Our Executive Mentors

William J. Pomerantz

Will Pomerantz is an aerospace executive with two decades of experience in the entrepreneurial and non-profit sectors. He currently serves as the Head of Space Ventures at AeroVironment, where he leads the team that build the Collier-Trophy winning Mars Ingenuity helicopter in partnership with NASA JPL. In that role, Will leads the new space business unit within the company’s MacCready Works Advanced Solutions division as they develop the Mars Sample Recovery Helicopters and other future missions.

Prior to joining AeroVironment, Will served as Vice President for Special Projects and Employee #001 at Virgin Orbit, Vice President for Special Projects at Virgin Galactic, and Senior Director of Space Prizes at the XPRIZE Foundation, among other roles.

He is passionate about ensuring that talented people from all walks of life have the ability to participate in and contribute to the exploration of space. Will is a Co-Founder of both the Brooke Owens Fellowship and the Patti Grace Smith Fellowship, two award-winning mentorship and work experience programs focused on enabling more female, non-binary, and Black undergraduates to pursue successful aerospace careers. For many years, he served as the Chair of the Board of Advisors and as a Trustee of SEDS-USA, the world's largest student space organization. Will was also the co-founder and Editor-in-Chief of SpaceAlumni.com, an early social network for space professionals.

Will holds a bachelors degree in Earth and Planetary Sciences from Harvard and a masters degree in Space Studies from the International Space University. He is also a graduate of the NASA Academy, NASA's premiere leadership training program for undergraduate and graduate students.

In 2004, Will co-founded and served as Editor-in-Chief of SpaceAlumni.com, an early social network for space professionals. He has served on two US Federal Advisory Committees: the Federal Aviation Administration’s Commercial Space Transportation Advisory Committee (COMSTAC) and the National Academies of Science and Engineering’s Committee on Building a Better NASA Workforce.

Will is a working father and the proud husband of Diana Trujillo.