– Refilwe Ledwaba recognized for her work towards achieving equity in the aerospace industry and a career of firsts in aviation
– South African pilot and diversity and equity champion presented with lifetime achievement award by AeroTime Global Executive, highlighting a milestone for AeroTime’s Women in Aviation campaign
South African helicopter and airplane pilot and social entrepreneur, Refilwe Ledwaba has been awarded a coveted AeroTime Aviation Achievement Award by the international aviation news outlet’s Global Executive. With the presentation of this award, AeroTime marks the six-month milestone of its Women in Aviation campaign.
The award recognizes Ledwaba’s career-long dedication to achieving equity and diversity in aviation. In particular, she is recognized for founding the Girls Fly Programme in Africa Foundation, which has reached over 70,000 girls across Africa, educating them about aviation and aerospace at a grassroots level.
With a diverse resume, Ledwaba is a qualified helicopter and fixed-wing pilot, flight instructor, professional drone pilot and social entrepreneur. A true trailblazer, she was the first black woman in South Africa to gain an Air Transport Pilot helicopter license. She also spent a decade flying aeroplane and helicopter missions for the South African police.
More recently she established the Girls Fly Programme in Africa Foundation, currently operating in Botswana, Cameroon, Kenya and South Africa. It develops and supports programmes to make aviation and space a viable career choice for girls.
Ledwaba becomes the 23rd recipient to be awarded the AeroTime Aviation Achievement Award. Previous recipients cover five continents and have all made exceptional contributions to the aviation industry in areas including safety, environmental impact and inter-generational outreach.
Refilwe Ledwaba, recipient of the AeroTime Aviation Achievement Award commented:
“I’m very grateful to receive this award, and do so not only on my own behalf, but also for the Girls Fly Programme in Africa Foundation. Diversity and inclusion have always been an important issue for me and it’s gratifying to see more and more companies understanding this too. I hope the recognition afforded by this AeroTime Aviation Achievement Award will significantly amplify our call for action across the industry.”
Chief Executive of AeroTime, Richard Stephenson OBE, who presented the Award to Refilwe Ledwaba, said:
“It was a genuine honor and pleasure to speak to Refilwe and congratulate her on this award. Many of us across the industry are aware of the need to improve representation. In Refilwe we have someone who has not only broken barriers herself, but is taking tangible action to make change happen. Anyone who can impact 70,000 lives, like Refilwe has with the Girls Fly Programme Africa Foundation, is truly deserving of this award.”
Read the AeroTime editorial about Refilwe’s story and watch the interview during which she is presented with the award.
For more information please contact:
Richard Stephenson
AeroTime | www.aerotime.aero
M: +44 7970 623864
Michael Jonga
AeroTime | www.aerotime.aero
Refilwe Ledwaba
GFPA Foundation | www.gfpafoundation.org
E: [email protected] | [email protected]
NOTES TO EDITORS
The AeroTime Aviation Achievement Award is designed to recognize excellence and dedication in the global aviation industry. It has been presented to just 23 people across five continents.
About AeroTime & AviationCV.com
AeroTime is one the world’s leading aviation platforms reaching a million aviation professionals and enthusiasts each month. AeroTime has been running the ‘Women in Aviation’ campaign for six months and has showcased the inspirational stories of female aviators from around the world, whilst also encouraging the next generation to join the industry. AeroTime believes it has a duty to support the industry and its people as we recover from the covid pandemic and so it has shared almost 100 stories of aviation professionals through its ‘My Covid Story’ campaign designed to spread positivity and encouragement around the sector.
AeroTime is a global multi-channel aviation digital hub. We share breaking news, help aviation professionals find their next roles and run major conferences bringing the industry together. We are always people-oriented and we use our media, recruitment and events platforms to provide solutions and encouragement around the industry.
The AeroTime Hub family combines six separate brands: AeroTime News, AeroTime Recruitment, AeroTime Events, AeroTime Pilot Training, AIR Convention, and a free job-board for aviation professionals called AviationCV.com. For more information, please see: www.aerotime.aero
About the Girls Fly Programme in Africa Foundation
Girls Fly Programme in Africa (GFPA), a non-profit organization, is an information and educational Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM) programme for primary, high-school and post-school learners with a focus on aviation and space. The programme includes the use of design thinking, technology, and innovation to shape, empower, enable and support the next generation of makers and problem solvers in the aviation and space industry in Africa while entrenching the spirit of Ubuntu. GFPA operates four brands: GFPA Foundation, GFPA Sky Shop, GFPA Fund and GFPA Edu-hub. For more information, please see: www.gfpafoundation.org
