ELEVATE Aviation Program
Help us make a change. Donate Today!
ELEVATE Aviation – A Pathway to Workforce Development and International Travel
The combination of three panel discussions co-hosted with Going Global with Barbara on Black male youth and international travel/study abroad led to WIF board member Anthony Fleet and Eli Prosper of the Philadelphia Mayor’s Office of Education, Community Schools Initiative organizing a trip for nineteen (19) high schoolers to visit United Airline’s (UA) facilities at Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) on November 7, 2024.
This excursion launched the Philadelphia Aviation Project, which has become the first pillar of our ELEVATE Aviation Program.
Two subsequent professional development sessions with the students and UA personnel took place in early 2025, and Board Member Fleet represented the aviation industry in person at the Next Step Philly College and Career Fair hosted by Community Schools at the Philadelphia Free Library.
Inspired by the success of these activities, we organized a second excursion for Philadelphia high schoolers to visit United’s facilities at EWR in November 2025. Similar to the 2024 excursion, the majority of students attending this event were young men.
The November 2025 trip differed from the 2024 excursion in that the students got to visit a hangar and interact with the crew that maintains plane engines. United Airlines B767/757 First Officer Khaled Chebli personally escorted the students onto a Boeing 757, where they visited the flight deck, galley, and first class cabin.
Following this excursion, we organized an in-person career exploration day at Frankford High School for Spring Semester 2026.
As of March 2026, over 335 students have benefited from these interactions.
Thanks to the success of this project in Philadelphia, we now have plans to organize ELEVATE activities in all remaining United Airlines hub cities across the U.S.—Houston, Chicago, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Denver.
Our commitment to workforce development in aviation—particularly with major airlines—is grounded in the unique access these careers provide to international travel. Through industry benefits such as standby travel privileges, airline professionals can experience destinations around the world at little to no cost, expanding both personal and professional horizons.
We warmly invite aerospace professionals and organizations to partner with us in introducing Black and Brown youth to the wide range of aviation career pathways—and the global opportunities they make possible.
Find images of the activities we have organized for the
ELEVATE Aviation Program at the links below.
Philadelphia: 2026 Career Development Session
Philadelphia: Newark Liberty International Airport Excursion – November 2025
Philadelphia: Career Development – Spring Semester 2025
Philadelphia: Newark Liberty International Airport Excursion – November 2024