TO BUILD THE BEST FELLOWSHIP, WE STARTED WITH THE BEST TEAM.
The success of the Brooke Owens Fellowship stems from the passion and dedication of countless leaders in the aerospace industry. From the companies that hire our Fellows to the executives, astronauts, and pioneers who mentor them, our community is built by and for the future of the industry. At its heart, our team continues to honor and draw inspiration from our namesake, Brooke Owens, every single day.
OUR Leadership Team
The Brooke Owens Fellowship was founded by three close friends of Brooke: Lori Garver, Cassie Kloberdanz Lee, and William Pomerantz. Lori, Cassie, and Will each hold senior positions in the aerospace industry, and each had the chance to know Brooke as both a friend and as a colleague. From 2016 - 2020, the three Founders ran the program.
Currently, the program is run by a seven-member volunteer Alumni Leadership Team — Maddie Kothe, Pau Pineda Bosque, Simran Dhoju, Ava Badii, Sarah Lappin, Nina Arcot, and Catie Spivey — and Fellowship Administrator Jacquie Carson, overseen by the Executive Team — Sirisha Bandla, Lori Garver, and Caryn Schenewerk. Together, they are jointly responsible for everything from spreading the word to potential applicants, running the selection committee, matching Fellows and Hosts, hand-picking Mentors for each Fellow, and coordinating our annual Brooke Owens Summit. The team members each take a personal interest in fostering the future success of each and every Fellow.
alumni leadership team
MADDIE KOTHE (‘18)
Chair: Governance & Finance (she/her)
Executive Team Member: 2023-2025
Maddie is a Director at SpaceX where she leads teams recovering spaceships and rockets to be reused after they launch. Previously at SpaceX she was a Dragon Integration Engineer and a Dragon Vehicle Lead where she helped design day of launch operations for astronaut missions and worked with NASA to successfully launch Dragon missions to the International Space Station. She was a Brooke Owens Fellow in 2018 after earning her Bachelors in Engineering Mechanics and Astronautics from the University of Wisconsin Madison. Maddie is driven by the mission to help women realize their dreams and feel empowered in their careers.
Pau pineda bosque (‘17)
Vice Chair: Selection (she/her)
Pau Pineda is a Technical Program Manager at Zipline, where she leads the introduction of new production lines for the company’s next-generation autonomous logistics aircraft. She has a background in aerospace testing, with experience at Zipline and previously at Virgin Orbit.
Pau is motivated by building and scaling systems that work in the real world, especially when technology can expand access and reliability for people who are often overlooked by traditional engineering pathways. She was a member of the inaugural Brooke Owens Fellowship class in 2017 and remains committed to mentorship and increasing representation in technical leadership.
simran dhoju (‘22)
Secretary: Summit (she/her)
Simran is a Spacecraft Qualification and Test Engineer at Planet Labs, an earth-imaging satellite company, where she also interned during her Brookie summer. At Planet, she leads the testing and derisk of optical telescopes, and runs qualification tests for launch readiness. Born and raised in Kathmandu, Nepal, she moved to the US for her space dream. Throughout her studies and at her current job, she strives to advocate for international students, and women and minorities in aerospace. She volunteered for Women of Aeronautics and Astronautics (WoAA) for 3 years and led the organization as the Chair last year.
ava badii (‘21)
Treasurer: Fundraising (she/her)
Ava Badii is a Propulsion Engineer at Astranis, joining the geostationary satellite company in 2021 as a Brooke Owens Fellow. At Astranis, Ava led the first builds and tests of spacecraft propulsion systems in a start-up environment, serving as a Responsible Engineer to drive systems from first articles to operational spacecraft. Ava earned her Bachelor’s and Master’s of Science in Astronautical Engineering from the University of Southern California. At the USC Rocket Propulsion Laboratory, she built, tested, and integrated systems for the first student-designed, student-built rocket to reach space. Within the Brooke Owens Fellowship, Ava has served as a Regional Coordinator, Summit Coordinator, and an Alumni Mentor. She is humbled to accelerate community-building and professional development for early-career space professionals.
