Elevate Aviation Visits Brazil to Introduce South American Women to Career Opportunities in Aviation, Empowering Them to Enter and Thrive in the Industry.

[Featured repost written by Wings Magazine. Author: Evra Taylor]

When Kendra Kincade found herself in foster care as a youth, little did she know that later in life she would be responsible for a cadre of women whose career in aviation had been emblazoned by her efforts. Kincade is an air traffic controller with NAV Canada, CEO of Elevate Aviation, Honorary Colonel of RCAF 417 Helicopter Squadron, Board Chair for Alberta Aviation & Aerospace Council, and Vice Chair for the Strategic Aviation Advisory Council of Alberta.

“Aviation saved my life,” Kincade says. “My work as an air traffic controller gave me the confidence and financial stability I needed to pull myself out of a life-threatening depression and become a single mother to my four children.” Now living a life she loves, Kincade is determined to pay it forward. She notes that women make up just three percent of aircraft maintenance engineers, five percent of pilots, and 17 percent of air traffic controllers. Between 1980 and 2010, the total number of women who achieved any type of aviation license increased by a mere 2.06 percent. Although 12 percent of student pilots are female, a meager 5.35 percent become commercially licensed. Of those who become licensed, even fewer seek employment as charter, corporate, or airline pilots. “I’m on a mission to investigate why this situation exists and to explore if it can be changed,” Kincade states.

As an activist driven by her passion for aviation, Kincade 2015 founded the non-profit Elevate Aviation in Edmonton, Alta., with a mission to address the glaring gender disparity within aviation. This gender gap can deny women options for economic security and it is also a cause of a labour shortage that the industry is facing.

Elevate Aviation is a Canada-wide platform that introduces women and youth to careers in aviation through numerous programs for learning, mentorship, and consulting. Its values comprise five key pillars – community, diversity, support, inclusion, and empowerment. As Elevate’s CEO, together with COO, CFO, and co-founder Laura Sinclair, Kincade and her team are working to transform the aviation workforce, particularly among women in regions where opportunities for advanced education and training are limited. 

Elevate’s primary programs focus on tours, speaking engagements, mentorship, and webinars. Its Learning Centre, located at the Edmonton International Airport, CYEG, is the first of its kind in the world. The mentorship program pairs mentees with mentor-lead volunteers, who offer practical advice, encouragement, career guidance, and insights based on their own experiences overcoming similar challenges. Mentors complete regular check-ins with each program member to ensure they are satisfied and receive feedback.

In 2022, Kincade began work on Only Up, a 90-minute documentary focused on a diverse group of women carving out a place their places in aviation. The film tracks the career journeys of six inspiring women in aviation through their rise to success as they break barriers, challenge stereotypes, and rise above the conflicts they face in their lives and careers.

Throughout the film, we meet women who are defying the statistics. Women like Blaire Hamilton, a farm girl turned pilot competing for gold as a Formula 1 Air Racer; Nancy Kraus, a home economics teacher turned pilot achieving the holy grail of commercial flying – piloting the coveted Dreamliner; and Cassandra Hepp, an aircraft maintenance engineer determined to spotlight women with her all-female team at the international Aircraft Maintenance championships. As Erica Henkel and Emily Meyer, two young air traffic control trainees, and Melina Berthe, an Indigenous trainee determined to become the first in her community to become a pilot, look to break into the industry, we find out just how much progress has been made and how far we have left to go.

Elevate received initial funding from the Federal Government’s Status of Women Canada Agency for research on why women are so under-represented in Canada. That initiative morphed into the concept of a documentary film. Shortly after, Kincade experienced a stroke of kismet when she randomly met Don McDonald, CEO of Super Channel, on a flight to Toronto. McDonald immediately became a staunch supporter of the project and the film was released on Super Channel in January of this year. Only Up has received positive acclaim from critics, aspiring aviation aficionados, and others outside the industry who are inspired by its universal message of aspiration and hope.

“I’ve received a tremendous amount of feedback from women who have told me how much the film resonated with them and even moved them to tears,” Kincade says. “By providing a voyeuristic view into the world of aviation from a diverse and female perspective, I hope that girls and women of all backgrounds will be inspired to reimagine what is possible in their own lives, to dream a little bigger, and to feel emboldened to question other limiting beliefs they may have unconsciously adopted through their social and cultural conditioning.”

This past September the Brazilian government invited Kincade to exhibit the film to local communities, including an entire class of high school students who dream of a better future but currently lack the educational and financial resources to realize it. Her multi-city tour of Sao Paulo, Brasília, and Rio de Janeiro opened doors to additional conversations with panels of inspiring women, including several members of the military, most notably Brigadier General Carla Lyrio Martins, the first woman to rise to the rank of general officer in the Brazilian Air Force. “In Brazil, the discrepancy between rich and poor is more obvious than in some other regions. The average monthly household income is approximately $370 U.S. per capita and 80 percent of their population subsists on a per capita household income of $400 U.S. or less. The experience of listening to these women’s stories was more emotional than I had anticipated. Many of the high school-age girls approached me following the film viewing saying that it opened their eyes to a career in aviation,” Kincade notes.

Interest in Only Up is mushrooming as its message continues to gain momentum. It was recently shown to officers of IATA and will be presented to ICAO staff and delegates in celebration of International Women’s Day. 

“Elevate Aviation is committed to educating the next generation about where we’ve been and where we need to go to fundamentally change the way we design, innovate, and promote these careers to truly embrace women and under-represented communities,” Kincade says. “I really want to show people, especially women, that they can accomplish whatever they set their minds to. They can be self-sustaining and live happy, healthy lives. You can create this incredible life for yourself and, if you choose, share it with others – but you’re not dependent on anyone else to achieve it.”

Kincade anticipates expanded distribution for Only Up and is planning two additional documentaries on women in the aerospace sector and the career barriers women face in various countries, examining the similarities and differences in communities around the world.

On August 1, 2024, Air Canada launched Only Up as an in-flight documentary, indicating how the film was received by the industry, and it is also available for viewing on Super Channel.