Today’s young employees at New York airports will be tomorrow’s leaders. They will need preparation to meet tomorrow’s challenges that don’t even have a name yet.
The Human Resiliency Institute at Fordham University, which also offers Edge4Vets, and Airports Council Int’l – NA are partnering to introduce the “Reclaiming the Sky Resiliency Project” to give aviation’s Young Professionals, those under forty years of age, an opportunity to develop resiliency strengths from the example of 9/11’s aviation heroes such as the late Sue Baer, who ran Newark Liberty Int’l Airport on 9/11, and others.
Future leaders will have a chance to read the stories of airport and airline employees who came into work in New York, Boston, and Washington, DC on the morning of 9/11 expecting a normal day, only to find that “just doing my job” was to become the creed of heroes. Their stories are chronicled in a book, “Reclaiming the Sky,” by Tom Murphy, an aviation consultant who saw first-hand how his aviation colleagues were responding with courage, selfless and resiliency to 9/11 to rebuild their lives and reclaim hope.
The Young Professionals will have a chance to read the book and attend an online workshop to discuss what they learn with their peers and aviation executives. They’ll be invited to write an essay to share how they can apply the resiliency lessons as “tools” to meet challenges in their lives. The top award will be called the “Susan M. Baer Award.” In addition to cash prizes, first, second, and third-place essay winners will win free registration to ACI-NA’s annual conference in Long Beach, CA, in September to receive their awards.
Participation is open to any employee of an airport or aviation company member of ACI-NA and is under 40. There will be 25 openings. For full details and to register, visit ReclaimingTheSky.com.
For more information, contact Tom Murphy at Tom@edge4vets.org.
