Image Courtesy: www.idiva.com
“…I am happy to say that Indian women have demonstrated that there is no glass ceiling in the sky time and time again.”
The Union Minister for Women and Child Development, Maneka Sanjay Gandhi has been a Lok Sabha member for seven terms. She is also a renowned activist who works on behalf of animals, the underprivileged and the environment. She started People for Animals, one of the largest animal rights/welfare organisations in India. Under her direction, many an animal life has been saved by exposing and documenting the cruelty meted out to them for scientific research.
Mrs Gandhi has received many awards for her relentless work in the field of environment and animal welfare. She is also an author and has published various Etymological Directories, books on animal activism and children’s literature.
Maneka Gandhi has given her whole hearted support to the WE! Expedition and the WE! Pilots.
Lynn is a media and advertising veteran, who spent 25 years working for top brands at Ogilvy, Grey and Lintas. An animal welfare worker, philanthropist and aviation nerd, she serves as a trustee for several notforprofits and an independent director on boards of large companies. She is the driving force behind the WE! Expedition.
Featuring regularly in the power lists of top media titles for several years, she was a national tennis champ as a teenager, and a prolific writer and public speaker during her media years. In the social space, she now focusses on using the power of communication to drive change in as diverse areas as conservation, wildlife protection, water safety, healthcare and nutrition, inclusiveness for the disabled, and above all, the upliftment and empowerment of girls and young women.
Sometimes, behind a successful woman is a man. And Tapan Nandi is the man behind Mahi. In-charge of getting her flight ready – from making sure she’s well cared for and maintained from nose to tail, to ensuring all her paperwork is in order, Tapan has been part of the mission right from the get-go.
When he’s not with Mahi, Tapan serves as the Director of AeroSource India Pvt Ltd where he plays an integral role as a consultant in the pre-purchase inspection of aircraft and airport construction and development.
Before this, he served with the Indian Air Force for 15 years. Tapan Nandi’s core expertise lies in the operation and maintenance of aircraft. Throughout his career, he has successfully donned various leadership roles at MSPL Limited, Hospet, etc. He has also been at the helm of setting-up startups like Baldota Koppal Aerodrome.
Debkanya is a marketing, communications and CSR professional who started her career as a journalist with NDTV. With over 12 years of varied experience across content creation, news, celebrity management, and health and wellness, she now uses her skills and love for storytelling to tell the stories that truly matter and make an impact.
As the WE! Expedition Program Director, her profile encompasses everything from building the narrative around the expedition, managing content and budgets, liaising with sponsors, and even figuring out visas. A passionate communicator, problem solver and lateral thinker, Debkanya loves the fact that no two days are the same at the WE! Expedition.
Mounting a civilian circumnavigation is no walk in the park, which is why we have passionate aviation experts guiding and supporting us every step of the way. Sadaf Saif Herekar, FOC Manager of NEXUS Flight Operations India Private Limited, is the Operations in-charge for WE!. She leads the charge when it comes to the innumerable challenges concerning the planning and operations which are of paramount importance to the expedition’s success.
Sadaf has over 10 years of experience in aviation and flight operations and is determined to turn this project into a well-executed expedition. She and her team at NEXUS India are working round-the-clock to provide all the operational support WE! needs, thus paving the way for our pilots, not just on the ground, but also in the skies.
Our Icelandic mentor and guide, Gummi is a ship builder, engineer, entrepreneur, and sports pilot all wrapped up in one ever-smiling package.
He spent weeks with Capt. Aarohi, showing her the ropes of extreme weather flying, accompanying her on training flights through snow and cloud.
Always just a phone call away, Gummi has grown to become a sounding board not just for our pilot, but for the ground team as well.
WE! is fortunate to have Matevž Lenarčič as an adviser and mentor to The Navy Blue Foundation. A highly experienced long distance flier, he has flown for more than 3500+ hours all over the world, mostly with his ultralight airplane and other single engine aircrafts. He holds a PPL – private pilot license with IFR – (instrumental flight rules) rating, night qualification and an ULPL – ultralight pilot license.
Matevž didn’t start out as a pilot. He graduated in biology and is an alpinist, paraglider, environmentalist and photographer all rolled into one. He has climbed all over the world and has summited the 8051m Broad Peak in the Himalayas, in addition to climbing some extreme routes in Patagonia. He has written 11 books (on nature, photography, climbing and flying), some of which have been awarded and translated into several languages. He is also the founder and director of Aerovizija d.o.o., a company that specialises in aerial photography.
He holds multiple records, most notable of which are the FAI World Speed record, category C1-b, Capo Verde – Martinique, 2017 and the unofficial world speed record Around the World Eastbound – C1a.
Matevž has won various Aviation awards from the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) such as the Circumnavigator East Diamond, the Silver, Bronze and Diamond Colibri and World Aviator of the Year 2013.
On August 19, 2007, Wg Cdr Rahul Monga landed safely at Hindon Airport, India, after flying around the Earth in 80 days, creating a world record for the fastest circumnavigation in a microlight aircraft. The veteran IAF pilot and circumnavigator plays the role of Expedition Director, coach and guide to the WE! Pilots.
Capt. Monga has a total of 5200 hours of flying experience, which includes around 1000 hours on fixed wing aircraft such as Light Sports Aircraft, Microlights and Motorgliders. He has over 150 hours on motorgliders, out of which 120 hours were as an instructor in the IAF on the low-wing, T-tailed Super Dimona.
Capt. Monga’s list of achievements and awards is extremely prestigious. In 2007, he was awarded the MacGregor Medal by United Services Institute, a medal which is awarded to Indian Armed Forces personnel for valuable military reconnaissance. In 2008, he received the Shaurya Chakra from the President of India, soon after which he became a Laureate of the Aviation Week and Space Awards, USA.
An ardent supporter of women’s empowerment, Capt. Monga will champion the WE! Udaan Scholarship program by facilitating ground training courses for select WE! Udaan Scholars.
“May the women of today, inculcate a never to die spirit, face all challenges with perseverance, strive for nothing short of excellence.”
Harpreet A De. Singh, is the Executive Director and Chief of Flight Safety and Head of Corporate Safety, Quality and Environment Management System at Air India Limited. She is also President of the Indian Women Pilots’ Association (IWPA) and has been a supporter of WE! and our message of Women, Empower from the very beginning.
She got her Commercial Pilot’s Licence from IGRUA in 1988 and became the first woman pilot selected by Air India, but due to medical reasons she did not pursue active flying. She came back with her never-say-die spirit to become the first woman Ground Instructor for pilots in an airline, the first and only woman Chief of Flight Safety in India and the first Human Factors and CRM Facilitator in the country.
Her aviation career has been outstanding with her adding various feathers to her cap. She was named the First Woman Instructor for pilots of Air India in 2003 in the Limca Book of Records.