By Tom Murphy, Director, Human Resiliency Institute.

Tomorrow’s airport leaders are showing, once again, that the lessons of 9/11’s aviation heroes still shape how they work and live. ACI-NA is proud to announce the three winners of the 2026 “Reclaiming the Sky” Essay Competition, which asks young aviation professionals to reflect on those stories of resiliency and what they mean for their own careers. The winners will be honored at ACI-NA’s Annual Conference and Exhibition in Philadelphia on September 17.

At the heart of the program is the book “Reclaiming the Sky,” which tells the stories of airport and airline employees who came to work in New York, Boston and Washington, D.C. on the morning of September 11, 2001, expecting an ordinary day. Instead, “just doing my job” became the creed of heroes. Those front-line workers responded with courage and selflessness that morning, and in the weeks and months that followed, they helped rebuild their industry, reclaim hope, and get America moving again.

Now in its fourth year, the “Reclaiming the Sky” Resiliency Program is a partnership between the Human Resiliency Institute at Fordham University, Airports Council International-North America, and SSP America. Young Professionals, those age 40 and under employed at ACI-NA member airports and industry partner organizations across the U.S. and Canada, receive a free e-book copy of “Reclaiming the Sky” and take part in a workshop with aviation mentors to explore its lessons. Afterward, they are invited to enter an essay competition sharing what they took from it.

Twenty-five Young Professionals participated in the 2026 essay competition. A panel of aviation leaders selected three winners:

• First Place: Camille Ramsingh, Manager, Commercial Land Development and Leasing, Greater Toronto Airports Authority
• Second Place: Leon Sniegowski, Managing Consultant, Ricondo and Associates
• Third Place: Brianna Covarrubias, Airport Compliance Coordinator, Port San Antonio

The first-place honor, the Susan M. Baer Award, is named for Susan Baer, who was General Manager of Newark Liberty International Airport on 9/11. Along with cash prizes of $1,000, $500 and $250, all three winners receive free registration at   ACI-NA’s Annual Conference and Exhibition, where they will connect with today’s aviation leaders and grow their professional networks. Their winning essays can be read at ReclaimingTheSky.com.

The other Young Professionals who participated in the 2026 competition were Lauren Brown, Robert Oliver, Caroline Wylie Hamilton, Jonathan Hanna, Sam Marsland, Soren Ceyrolles, Sabrina Khater, Alex Sterling, Jen Liu, Christa Phillips, Kyle Dorf, Kate Scott, Nakiba Karedia, Aswath Sridhar, Brianna Rountree, Julia Cypher, Aireyanna Kennedy, Antonette Chambers, Julie Boulos, Avril Shakiiira and Emalee McRae.

For more information, or for airports and industry partners interested in joining the program’s 2027 expansion, please visit ReclaimingTheSky.com.