Secretary Barbara Barrett Confirmed as WAI Conference Speaker

U.S. Air Force Secretary Barbara Barrett has been confirmed as a speaker for the 31st Annual Women in Aviation International (WAI) Conference. Secretary Barrett joins Stephanie Chung, JetSuite president; Col. Eileen Collins, NASA astronaut; Maj. Gen. Jeannie Leavitt, U.S. Air Force; and Joan Robinson-Berry, Boeing Global Services vice president & chief engineer, as keynote speakers for the March 5-7, 2020, Conference at Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida.

Barrett is the 25th Secretary of the Air Force and isresponsible for the affairs of the Department of the Air Force, includingorganizing, training, equipping, and providing for the welfare of 685,000active duty, Guard, Reserve, and civilian airmen, and their families. She alsooversees the Air Force’s annual budget of more than $205 billion. SecretaryBarrett directs the development of strategy and policy, risk management,weapons acquisition, technology investments, and human resource managementacross a global enterprise. As the head of the Department of the Air Force, sheis responsible for implementing decisions of the President and Congress and forfulfilling Combatant Commanders’ current and future operational requirements.

Secretary Barrett has served in senior leadership positionsin public service, the private sector and academia. Before she was 30, she wasan executive with two global Fortune 500 companies. Secretary Barrett’s keyleadership roles include her time as the U.S. ambassador to Finland, deputyadministrator of the Federal Aviation Administration and president of theThunderbird School of Global Management. She also taught leadership as aHarvard Fellow at the Kennedy School of Government. Prior to assuming hercurrent position, Secretary Barrett was the chairman of the board for theAerospace Corporation.