Debra Smith

Debra Smith is an educator, mentor, and career counselor in aviation and the trades who has served in her current role since 2009. A US Navy veteran, she previously worked in aviation and electrical construction from 1998 to 2009, and she also brings experience in emergency management and first responder roles. Smith attended Forest Heights Elementary School, Shugar Middle School, and Oxon Hill High School in Maryland before pursuing studies at UDC, where she is working on degrees in emergency management and early childhood education. She holds numerous certifications in emergency management, OSHA safety, occupational safety training, aviation, and youth training for safety. In 2009, she received a Department of Education award for her volunteer work helping at-risk youth in aviation, and she founded Skies of Limit Aviation in DC that same year to open doors for young women in the field. Smith is a member of the Experimental Aircraft Association with a chapter in Hilo, Hawaii, and she volunteers with Hawaii Emergency Management and the Big Island Medical Reserve, providing emergency preparedness training for events such as volcanic eruptions. She attributes her success to determination and a refusal to give up despite facing gender-based barriers that suggested aviation and construction were not suitable for women.