Alumni Features

Women have had a long history in aviation, yet still remain underrepresented in many areas. According to AeroGuard Flight Training Center, Blanche Scott not only became the first woman to drive across the United States, but also the first female pilot to fly in America. Bessie Coleman became the first black female pilot and the first Native American woman pilot in 1922. Captain Lynn Rippelmeyer became the first female to captain a 747 on a transatlantic flight in 1984. Even with all of these incredible stories, women in aviation are still struggling to make a breakthrough in the industry to this day. Lewis alumna Jill Wetmore ’16 had always been a lover of travel, and after attending Women in Aviation Day presented by Lewis University during her senior year of high school, she enrolled at Lewis and became a Flyer. Jill knew this was the right decision. What she did not know is that this was a life-changing decision – one that would provide her with both the skills and strength to break

Each year, women comprise more than two-thirds of graduates with degrees in journalism or mass communications, and yet the media industry is just one-third women, a number that only decreases for women of color, reports from the News Leaders Association show. After a decade-long career in broadcasting, Deborah Olivia (Brown) Farmer ’95 realized she had the potential to make a real difference. Feeling disenchanted by the way the media industry played to women of color, Deborah started Brown Farmer Media Group, her very own communications firm based in Chicago and Atlanta. Partnering with both local and national clients, Deborah has worked on a variety of projects. Her firm was hired to help recruit minorities to the Chicago Police Department, educate Chicago residents on the non-emergency number for city services, market the 2020 Census, and work with the first-ever black female mayor of Lynwood, IL. “Some of this work is history in the making, and I get to be a part of it,” says De