sarah lappin (‘21)
Member at Large: Alumni (she/her)
Sarah Lappin is a Back-End Software Engineer at Loft Orbital, where she works on Cockpit, Loft’s mission control software. Sarah has worked at Loft since joining as a Brooke Owens Fellow in 2021. Originally from Scotland, Sarah earned her Bachelor’s of Science in Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence from the University of Edinburgh. Throughout her academic and professional career, she has been a strong advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in STEM. She previously served as President of the Edinburgh University Women in STEM Society, co-founded and directed Hello World Hack, and has authored multiple reports on DEI strategy for both industry and higher education.
Catie spivey (‘21)
Member at Large: External Communications (she/her)
Catie is an Aero-Mechanical Engineer at The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. She earned her Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Mechanical Engineering from Portland State University, where she was an active member of the Portland State Aerospace Society and helped to design OreSat, Oregon's first satellite. She also founded the PSU “We in Space” group, helping gender minorities to find their place in space. Catie was a 2021 Brooke Owens Fellow where she worked at United Launch Alliance as an Upper Stage Structures Intern.
Nina arcot (‘20)
Member at Large: Mentorship (she/her)
Nina is a Manufacturing Systems Engineer at Northrop Grumman Space Systems, where she works on digital transformation and improving manufacturing processes for satellites and payloads. She earned her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in mechanical and aerospace engineering from Princeton University, where she was the Outreach Lead for the Princeton Rocketry Club, tripling the scope of their STEM outreach efforts in her time there. Nina was a 2020 Brooke Owens Fellow on the Mechanical Engineering team at Loft Orbital. Outside of BOF, Nina is on the leadership team of the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) Early Career Professionals Affinity Group (ECP AG).
Fellowship Administrator
Jacquie Carson
Fellowship Administrator (she/her)
In her prior role, Jacquie served as an elementary school teacher, where she had the rewarding opportunity to educate young learners at the second-grade level. She is currently advancing her academic pursuits as a doctoral candidate at The George Washington University, having begun her studies in Fall 2022. Jacquie aims to complete her Educational Leadership and Administration program and successfully defend her dissertation by the summer of 2027. Her research focuses on the informal supports that elementary principals provide to bolster teachers’ social emotional well-being. Jacquie holds a Bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Education from SUNY Oneonta and a Master’s Degree in Special Education from the University of Georgia. In her personal life, Jacquie values time spent with her family, which includes her husband, Joshua Ingersoll, their son, Henry, and their two dogs, Scout and Sawyer. She is an avid Buffalo Bills fan, and loves filling her home with plants of every shape and size.
executive Board
Sirisha Bandla
Executive Team Member: 2023-present (she/her)
Sirisha Bandla is currently the Vice President of Government Affairs and Business Development for Virgin Galactic.
Previously, Bandla served as the Associate Director for the Commercial Spaceflight Federation, an industry association of commercial spaceflight companies. At CSF, Bandla works on various policies with the aim to promote the commercial space industry and make commercial spaceflight a reality. Before CSF, she worked as an aerospace engineer designing components for advanced aircraft at L-3 Communications in Greenville, Texas.
She has a Bachelors of Science degree in aeronautical/astronautical engineering from Purdue and holds a Masters of Business Administration from George Washington University. Bandla currently serves on the Board of Directors for the American Astronautical Society, Future Space Leaders Foundation, and is a member of the Young Professional Advisory Council at Purdue University. Bandla also helps to coordinate the Matthew Isakowitz Fellowship Program.
