The Zed Vision
An aerospace industry and cadre of professionals comprising of people of all backgrounds, creating a more inclusive, well-rounded and ultimately more impactful and effective nation and world. Our mission is to address the historical exclusion of groups in the aerospace sector through institutional support and mentorship
The Zed Factor Fellowship will include pairing fellows with industry mentors, placing them in paid summer internships, and providing opportunities for them to build a community (via a summit and other gatherings, in person and virtual, throughout and after the summer program). The participants will also be required to give back to their communities, providing mentorship to a younger community member, building a program in their high school, or finding an appropriate way to grow and expand the impact of the Zed Factor Fellowship beyond themselves.
There were lots of discussions about naming this program after a specific individual, but we’re struck by the fact that so many people don’t see themselves represented, don’t see a role model they can look up. How could there be one person whose spirit and legacy encapsulates the experiences of so many dreamers?
The Zed Factor Fellowship is empowering the people the program should be named for, so we can’t name it for each and every person who will be represented in the future. Instead, as they change their z or “zed”-axis (for the Brits and Canadiens among us), Zed Fellows will represent themselves.
The Five Factors of Zed Fellows:
Mentorship from an aerospace professional.
An immersive internship at an aerospace company.
Professional development programs with a flagship leadership summit.
Self-designed, funded, community engagement project
A lasting network connecting students throughout their education and professional lives.
A growing network of program graduates who feed the program pipeline while giving back to the communities in which they grew, and a more diverse, creative and inclusive aerospace community filled with outstanding professionals of all backgrounds.
The creation of an on-ramp, or launch pad if you will, into the aerospace community, where one did not previously exist, acknowledging that qualified contributors need alternative ways to access the community in order to make their impact. Head over to our the Zed community blog where we highlight people in the industry from historically excluded backgrounds, share announcements about relevant aerospace events, provide career development tips, share outreach organization tips, etc.
The Zed Community
One of the unique aspects of the Zed Factor Fellowship is the call to action for all fellows to create a personalized community engagement project. Applicants have the opportunity to differentiate themselves via their academic and extracurricular activities, as well as how they plan to incorporate their Zed Factor Fellowship, via a funded engagement project, into their community to help it grow and prosper.
Community engagement is an important way to amplify the impact of any fellowship, to ensure the fellowship not only changes the life of the fellow, but also of their community. Each applicant gets a chance to define what they consider to be their community, whether it be their family, friends, academic institution, or other groups that they identify and want to grow with.
As the Zed Factor Fellowships grows year over year, we hope to learn the lessons of each Fellow’s community engagement project, creating a legacy of effective and impactful engagement projects for others to replicate in their local area. Through this amplification, we will exponentially increase the reach of the program.
Zed Factor Fellows not only seek to create a more diverse and robust aerospace industry, but to bring their experience, expertise, and skills to their local community and yours.
Do you have the Zed Factor?
Zed Factor Fellowship aims to elevate the diversity and impact of the aerospace community. Through internships for top qualified applicants, Zed Factor empowers learners who struggle to find role models that they can emulate. Zed Factor Fellows bring their unique backgrounds and perspectives, as well as technical skills to a community that enables them to reach for, and go beyond, the stars.
