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Thread: EAA Board of Directors - a lack of diversity

  1. #91
    FlyingRon's Avatar
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    Like I said, the EAA board is a closed shop. For years it was very Poberezny-centric, but we've somewhat moved past that. Still, in my recollection, we've had what, one black board member (Jim Clark) and two women (Connie Bowlin and Susen Dusenbury). The latter two got their seats on the EAA board because they are directors of the subgroups (Warbirds and Vintage). I don't think anybody who knows either of these women would ascribe their positions to anything other than hard work. I can tell you getting a hold of someone on the IAC, Vintage, or Warbirds boards is a whole ton easier than reaching anybody on the EAA board proper.

    Frankly, the EAA board gives the appearance of being nothing other than an old gentleman's club.

  2. #92
    Joda's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by FlyingRon View Post
    ....and two women (Connie Bowlin and Susen Dusenbury)....
    There is actually a third woman, who is not affiliated with a division. Heather Penney.

    Here's where you can see a listing of the EAA board members:

    https://www.eaa.org/eaa/about-eaa/wh...d-of-directors

    Here's a link to Heather's info:

    https://www.eaa.org/eaa/person/heath...81CDDCB3E08864

    You will also notice that several of the folks on the board are not "old gentlemen". There is some younger blood mixed in.
    Cheers!

    Joe

  3. #93

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    Steve Costello- I’ll fly with you anytime bud. I commend you for the work you would like to do with disadvantaged youth in your area. I would be Happy to have you out on my boat for some serious Bass and Walleye fishing too! Up here in Northern Minnesota it’s all about the summers and we’ve been working really hard at taking advantage of every warm day we’ve had! If you find yourself up here shoot me a message and I’d be happy to get you up for some 182 Amphib time! One thing that gets lost I think in these diversity discussions is the fact that it’s an ok thing that Oshkosh is what it is. Every year my Dad and I rally up the kids and take them all out for the airshow of all airshows that we as pilots all look forward to like we did Christmas Day when we were 8! I try so hard to include every kid I can in the magic that is the Oshkosh Airshow. This year I’ll have 3 kids for sure and maybe 1 more coming. With every trip I hope that I’m passing on the love of aviation that runs deep within all of us to every kid that comes to the show with us. Whether it’s my nephews, nieces, disadvantaged kids that are involved with our up North floats program or anyone else, I try to encourage everyone to get involved and follow their dreams. Whatever those might be. Last year one of my nephews said he wanted to be a fighter pilot after watching the Raptors perform. The year before another one of my Nephews said he wanted to be a Coast Guard Helicopter Pilot. All of these powerful experiences happen for them because of what the Oshkosh Airshow has become. I don’t have a problem with Oshkosh staying the same as far as the experience we currently have. I also don’t have a problem with seeing many more groups of people represented at the show and in the organization. I just think that the PC movement gets way too carried away on demanding things that the individual groups may not want to do themselves. There’s probably a reason outside of men deliberately keeping women out of Aviation that accounts for the number of women involved in Aviation for example. From the women I know in my own life, not many have asperations to become professional pilots. It’s obviously great and perfectly ok if they did want to do that, but basically none of them do. I don’t see it as a crisis and I certainly don’t discourage anyone from following their dreams. But if that’s not someone’s dream, I wish we would stop pretending and forcing it to be so. It’s a major factor in why we have a president in office right now that is the most dangerous and incompetent in our nations history. People get tired of Way Over The Top Political Correctness and that’s exactly how we as a country got to where we are now. We need to focus our energy as a country on the issues that truly matter. Global Warming. Health Care. Income Inequality. Human Rights. Housing, education and hunger. We are the richest country in human history. We can and MUST do better or we won’t have a planet to live on much less worry about what group is or isn’t represented at EAA. I read an online article by Larry Kirby, a WWII Marine and Iwo Jima Veteran in the magazine, Foreign Policy, as a Best Defense Guest Columnist. I’ll link it. Mr Kirby sums up basically every opinion I have in his piece. It’s a fascinating look at how we got here as a nation and what we can do to truly make our country great again. Check it out and like I said, I’ll fly with ya anytime!

    https://foreignpolicy.com/2016/02/12...ca-of-sharing/
    Last edited by Mark17; 06-12-2019 at 11:34 PM.

  4. #94

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    Guys- figured I’d put this up for everyone to read- Larry Kirby’s article from 2016 in Foreign Policy- Larry was a Marine in WWII and a Veteran of Iwo Jima. This pretty much sums up every point I have. It’s also a fascinating look into how we got here as a country. Check it out

    https://foreignpolicy.com/2016/02/12...ca-of-sharing/

  5. #95

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    Thanks for pointing out the article by Mr. Kirby. I've had the same thoughts at 72 and was lucky enough not to be in the Great Depression. I did see combat in Vietnam but at least Mr. Kirby could see an end to his conflict knowing it had a positive outcome.

    We are standing on the shoulders of men like Mr. Kirby and his comrades and am ashamed that we are letting him down. I do thank him and his mates for making it possible to live in a country where I could build and fly an RV4 these past 30 years.

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