Women in Aviation International Oklahoma City Logo

Board of Directors

Young Chappell

Young Chappell

President

Young Chappell is an Engineer with Boeing Defense, Space & Security at Oklahoma City. Currently, she is technical lead engineer as a subject-matter expert on Electronic Product for Avionics Hardware, Software, and Systems for the Bombers (B-1, B-2, B-52 & ALCM) in Oklahoma City. In this role, she is responsible for ensuring Project Engineering for the Bombers Portfolio Sustainment and Modernization and Weapons Integration including Mission Computing Hardware. Prior to this role, Young was responsible for ensuring Systems Engineering for the Airborne Surveillance Command and Control. In addition, she also worked Project/Systems Engineering with various Aircraft and seamless integration across Boeing including E-3 AWACS, AEW&C, KCKDC-10 Tankers, C-9 US Navy & 747 NASA, and FAA Next Generation SE2020 CNS/ATM. Young served as a Korean Language Translator lead for the Boeing Defense, Space & Security Korea proposal Campaign of KC-X Aerial Refueling Tanker and FX-III Fighter Program in a very short and highly intense time. Young has been in her role at Boeing with over 16 years of engineering experience.

 Aside from being an Engineer, Young is involved with many community organizations which includes the following: Leadership Oklahoma, Oklahoma Governor’s International Team and Leadership Oklahoma City, Chaine des Rotisseurs- Bailliage Oklahoma City, she also served the board for Sister Cities International Oklahoma City. Currently Young founded the Women in Aviation International (WAI) Greater Oklahoma City Metro Chapter #238. In 2007, Young founded the Boeing Asian-American Professional Association, Oklahoma City Chapter. In 2008 and 2010, she worked with other Boeing employees to help organized Boeing Black Employees Association and Boeing American Indian Society/ Boeing Native American Network in OKC. She was also recognized by Women of Color (WOC) in STEM 2021 for her technical leadership and achievements and received the Achievement in Science, Engineering, and Technology Award. Young’s hobbies include jogging, gardening, sewing, and cooking.

 Young was born and raised in Seoul Korea and came to America at the age of 27. Young has received Master of Science degree in Physics with specialization in Optics and Photonics from Oklahoma State University. She obtained her Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry/Biology from Cameron University, OK. She currently lives in Edmond, OK with her husband, Keith, an Electromagnetic Effects and Electrical engineering senior manager at Boeing OKC.

Jeanne Davis

Jeanne Davis

Vice President

Beatrice Hahn

Beatrice Hahn

Secretary

Christina Wilson

Christina Wilson

Treasurer

Christina Wilson is a Vice President Commercial Loan Officer with Union State Bank in Edmond,
Oklahoma. With 20+ years within the Oklahoma Banking industry, she is very knowledgeable in
all aspects of banking. She specializes in Commercial Construction of office buildings, 1-4 family real
estate, and real estate development. Christina has does extensive spreadsheet tracking, cash flow
analysis, and record keeping. She will currently act as the Treasurer, which will give her the ability to
oversee the daily activities of the organization finances, record keeping and bank activity.

Diana Taylor

Diana Taylor

Membership Chair

Diana Taylor started her Boeing career in 2008 working admin and flight safety roles for the F/A-18 program, which eventually transitioned to a Flight Test Engineer/ Systems Engineer for the F/A-18 program in China Lake- NAWCWD, CA. After 13 years in F/A-18 Diana promoted into her current role as a Senior Systems Engineer for the BGS Data Analytics Team out of OKC. Diana is married with three children ages 16-26 and has one granddaughter.  Her home also contains 3 crazy and playful dogs, as well as one spoiled guinea pig. Diana enjoys DIY projects, live sporting events, and roller derby. Diana enjoys working with students to help promote STEM and is especially passionate about bringing STEM opportunities to young women and single moms.

Diana currently serves as the membership chair on the WAI Board of Directors for the OKC Metro chapter.

Eduard Ricaurte

Eduard Ricaurte

Outreach Chair

Kimberly Rex

Kimberly Rex

Communication Chair

Jonna Kirschner

Jonna Kirschner

Board Advisor

Jonna Kirschner is the President of CNI Manufacturing LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Chickasaw Nation Industries, Inc. located in Marietta, OK.   She is also CNI’s, Senior Vice President of Economic Development.

