2012 Top 40 Under Forty: Joanne "Jo" Damato

Joanne Damato

Director, Educational Development & Strategy;

National Business Aviation Association

Date of Birth: 5-11-76

Years in Aviation: 21

Joanne “Jo” Damato has been in aviation since she took her first flight lesson in 1991, and she began her business aviation career in 1998. Damato graduated from the Florida Institute of Technology with a B.S. in Aviation Management/Flight Option Specialization and obtained a Masters of Aeronautical Science Degree from Embry-Riddle. She also holds a Single and Multi-Engine Land Instrument Rating, Commercial Pilot Certificate, and is a Certified Flight Instructor.

Damato is active with Women in Aviation, International; Women in Corporate Aviation; and the Florida Tech College of Aeronautics Alumni Board. She has been featured on the cover of Aviation for Women Magazine and she also writes a column for the same publication titled “The Juggling Act” detailing the work/life balance of two-parent aviation households.

In July 2001, Jo helped the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) launch its Air Traffic Services operation located in the FAA’s Air Traffic Control System Command Center and was uniquely positioned to help NBAA’s member response efforts in the days after 9/11. She remained active at the GA Desk until 2007 advocating for business aviation equity in the National Airspace System.

Currently, Damato is responsible for expanding the educational opportunities associated with NBAA’s in-person events and managing the association’s on-demand education program which allows NBAA members to have interactive distance learning opportunities. Since 2005, Damato also serves as the staff liaison to the NBAA Schedulers & Dispatchers Committee, which produces the second largest domestic event for NBAA attracting more than 2,400 attendees.

In September 2010, Damato and four other business aviation industry professionals launched an all-volunteer non-profit organization, Sky Hope Network. Sky Hope is comprised of a group of professionals in the business aviation industry who use their contacts and resources to locate flights for both people in need and in response to urgent situations.