This is an inspiring story from our grantee New Vision Aviation (NVA), which we’ve supported since 2021. This nonprofit gives low-income youth the opportunity to train for aviation careers. One NVA student recently became the youngest person in the world to obtain a Commercial and Certified Flight Instructor (CFI) rating!
Fresno County has one of the highest poverty rates in California. Agriculture is the backbone of this San Joaquin Valley county’s economy, which means that job availability is seasonal and fluctuates. Fresno continues to invest in efforts to create diverse career pathways for its residents, so that they have more stable employment opportunities.
Joseph Oldham, a San Joaquin Valley native, founded New Vision Aviation in 2018 to open the door for low-income youth to find high-paying jobs in the aviation industry. As a private pilot, Joseph knew aviation had an international shortage of trained pilots and other professionals, but the training cost to become a pilot is very expensive and out of reach for many families. Despite this hurdle, the San Joaquin Valley is uniquely well suited to aviation: it is relatively flat, has a sunny climate, and has more than 30 airports.
Introducing students to aviation opportunities
Joseph worked with local government officials, private companies, and school districts to launch NVA. Part of that was doing extensive outreach to introduce aviation as a career path to students all over Fresno, through field trips and presentations. NVA also placed flight simulators in three school districts, which enabled hundreds of students to use them and become excited about aviation.
NVA provides trainings and access to aircrafts as part of different levels of certification. “We provide an open invitation for students to come in and discuss their goals and interest in an aviation industry career,” Joseph says. “They typically call me or one of our instructors to discuss what it takes to become a pilot and then we provide them with an opportunity to visit the hangar, see the aircraft, take a discovery flight, and lay out all of the training requirements.”
To date, NVA has worked with more than 170 high school and college-age students, many of whom are now in aviation jobs. Thanks to donors and volunteers, NVA can expand its services year by year and subsidize students who otherwise can’t afford its trainings. WoodNext’s funding has supported the purchase and repairs of one of NVA’s Cessna aircrafts used in training flights, as well as covered students’ costs. “Our program is unique in the region and has become well known within the aviation community here,” Joseph says. “We have not had to recruit instructors or volunteers to date; they have come to us.”
Zaid’s story
A recent NVA success story is Zaid Shalaldeh, who started training with NVA at age 14, alongside his older brother. “Growing up, we used to travel a lot and I was always fascinated by these huge metal tubes that somehow fly,” Zaid says. His brother was searching for flight schools when they came upon NVA.
Zaid was very committed and excelled at the rigorous trainings. “It was super fun having someone to talk to about how lessons went and always having a challenge between us as brothers,” Zaid says. “My family was super supportive.”
At age 17, Zaid obtained his Private Pilot Certification, which was supported by WoodNext’s grant to NVA. Following that certification, he was motivated to work at Yosemite International Airport to fund further training. His work paid off: just two weeks after he turned 18, he became the youngest person in the world to obtain a CFI rating!
Zaid is currently an independently contracted instructor with the company Meraki Aviation and has big plans. “My goal is to continue flight instruction until reaching the 1,500-hour milestone so I can work at the airlines,” he says. “And hopefully co-pilot with my brother!” We’re excited to support NVA and other grantees which help youth like Zaid attain their dreams.
