U.S. Air Force Secretary, Barbara Barrett has been confirmed as a speaker for the 31 Annual Women in Aviation International Conference, augmenting an already stellar roster of speakers. Secretary Barrett joins Stephanie Chung, JetSuite president; Col. Eileen Collins, NASA astronaut; Maj. Gen. Jeannie Leavitt, U.S. Air Force; and Joan Robinson-Berry, Boeing Global Services vice president & chief engineer, as keynote speakers for the March 5-7, 2020, Conference at Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida.
Barbara M. Barrett is the 25 Secretary of the Air Force and is responsible for the affairs of the Department of the Air Force, including organizing, training, equipping, and providing for the welfare of 685,000 active duty, Guard, Reserve, and civilian airmen, and their families. She also oversees the Air Force’s annual budget of more than $205 billion. Secretary Barrett directs the development of strategy and policy, risk management, weapons acquisition, technology investments, and human resource management across a global enterprise. As the head of the Department of the Air Force, she is responsible for implementing decisions of the President and Congress and for fulfilling Combatant Commanders’ current and future operational requirements.
Secretary Barrett has served in senior leadership positions in public service, the private sector and academia. Before she was 30, she was an executive with two global Fortune 500 companies. Secretary Barrett’s key leadership roles include her time as the U.S. ambassador to Finland, deputy administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration and president of the Thunderbird School of Global Management. She also taught leadership as a Harvard Fellow at the Kennedy School of Government. Prior to assuming her current position, Secretary Barrett was the chairman of the board for the Aerospace Corporation.
