women in Aviation conferences, I know it is so important that as many women as possible are introduced to the industry.  We can support you in your aviation career, be it in Air Traffic Control, flight dispatching, flying, engineering, whatever your aviation heart desires. I’ve met so many wonderful and inspiring ladies over the years because of this organization and have so many memories that I’ll cherish forever.  

I started flying as a teenager, before I had my driver’s license! I am currently a B787 Captain at Air Canada, where I have flown for over 30 years. Prior to the airlines, I flew corporate, charter, medevac, and cargo. I was also an instructor and a pilot examiner. I am a member of various organizations, including The Ninety-Nines, the International Society of Women Airline Pilots ISA+21, Women in Aviation and Northern Lights Aero Foundation. I am a mentor for new-hire pilots at Air Canada and volunteers with Dreams Take Flight, an organization that takes disadvantaged kids to Disney each year. I am a past 99s Amelia Earhart scholarship winner and a past organizer of the Canadian Women in Aviation conference. I am married to Canadian astronaut, Dr. Dave Williams and am the mother to three terrific young adults.

I received her Private Pilot’s Licence in 1977, completing Commercial/Instrument Ratings in 1980, multi-engine rating in 1996 and a float rating in 2001.  I graduated from York University with a B.A. in Economics in 1985 and a degree in the Humanities in 2002. I have over 5000 hours and accumulated extensive flying experience all over Canada and North America. Founding Apex Aircraft Sales Ltd. in 1988, I became an agent for new Cessna Aircraft for Leggat Aviation Inc. in 1996 and continues to represent the Single engine line for Textron in Eastern Canada.

​

I am a long-time member of the International Organization of Women Pilot’s, the Ninety-nines’ and a member of WAI for over 25 years! I am also a member of AOPA, COPA, and one of the founders and vice-president of the Northern Lights Award Foundation (NLAF), an organization formed in 2009 to recognise women who have made significant contributions to Aviation and Aerospace in Canada. The annual Gala this year will be held on October 16th, 2021.

www.northernlightsaerofoundation.ca.

Having grown up with family all around the world, flying has always brought so much excitement to my life. I went on my first flight in a Cessna 172 when I was 17 and have been hooked ever since. However, I never considered being a pilot as a career until halfway through my undergraduate degree, so I officially started my flight training in 2019, after graduating with a business degree from Schulich. I recently graduated from the Integrated Transport Airline License program at Brampton Flight College.

Towards the end of my program, I started to get involved through volunteering with several organizations that promote women in aviation. I joined the Upper Canada Chapter at the end of 2019 and am now the Social Media and Webmaster Chair. Everyone that I’ve met and worked with have been amazing and I can’t wait to connect with more members. I played competitive tennis growing up and now like to play tennis socially in my spare time. I have also coached tennis for 10 years and now coach at my local tennis club whenever possible. I recently decided to bring my love for tennis coaching into the flying world and so I am currently working on my Instructor Rating!

I can't wait to fly people around to explore new places and to connect with amazing women all around the world!