Empowering Black Excellence in Aerospace.
Jobs, Mentorship, and Community for Black Undergrads Seeking Aerospace Careers.
We’re on a mission to provide a meaningful, effective pathway into successful aerospace careers and future aerospace industry leadership to people whose race and ethnicity has made them the subject of systemic bias.
As we succeed in that goal, we will drive meaningful change in the aerospace industry itself in terms of how it acknowledges and addresses matters of racial and ethnic equity and inclusion.
An official spin-off of the award-winning Brooke Owens Fellowship, and based closely on that successful model, our program provides extraordinary Black students with their first work experience in the aerospace industry, personalized mentorship, and a cohort of similarly driven and talented young Black people pursuing aerospace careers.
Making your first job a great job.
Entering into the aerospace industry can seem nearly impossible — every job opening seems to require that you already have working experience somewhere else, and too much of the aerospace industry’s recruiting focuses on a small handful of schools. Patti Grace Smith Fellows earn meaningful, competitively-sourced summer internships at some of the nations leading aerospace institutions — established companies, startups, government labs, universities, and more. Working a summer internship at these places, they learn practical, on-the-job skills while contributing to an inspiring mission. And throughout the process, they are paid a living wage.
Providing mentorship from those who have blazed the trail.
Talent always benefits from experience. Patti Grace Smith Fellows are just at the beginning of their careers and just starting to build up their experience base. To help them quickly climb the career ladder, we hand-pick a pair of mentors for each Fellow: one at the very pinnacle of the aerospace industry and other only a few steps ahead of the Fellow along a career journey. Both perspectives are enormously useful to any young professional — and our mentors are the best of the best.
Building communities of talented, passionate, and successful Black leaders in aerospace.
You aren’t on this journey alone — but too often, it can seem that way. In an industry that is 84% white, many Black students and young professionals in aerospace are isolated and tokenized. The Patti Grace Smith Fellowship provides these early-career future leaders with a quickly expanding network of Black peers, colleagues, friends, and role models. An annual Summit and Team Projects undertaken by each class of Fellows help build bonds and forge productive relationships.
Providing cash grants to help you get started.
School is expensive, and so is entering the workforce. Whether it’s a computer, textbooks, software, or professional clothing, it too often takes money to make money. Patti Grace Smith Fellows receive a cash grant of $2,500 or more that can be used to pay for tuition, school fees, or the books, supplies, and equipment required for their college coursework letting them keep their focus on learning and growing as aerospace professionals.
