TO CHANGE THE FUTURE
OF AVIATION FOR OUR YOUTH

OUR AIM

Habitat for Aviation is powered by a multigenerational community of educators, aviators, mentors, makers, storytellers, and volunteers who believe learning happens best through real work, trusted relationships, and shared purpose.

Together, we build aircraft, pathways, and a culture of belonging, where experience is honored, curiosity is welcomed, and the next generation learns alongside those who came before. As an aviation family, we honor every participant, youth to adult, mentor to apprentice, as a valued member of our community.

We nurture our habitat and strengthen aviation by inspiring and recognizing those historically marginalized in aerospace, creating space for them to grow into work they love in the company of people who already call these spaces home.

STEWARDSHIP
TEAM

BETH WHITE

Founder & Pilot-in-Command

Born and raised in Vermont, Beth White advances education rooted in real work, trusted relationships, and belonging. She taught across New England, including at The Met—Big Picture Learning’s flagship public high school—before earning a PhD in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at the University of Vermont. Over more than two decades as an educator, Beth has focused on helping young people build meaningful pathways by learning in real-world settings alongside skilled adults.

Invited to join the Harbor Freight Leadership Lab, a national cohort elevating skilled trades education, Beth has also been recognized by The Ninety-Nines and the Experimental Aircraft Association. An Education Possibilitarian, artist, writer, doula, mentor, and aviatrix—and a breast cancer survivor—Beth founded Habitat for Aviation to rescript who belongs in aviation by creating “see-to-believe” apprenticeship experiences that blend skill-building, mentorship, and community.

ZOË BROSKY

Director of Media & Communications

Raised in Vermont within a family of aviators, Zoë grew up around loud engines and the smell of 100LL but never saw herself in the cockpit. Aviation, as she experienced it, felt like a man’s world, and she had never encountered anything to challenge that perception. She chartered her own path, earning a degree in accounting before inevitably finding her way back to the creative and hands-on work she loved.

Everything shifted when she met Beth White, the first female pilot Zoë had ever encountered despite spending two decades of her life around airplanes. Zoë joined Habitat for Aviation in 2023 as a photographer and videographer and quickly took the lead in marketing and visual storytelling to help more girls see themselves represented in the field. Along the way, she decided to rewrite her own story and is now a student pilot working to become the first female pilot in her family.

When she is not holding a camera, Zoë can usually be found on a mountain, in a lake, volunteering with her local historical society, playing piano, or tinkering with a vintage motorcycle.

IAN ROBINSON

Visual Communication Consultant

A designer / art director by trade, Ian Robinson has experience working across multiple disciplines within the advertising / design industry: branding / digital / packaging / exhibition / photography to name a few (heck, he’ll work on anything for a dollar). He’s always had a passive interest in aviation, so when he was introduced to Beth White at Habitat for Aviation, it was the perfect opportunity to bring his talents to help build out their home—WOW—what a journey so far! A proud native of Northern Ireland, he was born and bred in ‘Titanic Town’ (we built it but we didn’t sink it). It is said he works hard but plays even harder—when not at his desk he’ll be out on his bike on the backroads of the Emerald Isle, rain, snow or shine, putting in the miles between him and his deadlines.

SCOTT BOLDT

Research & Learning Advisor

The modern equivalent of a stipendiary psalmist, Scott Boldt operates internationally primarily in the fields of education, ethics and philosophy meeting people and listening to their stories and perspectives. His main work involves making connections, comparing and contrasting, and several other things that begin with the letter c. Heartily and mightily impressed and inspired by the work of Habitat for Aviation, he seeks to contribute to its sustainability, development and spread by any legal means.

OUR
MENTORS

CLIFF COY

A&P-IA Mechanic, KFSO FBO Manager

Clifford Coy has been an FAA-licensed contributing author of aircraft documentation for over 30 years. His latest works are forthcoming over the skies of Michigan and Vermont. Born to an adherent of Ayn Rand and a lesbian outside of Chappequa, New York, he is a consummate lover of intricate pranks and large dinner parties. He makes his home in South Burlington, Vermont with a nationally acclaimed poet and runs the Franklin County Airport. On Sundays, he often wears pink and shares his love of problem solving in metalwork with a group of women intent on building aircraft.

GEORGE COY

A&P-IA Mechanic, Airport Grandfather

George Coy brings a lifetime of engineering, aviation, and public service experience to Habitat for Aviation. With a BS in Electrical Engineering from Ohio Northern University, George built a career spanning aerospace quality control, electronic design, aviation mechanics, and aircraft sales, including decades of self-employment across multiple aviation-related ventures. A former member of the Vermont House and Senate and a highly experienced commercial pilot with multiple ratings—including CFII and a DC-3 type rating—George mentors with generosity and a deep belief in learning by doing.

DISA “GRANNY” TATRO

Builder, Hanger Granny

A Swanton, Vermont native and graduate of Missisquoi Valley Union High School, Disa grew up just down the road from the airport. But like many girls at the time, she was never encouraged to explore aviation. Instead, she was steered toward more traditional paths like nursing, secretarial work, or becoming a flight attendant. While all are meaningful careers, none felt like the right fit for her.

Disa’s father owned a crane company, and from an early age she was comfortable working with tools, operating equipment, and enjoyed working with her hands. In high school she worked at a local farm and milked cows. Wanting to do more, she took the initiative to write a resume and pursue a new path, eventually building a long career in IT where she served as an operations manager.

Her journey into aviation began when she brought her granddaughter to the airport for a Young Eagles flight through EAA Chapter 613. There, she met Beth White, and she decided to check out the group of women building a plane. Since then, Disa has become a constant presence, showing up weekend after weekend and earning her affectionate nickname.

For Disa, the build is more than a project, it’s a second family. She values the teamwork, the confidence she sees in the girls, and the strong sense of trust and sisterhood. Most of all, she cherishes the feeling of being included, welcomed, and loved by the entire team.

“AUNTIE” BONNIE PEASE

Builder, Hanger Auntie & Librarian

Bonnie Pease discovered her calling early. At sixteen, she became the first assistant hired to help the town librarian in her small hometown—an opportunity sparked by her family’s love of the library. Bonnie went on to earn her Master’s in Library Science and served for 25 years as a librarian at Gateway Community College in New Haven, Connecticut. At the heart of her work is a simple belief: a librarian’s purpose is to connect people to many sources of knowledge that enlighten them about a topic.

Bonnie’s connection to aviation runs deep. During World War II, her father flew B-17s with the 91st Bomb Group, 322nd Squadron, out of Bassingbourn, England. Like many of his generation, he rarely spoke about the war, but his service shaped the quiet reverence Bonnie carries for those stories, and for finding other tales about lesser-known service women and men whose voices would otherwise remain unheard.

In 2012, Bonnie’s husband earned his Sport Pilot license, and together they began attending EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. There, Bonnie discovered the remarkable stories of noncombat W.A.S.P. (Women Airforce Service Pilots) pilots during World War II—women who flew every aircraft the men did, ferrying planes from factories to airbases across the United States, including the B-29 that dropped the bombs on Japan and the P-51 mustang fighter planes the Tuskegee airman flew as escort to our bombers like her dad's B-17. Her curiosity deepened as she learned about the Russian “Night Witches,” all-female squadrons that included pilots, mechanics, and bomb loaders who flew fragile World War I-era wooden-and-fabric planes through cold, darkness, and danger. That discovery sparked Bonnie’s passion for aviation history and her commitment to educating women of all ages about the trailblazers whose stories deserve to be known.