Guyanese born aviator Beverley Drake excels at NTSB
Protect yourself, New York.
Caribbean Life, February 4-10, 2022 29
By Tangerine Clarke
Guyanese-American aviator,
Beverley Drake, told Caribbean
life, in a recent interview, that
it was important to honor trailblazers
“so that their stories can
be seen all over the world.”
“I am an ambassador and
advocate for STEAM, Science,
Technology, Engineering, Arts
and Mathematics,” were the
inspiring words of Drake, who
is celebrating eight years, since
she was honored with her own
$20 Commemorative Stamp on
World Post Office Day, in 2013,
from the Guyana Post office, in
recognition of her outstanding
career as an aviator.
“I feel honored to have a stamp
and it is a great feeling to share
it with my family and friends
when I am alive.” “I can inspire
girls and the underrepresented
to pursue aviation as a career
choice,” she said. “Stamps represent
ambassadors when they
arrive at your home,” and her
stamps would arrive worldwide
in lots of homes and there would
be a story behind it. As they
travel around the world, people
would learn of the contribution
of Guyanese women to their
country,” she shared.
Currently, the program manager
in the Office of Government
and Industry Affairs for the
National Transportation Safety
Board (NTSB), where she has
served for more than 30 years,
Drake feels blessed to be the first
and only female African American
in Aviation at the prestigious
investigative agency in the
world.
Like, late African-American
pioneering sculpture Edmonia
Lewis who the United States
Post Office, honored with a forever
stamp, highlighting Lewis’
work as a 19th century marble
sculpture, Drake made history,
when she served as one of the
first of two female military pilots
in the Guyana Defence Force,
after graduating from the distinguished
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical
University, in the United
States.
Her outstanding service has
earned her many firsts, and many
accolades, to cement her work as
the Federal Women’s program
manager, and her annual participation
at the National Air and
Space Museum in Washington,
DC at their “Women in Aviation
and Space Family Day” and
“African American Pioneers in
Aviation” programs.
The brilliant airwoman who
was the keynote speaker a virtual
“Valiant Women of Yesterday
and Today” — Women’s History
Month kick-off at the NIHF
Museum in 2020 during the
pandemic, and a speaker at the
office of the Inspector General,
Department of Labor in March
2021, continues to break down
barriers.
She has proven her worth as a
brilliant aviator, at industry, government
agencies, flying clubs,
youth safety leaders, educators,
and international audiences, at
her talks about the NTSB’s safety
investigations and resulting
recommendations.
Drake also addressed, the
Aircraft Owner’s Association of
Guyana and the Guyana Civil
Aviation Authority and offered
a U.S. perspective at the highpowered
International Safety
Conference in Guyana in 2017.
Participants included, then
prime minister, the minister
of Transportation and the director
of the Civil Aviation Authority.
Most recently, she addressed
the FBI and the City Club of
Washington and highlighted the
accomplishments of professional
women in business.
Drake, who was recently nominated
for the inaugural Forbes/
Know your Value 50 over 50 list,
has more than 45 years of aviation
experience, that began in
her homeland from a very young
age, and to this day continues
to inspire up-and-coming aviators
as she imparts her skill and
knowledge. She has investigated
more than 300 small and largescale
high-profile aviation accidents
as an accredited representative
for many investigations.
Beverley Drake, pictured at the National Air and Space Museum,
in Washington DC. where she is a volunteer. Beverley
Drake
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