LoRI GARVER
Founder. Executive Team Member: 2016-2020, 2023-present (she/her)
The Honorable Lori Garver was the Deputy Administrator of NASA and leader of the Agency’s transition team for President-elect Obama from 2008 - 2013. Garver has since served as the General Manager of the Air Line Pilots Association and CEO of Earthrise Alliance - a philanthropic initiative established to fully utilize Earth science data to address climate change. Her memoir, Escaping Gravity, My Quest to Transform NASA and Launch a New Space Age was released in 2022.
Currently, Garver is a Senior Fellow at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard’s Kennedy School, an Operating Advisor at Bessemer Venture Partners, a member of the Board of Directors of Hydrosat and a strategic advisor to several leading aerospace corporations, including Sierra Space, World View, K2 Space and Orbite Space.
Earlier in her career, Garver founded Capitol Space and the AstroMom project - which led her to Star City where she trained and received her medical certification for a commercial spaceflight on a Soyuz mission to the International Space Station. She has previously served as an appointed special government employee and member of the NASA Advisory Council and the FAA’s Commercial Space Transportation Advisory Council, President of Women in Aerospace and the American Astronautical Society, and a member of the Board of Directors of Maxar Technologies.
In addition to being a co-founder and executive team member of the Brooke Owens Fellowship, Lori serves on the selection committees of the Pritzker Emerging Environmental Genius Award, the UN Call for the Code Prize and Aviation Week and AIAA’s 20 Twenties. She has received numerous awards including the 2020 Lifetime Achievement Award from Women in Aerospace, AIAA’s 2022 Public Service Award, the National Space Society’s 2022 Robert A. Heinlein Award, three NASA Distinguished Service Medals and an Honorary Doctorate from Colorado College.
Lori holds a B.A. in Political Economy from Colorado College and an M.A. in Science, Technology and Public Policy from George Washington University.
Caryn Schenewerk
Executive Team Member: 2023-present (she/her)
Caryn Schenewerk is a respected leader in navigating the complex regulatory and policy landscape for the spaceflight industry. As the President of CS Consulting, she provides expert guidance to clients on regulatory and policy engagement with all levels and branches of government. Caryn co-authored a space law textbook, International Space Law and Space Laws of the United States, and is honored to share her expertise as an adjunct professor of Space Law at Georgetown University Law Center.
Prior to founding CS Consulting, Caryn served as the Vice President for Regulatory and Government Affairs at Relativity Space, where she helped the company launch the world’s first 3-D printed rocket. Caryn started her career in aerospace at SpaceX, where she spent a decade supporting commercial and civil space operations, facility expansion, and economic development as a lawyer and lobbyist. She has an extensive track record of interacting with U.S. government agencies such as the Federal Aviation Administration, the Office of Commercial Space Transportation, NASA and the U.S. Space Force in support of launch and recovery operations.
Caryn is a member of the FAA’s Commercial Space Transportation Advisory Committee for which she leads the Regulatory Working Group. She also serves as the industry lead for the FAA’s Part 440 Aerospace Rulemaking Committee.
Prior to her work in the space industry, she served as the Deputy Associate Director for Legislative Affairs at the Office of Management and Budget in the Executive Office of the President. Caryn has also worked in various other roles, including Counsel, Policy Director, and Deputy Chief of Staff on Capitol Hill, starting her career in international trade law.
Caryn obtained her bachelor's degree from Austin College in Sherman, TX, and her J.D. from the University of Texas School of Law in Austin. She also earned a Master's in Laws (LLM) from the University of Nottingham in England and is a member of the New York and D.C. Bars.
Past Leadership
OUR FELLOWS AND ALUMNAE
Every Brooke Owens Fellow runs an incredibly challenging gauntlet in order to earn their position in the program. We receive an overwhelming number of wildly impressive applications — and we define talent in a broad variety of ways. That means that not every applicant with a 4.0 GPAs at the top schools in the world, letters of recommendation from astronauts and CEOs, patents in their name, and so forth is selected. It also means that many candidates with lower GPAs and little to no work experience in the industry have earned their position in the Fellowship by displaying excellence in other, less traditional ways.
