The most influential drone women to follow online in 2020
This International Women’s month — and every month — listen to the conversations that female drone industry experts are having. To make it easy for you, here’s a list of the most influential drone women to follow this year.
We’ve broken it down by social network and platform, so you can follow them through your favorite means of consuming information. Some women appear in multiple categories, because they’re especially prolific on multiple social networks! And because the drone industry expands out into other verticals like oil and gas, manned aviation, engineering and more, we’ve also included a few women whose scope of expertise expands beyond just drones too.
This list is far too short — to make it any longer would take me weeks (and trust me, I could make it longer!). Help me out by commenting with some of your favorite people to follow in the comments section below.
With that said, here’s a handful of influential drone women we’re following in 2020:
The most influential drone women to follow on Twitter in 2020:
Sara Baxenberg, @sbaxenberg: She calls herself your friendly neighborhood drone lawyer, and she’s definitely someone you’ll want to know. She works as a telecom, media, and tech attorney for Wiley Rein LLP, and her tweets are just one piece of evidence that she is an expert in areas like Remote ID.
Andra Keay, @RobotLaunch: If there’s a drone startup, Andra Keay probably knows about it. That’s because she founded a global startup competition called Robot Launch, in addition to her work founding the Robot Garden maker space and Women in Robotics. On top of that, she’s the Managing Director of Silicon Valley Robotics, a non-profit industry group supporting innovation and commercialization of robotics technologies.
Kara Murphy, @karaemurphyco: If there’s ever drone industry news, Kara Murphy knows it. Murphy writes about the drone industry for a number of websites including DroneLife (one of our favorites too!) and Digital Photography Review, frequently covering the latest regulations, events and more. Follow her to stay on pace with the latest drone news.
Dr. Catherine Ball, @DrCatherineBall: Dr. Catherine Ball is a business woman, associate professor, futurist, and possibly some sort of certified super genius. Based in Australia, she posts about drones for good, STEM, science, business, leadership and more.
Mikell Taylor, @MikellTaylor: Mikell (pronounced Michael) Taylor is a master of all things robotics. Her tweets are a charming mix of funny, newsworthy and thought-provoking. Her feed encompasses a range of robotics — flying or otherwise.
Lisa Ellman, @LeeLellman: Lisa Ellman is the Global UAS Practice Chair at Hogan Lovells, and she must have a time turner, as she seems to be everywhere. She led the DOJ’s effort to develop a policy that would govern the use of drones in the U.S., and represented the DOJ in the federal interagency process considering UAS-related policy issues. She is doing lobbying work for Apple, she co-founded the Commercial Drone Alliance, and – oh yeah – she’s friends with former President Barack Obama.
Helen Greiner, @helengreiner: Helen Greiner is the co-founder iRobot (yes, she creatted the Roomba!). She has also done extensive work in the drone industry, having created tethered drone company CyPhy Works, which sadly shut down. She tweets about all sorts of robotics, but most of it tends to revolve around drones.
Rebecca Kesten, @FncRebecca: How’s this for a cool job? Rebecca Kesten works for Fox News as a drone pilot. She’s always tweeting and retweeting the most important drone news, whether it’s live tweets from CES, or sharing the latest FAA updates.
The most influential drone women to follow on Instagram in 2020:
Huda Bin Redha, @hudabinr: She’s a lawyer first, a drone photographer second. But maybe it’s the other way around, as her drone photography skills are sublime. She’s based in Dubai.
Kara Murphy, @karaemurphy: We gave Kara Murphy’s Twitter a shoutout for her excellent writing and reporting, but she deserves a shoutout for her photography skills too. She posts her stunning drone photos to her Instagram. You can even purchase your favorites in print format.
Elena Buenrostro, @elenabuenrostro: Besides being absolutely adorable and bubbly, Elena Buenrostro is the founder of a group called Women Who Drone. I love following her amazing life on Instagram. She’s always either on a cruise ship photographing gorgeous beaches with her drone, or on the Oscars Red Carpet — sans drone. Either way, her Instagram is aspirational and delightful.
Victoria Volchenko, @iamdronegirl: Based in Russia, Volchenko uses her drone to photograph amazing natural landscapes and cityscapes. She has a creative eye, capturing everyday life with a fresh perspective.
Lexie Janson, @maionhigh: Lexie Janson is a talented drone racer, and I can’t get enough of her FPV racing videos. She travels the world for drone racing competitions, and she documents her life on her account, giving you a glimpse of her travels, her gear, her competitions, and her flights themselves.
The most influential, female-led drone websites in 2020:
DroneLife: DroneLife is one of my favorite sources for drone news. I read them every day, and you should too! Their editor-in-chief is Miriam McNabb, who also serves as the CEO of JobForDrones, an online commercial drone marketplace.
Amelia Dronehart Facebook group: What started as a tiny messaging board initiated by drone enthusiast Rhianna Lakin as a for women to help each other out, has evolved into a massive, worldwide community. While it’s a closed group, it’s a welcoming community. You’ll have to request to join, but once you’re approved, you’ll get access to a community of helpful, unpretentious and generous women who want to support other female drone pilots!
AirVuz: A huge chunk of drone video sharing site AirVuz’s leadership team is made up of women. Megan Gaffney serves as Airvuz’s Vice President of Marketing, and Jenny Mirković is the Vice President of Community Management, among a number of other smart women helping run the show. AirVuz’s footprint is gettting even bigger in 2020; the company acquired the New York City Drone Film Festival and will run the event this summer.
The Drone Lass: Here’s another blog I love! Run by Carys Kaiser, the blog follows her journey flying drones, while also throwing in some news about drone laws and events.
I can’t possibly list all the amazing female drone leaders to follow online this year, so help me out by leaving the names and URLs of more of your favorites in the comments below!
And of course, if you don’t follow me, please do! I’m on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube. Happy flying, and happy following!
Where is Sally French? I thought this was a listing of the most influential ladies in the drone world.
Loretta Alkalay?
She’s the greatest! Yes!