Girls Take Flight – Speaker Series

Lesley Page

Founder – Girls Take Flight

At age 50, Lesley Page had her first flight in a small airplane. It was love at first flight!
Realizing that “Life is too short to be a passenger”, she got a Private Pilot license and she and her husband take turns as captain of their Cessna 172.

Lesley shares her love of flying by organizing discovery flight events to introduce women and young people to aviation. In 2014, she founded Girls Take Flight, an annual event held at the Oshawa Executive Airport, and the precursor to Girls Take Flight at Billy Bishop.

Lesley is an experienced public speaker and engaging story-teller. She enjoys inspiring people to overcome their fears and obstacles and to achieve their dreams by relating her journey from burned-out corporate manager to award-winning private pilot.

Elizabeth Mitches

Chief Pilot – Porter Airlines

Elizabeth Mitches is the Chief Pilot for Porter Airlines Dash 8 fleet. She leads the airline’s professional pilot group and oversees the day-to-day flight operations based out of Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport. In addition to her leadership role, she maintains her qualifications and endorsements as an airline Captain and Approved Check Pilot. She has a Master’s degree from the Ivey School of Business, is a member of the
International Society of Women Airline Pilots, and is an executive sponsor for Women Soar at Porter.
Elizabeth lives in downtown Toronto (just a short walk to the island airport) and is passionate about distance cycling and her volunteer work with St. Michael’s Hospital.

Tonya Yearwood

Founder – Black Aviation Professionals Network

Tonya was born in Toronto, Ontario to natives of Trinidad & Tobago. She worked in both Canada and the United States in a variety of careers; Finance, Fitness, Postal Service, and Automotive until she found herself in Aviation & Aerospace within the IT space. Working in the industry allowed Tonya to have a new found appreciation for air transportation but quickly learned that diversity in Aviation & Aerospace was non-existent compared to her previous professional experiences. Without its challenges, the Black Aviation Professionals Network (BAPN) was formed, a non-profit organization to help her fellow colleagues and the next generation of leaders and aviators in the sector. BAPN will promote Aviation, showcase it’s more than pilots and flight attendants, appeal to the Black community showing the variety of careers available and supply the resources to thrive. There are Aviation Professionals and professionals in Aviation. Together, we are BAPN!

Dr. Larissa Vingilis-Jaremko

Founder and President – Canadian Association for Girls in Science

Larissa Vingilis-Jaremko has a PhD with expertise that encompassing cognitive development and best practices for learning in children and adults. She has extensive teaching experience from K-12 to postsecondary. She founded and the Canadian Association for Girls in Science (CAGIS) at age 9 and has over 30 years of experience in public STEM outreach and communication including virtual and in-person engagements, TV, radio, books, and magazines. She has received numerous honours for her work and is regularly consulted by corporations, NGOs, and governments for her expertise in STEM communication and in engaging underrepresented groups in STEM.

Shannon Bosilac

Design Engineer  – Safran

Shannon Bosilac is currently a Design Engineer at Safran Landing Systems. She is a proud graduate of the University of Windsor, where she was inspired to pursue a career in Aerospace Engineering after realizing just how complex planes are and really wanting to understand further how they work. During her time at university, Shannon was part of the first ever UWindsor Rocketry team to compete in the IREC ESRA Spaceport America Cup, where the team placed third overall in the competition and hit an apogee of 10533ft. During Shannon’s free time you can often find her painting or playing soccer.

Kim Clarke

Director of Operations – Nieuport Aviation

Kim is responsible for the day to day operation of our Terminal working with our airline partners, Ports Toronto and stakeholders. Kim over 30 years of aviation experience from the airline and airport world having worked at Delta Air Lines for over 20 years at the Toronto Station, retiring as Station Manager in 2011.  Kim also worked several years at the Greater Toronto Airport Authority in a variety of leadership positions, and has been with Nieuport since 2015.

Holly Campbell

Manager Airport Operational Communications and Security – PortsToronto

Holly Campbell studied Aviation at Georgian College and graduated with a Diploma of Civil Aviation – Air Traffic Services after her father suggested a non-traditional career path for her. She trained as an Air Traffic Controller and worked at Buttonville Tower. Holly has also completed her Private Pilots license.

She has worked at Toronto Pearson Airport in their Airport Operations Control Centre, Apron Management Unit and as an Airport Duty Manager. Today, Holly works at Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport as the Manager of Airport Operational Communications and Security.

Melissa Swain

Air Traffic Controller – Nav Canada

Melissa is an air traffic controller with Nav Canada based out of Waterloo Tower in Ontario. She has a diploma in Aviation Technology and is currently working towards her Bachelor of Science in Aeronautics through Embry Riddle University. She has completed her commercial multi-IFR pilot license and has just under 500 hours of flight time. She was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes in 2011 which caused a pause on her career path. She used this time to gain first-hand experience in airport management and operations. After facing many obstacles in her career, she learned that with passion, perseverance, and self-advocacy, many things that seem impossible are in fact achievable.

Auriel Giroux

Rotary Wing Pilot

Auriel is a Rotary Wing Pilot currently working as a News Traffic Pilot out of Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport. She discovered her passion for flight through the Air Cadets, and has been flying since the age of 16. A 2023 graduate from Conestoga College, she received her commercial pilot license in March of the same year. She has been working as a Traffic Pilot since December, first with LR Helicopters, then Great Lakes Helicopters.

She continues to seek out the next challenge, hoping to eventually fly on the East Coast. Meanwhile, you’ll find her buzzing across the Toronto skyline.

Lisa Cabral

Hub Manager – Porter Airlines

Lisa Cabral started in the industry in the late 90’s. She began her career with Air Canada as a full time Customer Service Agent. At that time, she was a full time university student as well, and had no idea that this would become the start of my lifelong aviation career!

She quickly became a lead, and then a manager at Air Canada, overseeing both the passenger service and ramp and baggage departments with a focus on connections. From there she joined the GTAA as the first ever female Manager of Operations Baggage.

She also held a position as the station trainer for Air France/KLM, Product Manager at Swissport for Sunwing and AeroMexico. Today, she is the Hub Manager for Porter Airlines.

Tim Yee Lee

Principal Engineering Specialist

An industrious, Industrial Engineer, Tim Yee Lee is Bombardier’s Aircraft Design & Development Safety Officer and Manager of Core Airworthiness.  Reaching her 25^th year milestone with Bombardier, she is a Principal Engineering Specialist having worked on commercial and business aircraft programs; ensuring safety and reliability, from clean sheet design to designs of the next generation.  Tim Yee is a member of Bombardier’s Women In Engineering Affinity Group and volunteers her time speaking at high schools and universities in the Greater Toronto Area. The goal of the Women In Engineering Education Outreach team is to be accessible to young female students from all walks of life and open their eyes to the multitude of opportunities that an engineering degree offers. Tim Yee is also a Diversity and Inclusion Ambassador, building a more inclusive workplace across all of Bombardier’s global offices.