The Congresswoman Frederica Wilson (FL-24) funding check of $850,000 held by The Carrie Meek Foundation President and CEO, Lucia Davis-Raiford, center left and Experience Aviation President, Barrington Irving, center right, are surrounded by officials related to the Aviation Center. PHOTO COURTESY OF CARRIE MEEK FOUNDATION

OPA-LOCKA, Fla. – On Friday, Congresswoman Frederica Wilson (FL-24) visited Experience Aviation/The Flying Classroom at Miami-Opa-Locka Executive Airport to present a check of $850,000 to The Carrie Meek Foundation. The appropriation will fund the Carrie Meek Aviation Workforce Innovation Center, a state-of-the-art upskilling location that will serve residents in OpaLocka, Liberty City, Miami Gardens, and Hialeah. The project is in collaboration with Experience Aviation, led by renowned pilot Barrington Irving, whose technical training school prepares students across the nation for careers in aviation and STEM-related fields. This funding is part of Fiscal Year 2024 Congressional Appropriations.

“I’m thrilled to support the Carrie Meek Aviation Workforce Innovation Center. There is no better way to support our communities than by providing ladders of economic opportunity. People want the opportunity to work hard and be rewarded for a job well done,” Wilson said.

“Miami is a major transportation hub with high-paying jobs. Too many workers don’t know how to get into the Aviation workforce or lack the skills. That’s why I’m proud to support this innovative job center, which empowers workers with the skills and resources to land high-paying jobs in the aviation industry.”

The center aims to host technicians from STEM fields to provide aviation industry-specific workforce skills training, and job placement opportunities for residents in North Dade and the surrounding area who are unemployed or underemployed. The facility will include labs for 3D printing, advanced manufacturing, electrical systems, green technologies and other technical skills.

“The Carrie Meek Aviation Workforce Innovation Center will be a groundbreaking collaboration between The Carrie Meek Foundation and Experience Aviation,” said Lucia Davis-Raiford, president and CEO of the Foundation. “It will open doors by increasing awareness of opportunities, then building the talent base to match those opportunities through expert training, career development and economic impact to our community. We are grateful to Congresswoman Wilson for understanding how well-paying jobs in growing industries can lift the livelihood of families in Miami-Dade.”

“It meant a lot to me as a young Black man in today’s society because not a lot of Black men get offered a lot of opportunities in this field of work, so it was an amazing event,” said Natory Dixon, a student at the Barrington Irving Technical Training School.

“Never in my life did I ever think that I was going to get introduced to the aviation field. It was crazy because I was in Miami-Dade Boot camp program, so I got introduced by there and it was like something good that happened out of something bad because I was incarcerated and I got introduced to BITTS through there, so it means a lot to me because I have something on right now,” said Dabil Chavaria, a 21 year old student at Barrington Irving Technical Training School. “The event I feel it helped everybody out because they’re going to be able to do a lot more students with the funding–more projects, more handon tools and I feel good about the whole experience.”