Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears joins aerospace association leadership team

The Aerospace States Association (ASA) is an organization of Lieutenant Governors, Governor-appointed delegates and state legislators.

Association members, including territorial and tribal government representatives and associate members from aerospace organizations and academia, work together to advance aerospace and aviation in member states and throughout the United States.

The ASA elected Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears of Virginia as Secretary, and Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser of Louisiana as Vice Chair. They join Lt. Gov. Dianne Primavera of Colorado as National Chair and Michael Heil of Ohio as Treasurer.

“The Commonwealth is built for today’s aerospace economy. In doing so, Virginia has created a robust transportation (spaceports included) and electrical infrastructure while facilitating an exceptional education system, both at k-12 and into the advanced degrees. Our Commonweath is home to NASA Langley Research Center, the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS), an FAA Drone test site and multiple military installations. On top of that, the Old Dominion is one of only three states that launch to the International Space Station. Virginians have always led our nation into the bright unknown, and we are continuing to do so in aerospace. I am excited to take on this new position, and delighted to announce that Virginia will host the 2025 ASA Annual Meeting and 6th State Aerospace Policy Summit,” Earle-Sears said.

Winsome Earle-Sears, a native of Kingston, Jamaica, immigrated to the United States at the age of six. She served in the United States Marine Corps, and was first elected in 2002 to a majority Black House of Delegates district, a first for a Republican in Virginia since 1865. Earle-Sears is the first woman Lieutenant Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia, and the first Black woman elected to statewide office. She holds a bachelor’s in English with a minor in Economics, and a master’s in Organizational Leadership with a concentration in government.

“The Great State of Louisiana is an aerospace state. We are home to NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility (building our nation’s next rocket system to the Moon and Mars), our airports transport millions of passengers yearly, our citizens and farmers depend on GPS navigation and weather satellite systems, our offshore oil industry depends on helicopter aviation, our emergency services now use drone technology in ways never fathomed during Hurricane Katrina, and much more. Without aerospace assets, Louisiana’s economy would come to a grinding halt. It is for these reasons, I am excited to take on this new position and announce that New Orleans will host the 2024 ASA Annual Meeting and 5th State Aerospace Policy Summit,” Nungesser, the 54^th Lt. Gov., said.

Nungesser was the voice of Louisiana when Hurricane Katrina devastated the state in 2005. In 2010, he again became a national spokesperson for the unmet needs of the Gulf Coast after the BP Deepwater Horizon explosion, one of the worst man-made disasters in U.S. history.

“Lt. Govs. Nungesser and Earle-Sears are a great addition to the ASA leadership team. As aerospace assets become even more vital to our nation’s economy and human space exploration branches further into the beyond. Louisiana and Virginia are vital states in expanding and building this market. Both Billy and Winsome understand the importance of this economy to their states and the nation,” Primavera said.

Nungesser will complete the term of past ASA Vice Chair Lt. Gov. Kevin Meyer of Alaska, who decided not to run for reelection in Alaska. Earle-Sears will complete the term of Amy Hudnall (Georgia Lt. Gov. Appointee) who retired.