Towards a more gender-balanced and inclusive aviation industry: inhibitors, best practice and successful initiatives

Alina Nassar is a partner at Nassar Abogados Centroamerica, in the office of San Jose, Costa Rica. She is the regional chair and co-chair of the firm’s regional Aviation/Aerospace law and Competition law practices, respectively. She joined Nassar Abogados in 1996. In her professional practice, Alina has advised international corporations on legal matters in Central America in aviation, aerospace, corporate and competition. Her professional experience has been recognized internationally, and she was awarded the “Best in Aviation Award” by the Americas Women in Business Law Award, in New York, in 2018. She is also constantly ranked by Chamber Global and Chambers Latin America, and International Finance Law Review. Alina held different positions in the board of directors of the International Aviation Womens Association (IAWA), including the Presidency in 2018-2019, being IAWA’s first Latin American president. During her tenure, IAWA issued the first-ever report on gender equality in the aviation and aerospace industry, the “Soaring Through The Glass Ceiling”, in partnership with Korn Ferry and other relevant industry organizations. As Past-President of IAWA, she contributed to the Lift off to Leadership (2021) report developed with Oliver Wyman. Alina actively participates as speaker and panelist at international conferences on matters related to aviation, space, foreign investment, as well as gender equity and inclusion. She contributed the chapter on Matering the Power of Gender Equality for the book Mastering the Power of Leadership (2022). Alina was Vice President of the International Airlines Association (ALA) in Costa Rica from 2018-2020, and served on the Board of the Costa Rica Foreign Investment Agency (CINDE) from 2018-2021. She is currently a member of the Board of Governors of the Flight Safety Foundation and a Fellow of the 16th class of The Central America Leadership Initiative, a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network. She holds a MSc on Space Studies (cum laude) from KU Leuven University, in Belgium; LL.M. degree from the University of Texas at Austin; J.D. degree (with honors) from the Universidad de Costa Rica, and a Diploma on Advanced Management and Leadership, from Saïd Business School, University of Oxford, United Kingdom. Alina is passionate about creating educational and professional opportunities for young people, promoting gender parity, and advocating for diversity and inclusion. She supports many educational programs for young and adult populations.

Linda G. Lee is a dual qualified New York and Australian lawyer with corporate and structured finance experience working in New York, Los Angeles, Hong Kong and Sydney, both as a private practitioner and as in-house counsel. She has represented banks, sponsors, operators and equity participants across a broad range of corporate transactions including cross-border and structured financings, secured and unsecured lending, public offering and private placement of securities, leveraged leasing and restructurings.