Before joining CNI, she served as Executive Director of the Oklahoma Department of Commerce where she had been General Counsel for over ten years.  One of the many highlights of her career with the State of Oklahoma was the opportunity to serve as the lead developer for one of the 2007 Oklahoma Centennial projects which showcased Oklahoma for a six week period at the Epcot International Food and Wine Festival sponsored by Walt Disney World Resort ® in Orlando, Florida.   She is a member of the 2020 Honorary Commanders Class of the 72nd Air Base Wing, Tinker Air Force Base and was selected to attend the Secretary of the Air Force’s 67th National Security Forum as the Air War College on Maxwell Air Force Base. She currently serves as a Member of the External Advisory Committee (EAC) for National Science Foundation EPSCoR RII Track 1- 5 year $20 million project aimed at developing Socially Sustainable Solutions for Water, Carbon, and Infrastructure Resilience in Oklahoma.

Ms. Kirschner attended Dartmouth College and then obtained her law degree from Boston College Law School.   She has practiced as a corporate attorney in several private law firms in both Oklahoma City and London, England where she lived from 1987-1994.  In 2018, she was named a recipient of the Mona Salyer Lambird Spotlight Award from the Oklahoma Bar Association.   She is a member of various professional organizations including the Select Oklahoma.

Ms. Kirschner has many volunteer interests and has chaired multiple fundraising committees for non-profits. As the 2009-2011 President of Red Earth, Inc., and Chairman of the 23rd and 24th Red Earth Festival, she was honored as a Member of the Inaugural Class of the Elders Council.   She is the President of the Board of Directors of the Oklahoma Israel Exchange.  Ms. Kirschner was honored as a 2019 Byliner of the Year in the category of Law and Civic Involvement by the Oklahoma City Chapter of the Association of Women in Communications.

She has two sons, Jay, a 2016 graduate and Winston a 2022 graduate of the University of Oklahoma.  Winston was selected to join Class 2026 at Texas Christian University School of Medicine. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Ms. Kirschner  wrote a weekly column, “Coming Home to the Lazy K”  for The Country Connection, a newspaper that featured her stories of returning to her grandparent’s farm in Western Oklahoma.

Kanith Kapila

Kanith Kapila

Board Advisor

Kanthi Kapila is an Executive Director for Government Engineering in Boeing Global Services (BGS). In this position, Kanthi leads engineering teams responsible for safety and technical excellence on all defense programs, including engineering execution at Boeing MROs San Antonio and Jacksonville. She also serves as the Chief Engineer for Mobility and Training Aircraft portfolio. Prior to that, Kanthi was the Director and Chief Engineer for Transport and Tankers in BGS. Earlier to that, Kanthi was the Director for Modification & Sustainment Engineering in BGS. She led multi-skill engineering teams responsible for design, strength, retrofit and production engineering in support of modifications and heavy maintenance of various defense platforms. Kanthi also has 9 years of leadership experience in Boeing Commercial Airplanes, working on 787 program in Charleston SC. She played a key role in leading composite fuselage structural qualification activities for 787 derivatives and Factory Readiness for future rate breaks. Prior to joining Boeing, Kanthi had 8 years of Model Based Design for Manufacturing & Serviceability experience working in the Automotive Industry. Kanthi volunteers her time to inspire and motivate young girls to pursue careers in STEM. Kanthi is an executive champion for Oklahoma City Boeing Asian and Pacific Association (BAPA), promoting diversity and inclusion.

Alyssa Grooms

Alyssa Grooms

Board Advisor

Alyssa Grooms is intellectual property counsel for Pratt & Whitney. She has extensive experience in a broad range of IP services, including patent and trademark preparation and prosecution, IP strategy development to meet business objectives, patent clearance and opinion work, IP portfolio evaluation for M&A, brand protection, and managing post grant challenges to patents. Alyssa also supports the business in various deals and IP-related agreements. Prior to Pratt & Whitney, Alyssa worked for boutique IP law firm Dunlap Codding in Oklahoma City.
Alyssa was born and raised in the southwest Chicago suburbs. She attended college at Northwestern University and the University of Illinois, where she studied Chemistry and Chemical Engineering. During undergrad, Alyssa gained valuable work experience through Chemical Engineering intern positions at Citgo Petroleum Corporation and Flint Hills Resources. Alyssa attended law school at the Oklahoma City University School of Law, where she graduated in the top 10% of her class and was involved in various school organizations, including serving as a Student Instructor and a member of Law Review. 
Alyssa enjoys staying active in the Oklahoma City community through volunteering and participating in athletic leagues. Alyssa is married to Keegan and they have two daughters: Caroline (3) and Natalie (1). In her spare time, you can find Alyssa working on her golf game.