Regardless of what route they've taken or where they've come from, we firmly believe these incredible women and gender minorities are the future leaders of the aerospace community.
Class of 2026
Past Classes
OUR Executive MENTORS
We pair every Brooke Owens Fellow with a hand-picked, personal mentor. Each Fellow connects with their mentor months before they start their job, in order to get the best possible advise on how to be prepared to succeed from day one. That relationship continues throughout the summer, with each mentor providing each Fellow with guidance to ensure they get the most out of the Fellowship – and the majority of our Fellows stay connected with their mentor well after their summer job ends.
Our mentor pool includes the following senior leaders in the aerospace community:
MEET BROOKE
Who was Dawn Brooke Owens?
Brooke was a beloved friend and colleague to many in the aerospace industry. Coming from humble beginnings in a small mining company town (population: ~2,750) just outside of Death Valley National Park, Brooke managed to make a lasting impact on the industry through talent, character, and sheer determination.
Always an excellent student – she was valedictorian of her high school class… though she was always quick to point out that there were only two students in her class! – Brooke was an alumna of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and the International Space University. Professionally, she worked at the NASA's Johnson Space Center, the non-profit XPRIZE Foundation, the Federal Aviation Administration’s Office of Commercial Space Transportation, and the White House Office of Management and Budget.
Brooke also committed herself to whole-hearted service. Supporting organizations such as AidChild and Mercy’s Village International, Brooke was passionate about making her world a better place by supporting children orphaned by the HIV/AIDS crisis, ending human trafficking, fighting poverty, and empowering girls and women.
Outside of work and her philanthropic efforts, Brooke was a caring, warm, and adventurous spirit. She was an accomplished pilot, and spent many of her happiest moments flying. She found time to go kayaking, run triathlons, become a party DJ, perform at spoken word events, and a million other things.
Brooke was the sort of person for whom no amount of time on this Earth would have been enough to do all that she wanted to do. Thankfully, she was also the sort of person who lived life to its fullest, and found joy in every moment.
She is dearly missed by an international community of friends, colleagues, mentors, mentees, and loved ones.
What Brooke Meant to Us
Cassie Kloberdanz Lee on Brooke:
My friendship with Brooke was an adventure that spanned three continents and almost 10 years. Brooke’s influence made a positive impact on my career and an even bigger impact on my life. It is an honor to celebrate the energy and spirit that she brought to the industry and into the lives of those lucky enough to have called her a friend.
The Honorable Lori B. Garver on Brooke:
Brooke’s work at the White House and OMB was absolutely critical to the progress made during transition and in the early years of the Obama Administration. Her expertise, tenacity and innovative approach as a budget analyst helped craft the programs that are transforming NASA into a 21st century space agency.
When I shared with Brooke that I was considering leaving NASA for the Air Line Pilots Association, she said I should go for it and reminded me that she was a pilot and that her career goals included running an airport. When the ALPA pilots put me in the Boeing 777 simulator to test their new GM, it was Brooke who coached me through it ("small moves, Garver, small moves!"). Neither Brooke nor myself have ever been known for “small moves” – but she knew just what to say and kept me from embarrassing myself.
My goal in helping establish the Brooke Owens Fellowship is to create opportunities for more young women like Brooke to have careers in aviation and space, while at the same time assuring our community benefits from their involvement.
I have two wonderful sons who adored Brooke – one wrote a song for her called “From Up Here.” I loved Brooke like a daughter and our family will never be the same without her. I’m looking forward to mentoring other amazing women through the Fellowship – I always wanted a big family.
Will Pomerantz on Brooke:
Brooke was a dear friend, a talented classmate, a trusted co-worker, a wonderful housemate, an always-willing co-conspirator, and an adventurous international travel partner. She was our inspiration and our comic relief. She was an idea-a-minute, bonafide innovator who pushed all of us to do more and to do better. I feel immeasurably lucky to have known her.
