Leadership Team

As an engineer by trade, Kuangwei has always appreciated aviation as the epitome of academia and engineering—a rare and perfect example of extraordinary human achievement literally taking flight. The fascination with aviation brings people together, brings out the best in us, and underscores why STEM education is so worth fighting for. He often questioned why learning to fly should be an expensive endeavor, and has invested and co-invested in bringing a wider range of superb and safe aircraft to Santa Monica. These include models from Cessna, Cirrus, and most recently, the first certified fully electric aircraft in the US, the Pipistrel Velis Electro, making aviation quiet, emissions-free, super safe, AND affordable.

Kuangwei brings with him a deep and diverse range of leadership, engineering, and aviation experiences spanning over two decades. His background includes roles as a Fortune 500 microprocessor design engineer, Magnificent 7 engineering manager, early startup engineer, founder and CTO.

His volunteer experiences include serving as Angel Flight command pilot, DART incident command pilot, and board member at the Santa Monica Airport Association. As a board member of Eco-Aviation, he aims to bring electric aviation to the mainstream and support the mission of green.

Kuangwei holds a private pilot’s license with an instrument rating.

EDUCATION:
M.S, Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
B.S., Computer Engineering, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Throughout his career, Scott has managed systems, aviation and logistics projects in the U.S., UAE/Dubai, Afghanistan, Malta, Netherlands, Africa and others, which has given him a broad, international perspective of the strong positive impact the future of green aviation brings: green, quiet and much lower operating costs.

Scott is a sought-after speaker at conferences and other events in the areas of finance, systems, environmental and aviation topics.  He also serves as a judge in the City of Santa Monica’s annual, “Sustainable Quality Awards”.  He holds a private pilot’s license with instrument and seaplane ratings.

A natural leader and visionary,  Scott has the innate ability to identify the potential upside of any opportunity that fits the Foundation’s mission. He inspires collaboration and excellence and is a creative problem solver who sets high standards with measurable goals.

EDUCATION

University of Southern California, B.S. in Business Administration – finance and systems emphases.

USC Student Senate – Chairperson of the Community Affairs Committee

Loyola University of Maryland – Engineering Sciences

Ed brings an extensive working knowledge of the aviation community as well as decades of business expertise to the Foundation. As forward-thinking business leader, Ed held a series of advisory, consultant and founding positions over the years. He is a commercial and instrument-rated, multi -engine pilot, a seaplane pilot, and a licensed helicopter pilot. He served as an Infantry Officer in the U.S. Army with a tour of duty in Vietnam, where he received the Bronze Star.

Ed’s business experience and comprehensive network of relationships within the aviation community enables him to identify and create key strategic partnerships that can make a measurable difference to the Foundation’s mission.  Ed ably manages complex projects, is an expert communicator, and mediates stakeholder differences collaboratively.

Ed’s involvement with aviation includes being a member of the Southern California Airspace Users Working Group, addressing airspace issues in the greater Los Angeles area (www.scauwg.org). He was formerly on the Board of the Professional Helicopter Pilots Association (www.phpa.org), a Board Member of the Santa Monica Airport Association (www.santamonicaairport.info), elected as the Region 5 Vice President of the California Pilots Association (www.calpilots.org), Secretary of California Disaster Airlift Response Team (www.caldart.org), and Co-Founder and Vice President of Eco-Aviation Foundation International (www.eco-aviation.org).

EDUCATION:

MBA, Harvard Business School
BS, International Relations, Pomona College.

Ellen has over thirty years of business experience in all aspects of Communications, including Public and Media Relations, Financial and Investor Relations, Corporate Marketing and Government affairs.  Her working knowledge of the media, corporate marketing and grass roots activities informed her tenure as Vice President of the Santa Monica Airport Association, where she focused on community outreach activities and developed a passion for the potential of local airports to greatly enhance their communities.

Most of Ellen’s career consisted of guiding public media organizations through prolonged and explosive growth and/or change and enabled her to develop expertise in all aspects of change management, executive and team coaching, leadership development and conflict resolution.

She is a nationally recognized business leader who has written on the imperative of culture change to inspire innovation and transformation in legacy businesses and is a skilled communicator and consensus builder.

Ellen served on the Board of the Santa Monica chapter of the American Red Cross; was Vice President, Santa Monica Airport Association; and is now a Board member and communications director for the Eco-Aviation Foundation.

Education and Honors:
B.A., English, Hunter College, City of New York
Alumna of Harvard University and Stamford University certificate programs in professional development and executive leadership
PR Executive of the Year (CableFax Daily), Cablefax Most Powerful Women in Cable List (2005 –  2016); Multi-Channel News “Woman to Watch,” Mentor, National Association for Multi-Ethnicity in Communications; Board Member Santa Monica chapter of the American Red Cross; Vice President, Santa Monica Airport Association.