Employee Spotlight: Women in NAVBLUE – Inclusion, Challenges, and Accelerating Action
This month, we are shining a light on the women of NAVBLUE—their achievements, challenges, and contributions to aviation. While progress has been made, women are not enough in this industry, and there is still much work to be done to ensure fairness across genders and create an inclusive environment.
In this Employee spotlight, NAVBLUE employees Viktoriia Trotska ( Deal Manager at NAVBLUE Poland) , Edyta Gorska (Aeronautical Analyst at at NAVBLUE Poland), Mikaela Jones (Sales Operations Manager at NAVBLUE UK), Hiba Mdini (Product Owner at NAVBLUE France), Cecilia Skroder (Head of Business Improvement at NAVBLUE France) and Alexa Jorgensen (Human Resources Business Partner at NAVBLUE UK), share their thoughts on International women’s day, gender challenges, stepping out of comfort zone, Inclusion and acceleration action for gender equity.
What does International Women’s Day mean to you, and how do you personally recognize or celebrate it?
Viktoriia Trotska : For a long time, in my country and many post-Soviet countries, International Women’s Day was more about celebrating women’s beauty and appreciation rather than discussing equality. It was a day of flowers, compliments, and maybe a break from household duties—but nothing about rights, fairness, or the challenges women face.
Only in the last five to ten years have conversations about the true meaning of this day gained momentum. My own understanding of it has evolved significantly. Today, I see it as a day of awareness, education, and appreciation for the women driving real change. It’s about recognizing where we still need progress and taking steps toward real gender equality.
What are some of the biggest challenges women still face in aviation, software, and corporate environments? How can we overcome them?
Edyta Gorska : Women in aviation and software face ongoing challenges despite some progress. They remain underrepresented, making up only a small percentage of commercial pilots, aviation executives, and software engineers, especially in leadership roles.
The main challenges include low representation in key positions, gender bias and stereotypes about these being “male fields,” and work-life balance difficulties, especially with unpredictable schedules and caregiving expectations.
Solutions to address these issues include highlighting successful women as role models, creating mentorship and networking opportunities, implementing flexible work policies like adjustable schedules and parental leave, and addressing unconscious bias in hiring and promotions.
These approaches can help create more inclusive industries and encourage more women to pursue careers in aviation and software.
Can you share a pivotal moment in your career where you faced adversity and how you overcame it?
Alexa Jorgensen : Before NAVBLUE, I worked in hospitality as an events coordinator at a five-star hotel. During a Christmas snowstorm, we got stranded with 15 guests, no power, and just one male colleague. Despite me managing everything, guests assumed he was in charge due to my gender and age ( I was 23 at the time ).
Rather than getting frustrated, I transformed our library into a cozy retreat with a fireplace and activities. What could have been a disaster became magical, with great guest feedback. This taught me resilience and showed how women in leadership often must work harder to be taken seriously, even when they’re the ones solving problems.
In a world of work-life integration, how do you balance professional and personal responsibilities?
Hiba Mdini: Since joining NAVBLUE, I’ve made it a tradition to unwind with colleagues after big projects, whether it’s PI planning or a stressful deadline. We take time to relax and recharge, which makes a big difference in maintaining balance. For me, balance isn’t about doing everything at once, but knowing when to give my all at work and when to step back and focus on personal well-being. Setting boundaries has helped ensure that work doesn’t take over my life, and that’s made all the difference.
The 2025 IWD theme is ‘Accelerate Action.’ How can we accelerate gender equality at work? Has your view on this evolved over time?
Cecilia Skroder: Early in your career, you believe hard work equals professional success and equality. But life, and working internationally while having children and competing responsibilities, reveals how different systems sometimes disadvantage different groups, including women.
Countries with strong gender equality perform better in general in numerous surveys and studies. It impacts education, healthcare, science, and overall economic development. To bring real and enduring change for women in the world, we need both hard work at grass-root level, but also support through policies and laws, and long term stability. This isn’t just about fairness, it’s about building successful societies for the benefit of everyone who is part of them.
We recently launched a Lean In program for women in NAVBLUE. How do you think this program can help us?
Mikaela Jones : The Lean In program is an important initiative for NAVBLUE providing a supportive space for women to grow both personally and professionally.
Unlike previous mentorship programs, this one is designed to build confidence, tackle self-doubt, and help women step up to opportunities they might otherwise hesitate to take. By fostering a strong community, in a safe environment, we can encourage and celebrate one another, share experiences, and empower ourselves – and each other – to put ourselves forward for more leadership roles. Ultimately, this program will not only benefit individual participants to flourish, but also contribute to the overall success of NAVBLUE.
Women of NAVBLUE are shaping the future of aviation, breaking barriers, and inspiring the next generation. But gender equality won’t happen naturally, it requires acceleration, action, awareness, and structural change.
Let’s step out of our comfort zones, continue the conversation, and take action toward a more equal future.
