Celebrating One of Our First Youth Aviators: Joseph Mensah

Written By Beth White

As graduation season begins and students move into new phases of life, we’re taking a moment to look back at some of the young people who helped shape Habitat for Aviation and EAA Chapter 613 in our early days. Recently, we heard from Joseph Mensah, one of our first Youth Aviation participants. His story is a strong example of what access, mentorship, and hands-on learning can do for a youth who has an interest in aviation.

From Franklin County to CommuteAir: Joseph started with our Youth Aviation Program as a student at Montpelier High School. He joined through Vermont’s Flexible Pathways Initiative, which gave him the chance to combine school with real-world experience. After discovering the Youth Aviation Program at EAA Chapter 613, Joseph flew regularly and became a member of our aviation family.

A Customized Education that Worked: Through Montpelier High School’s Community-Based Learning program, Joseph earned school credit while pursuing aviation training. This kind of flexible learning structure mirrors our approach at Habitat for Aviation—where education isn’t one-size-fits-all and learning happens through real projects and relationships.

Mentors Made the Difference: Joseph was supported by many people in our network, including his first instructor, Kyle Bedard, and community mentor, Scott Fortney. He also participated in Zoom sessions with pilots and controllers during the COVID shutdown. These connections helped Joseph understand the career path ahead of him—and gave him the encouragement he needed to keep going when things got difficult. Joseph wrote about his unusual high school experience for EAA Sport Aviation Magazine and was featured in a short film made by one of our youth aviators who was in middle school at the time, Miranda Gallagher.

Representation and Purpose: Joseph’s family moved from Ghana to Vermont when he was young. He became a U.S. citizen while in high school and worked hard to take every opportunity available. He often talks about how few pilots in the U.S. are Black—just 3%—and how he hopes his journey will help change that.

After earning his private pilot license while still in high school, Joseph went on to attend Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Arizona where he completed his instrument, commercial, and CFI ratings. Now he flies with CommuteAir as a professional pilot.

Joseph’s is a proud member of the professional aviation workforce, and we’re delighted to have been part of his journey. As we continue to grow our programs at Habitat for Aviation, we stay focused on what matters—getting youth connected with opportunities and mentors—helping them move from interest to action.

🎥 Watch the Miranda’s middle school documentary: Youth In Aviation: Launching the Next Gen of Aeronautical Enthusiasts


📰 Read Joseph’s article in on EAA.org: Pursuing Passions — How I Launched My Flying Career in High School

Support our work by becoming a mentor, donor, or partner. Join us!

Beth White

Education Possibilitarian, Artist, Writer, Doula, Mentor, Aviatrix, Breast Cancer Survivor, Pilot-in-Command at Habitat for Aviation


In the spring of 2022, Beth White emerged from a 10-month battle with breast cancer with an idea: to create an apprenticeship program at Franklin County State Airport where youth work alongside adult mentors servicing conventional and electric aircraft. A pilot and airplane mechanic apprentice herself, and with family roots in the trades, Habitat for Aviation provides an taxilane for world learning opportunities for youth and adults who love to work with their hands to enter the FAA’s apprenticeship certification track. Each day she puts systems in place that make real John Dewey’s philosophy that we “learn best what we live” – a deep throughline from her time at Antioch University New England and as Regional Director for Big Picture Learning. Each learning experience is grounded in relationships, relevance, and practice. In October, 2023, Habitat for Aviation launched its Women Build Planes program, where an all-female team of Modern Day Rosies is building an airplane at Franklin County Airport, in northwestern Vermont, to show folks everywhere that despite the fact that only 2.6% of airplane mechanics are female, women BUILD, FLY, and FIX airplanes.

Next

Miranda’s Journey: From Apprentice to Mentor Through Harbor Freight Fellowship Initiative