Michael D. Davis

Michael D. Davis

Board Advisor

Michael is President and CEO of the Oklahoma Finance Authorities.  The Oklahoma Finance Authorities include both the Development Finance and Industrial Finance Authorities.  Each authority is actively engaged in providing financing solutions for public infrastructure and economic development throughout the state of Oklahoma.

Just prior to joining the Oklahoma Finance Authorities, Michael was Vice President of Finance at the Oklahoma Student Loan Authority where he was responsible for funding and secondary market strategies, public debt issuance and managing investor relations.

Mr. Davis is a native Oklahoman and holds Bachelor of Science degrees in both Quantitative Economics and Finance from Oklahoma State University.  Mr. Davis is a Certified Public Accountant and is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

Major General Lee K. Levy II

Major General Lee K. Levy II

Board Advisor

Maj. Gen. Lee K. Levy II was the Special Assistant to the Vice Chief of Staff, Headquarters. Prior to this assignment, he was the Commander, Air Force Sustainment Center, Air Force Materiel Command, headquartered at Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma. As the AFSC Commander, he leads nearly 43,000 Total Force U.S. and U.K. Airmen to deliver global combat effects for the immediate and long-term requirements of combatant commanders. Serving as the Logistics Numbered Air Force, AFSC is the enabling command for USAF readiness. The Center is composed of three Air Logistics Complexes, three Air Base Wings, two Supply Chain Wings, operating from a global network of 73 locations.

Maj. Gen. Levy was born in New Orleans. He entered the Air Force in 1985 as a Louisiana State University graduate. Maj. Gen. Levy has had numerous operational, command, and staff assignments leading logistics, civil engineering, and nuclear operations. Prior to his current position, he was Vice Director for Logistics (J4), the Joint Staff, Arlington, Virginia.

Colonel Casey D. Reed

Colonel Casey D. Reed

Board Advisor

Colonel Casey Reed enlisted in the military after graduating from Lawton High School in 1986. He was commissioned as an Infantry officer in 1995 and began his active-duty tour in 2006.  LTC Reed has served in multiple staff positions and has commanded at the company and battalion level.  His current assignment is as the Deputy Chief of Staff Operations (G3) for the Oklahoma National Guard.

COL Reed is a graduate of Infantry Officer Basic Course, Infantry Captains Career Course, Command and General Staff College, Advanced Operations Course, and the U.S Army War College.  He holds a Bachelor’s degree from Cameron University in Criminal Justice, a Master’s of History from American Military University and Masters of Strategic Studies from the Army War College.  COL Reed’s deployments consist of; Iraq in 2003 during Operation Iraqi Freedom, Hurricane Katrina, and Rita in New Orleans in 2005 and Operation Enduring Freedom Afghanistan in 2011.   Among his awards include the Bronze Star with one oak leaf cluster, the Purple Heart, the Meritorious Service Medal with six oak leaf clusters and the Humanitarian Medal.  He has also earned the Combat Infantryman’s Badge.

He is married to Julia and resides in Edmond. They have two children, Berkeley, age 26 and Haden age 19.

Keren Williams McLendon

Keren Williams McLendon

President / CEO of Robinson Aviation

Keren Williams McLendon is Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of both Robinson Aviation (RVA), Inc. and MedTrust LLC, where she provides overall management and direction of the two companies.  She establishes corporate goals, provides assistance to subordinate managers in business development, and establishes internal programs to train personnel. 

Keren joined RVA in 1994 as Accountant.  She was quickly promoted to Chief Financial Officer and joined the Board of Directors.  She was named President/CEO in 2016 and in 2018, the ownership group acquired MedTrust, LLC and named her President/CEO of that company as well. 

 Keren graduated from University of Central Oklahoma in 1995 with her Bachelor’s degree and then attended night school to earn her MBA, with Honors, from University of Central Oklahoma in 1998.  After several years’ hiatus from education, as a single mother, she attended Oklahoma City School of Law as a part-time student while continuing to work full-time from 2003-2007.  She graduated in May, 2007 with her Juris Doctor Degree, summa cum laude. She is admitted to practice law in the State of Oklahoma and the U.S. District Court Western District of Oklahoma.  She is the proud mother of one daughter, Alexandra, who is married to Zak, and the loving grandmother to Helen. Keren lives on five acres with five rescue dogs, one feral rescue cat, and numerous chickens. She volunteers with Oklahoma Lawyers for Children, Southern States Rottweiler Rescue and Col. Potter Cairn Rescue and is a member of WAI, ATCA, AAAE, and the Rotary Club of OKC. She is passionate about promoting women in business and leadership roles and actively acts as a mentor to other women.