Space for Humanity is revolutionizing access to space travel by launching the planet's first sponsored citizen astronaut program, aiming to send 10,000 diverse individuals to space over the next decade.

In this episode of Logistics with Purpose, host Kristi Porter and Aisha Said, the director of Human Experience at Space for Humanity, delve into the transformative power of experiencing Earth from above and how it can inspire impactful change.

Aisha shares her unique upbringing in Canada, her journey through education, and her passion for inclusivity in both teaching and space exploration. The conversation highlights the significance of the "overview effect," where seeing our planet from space can shift perspectives and motivate individuals to tackle global challenges.

Join us as we explore the intersection of space travel, community development, and the drive to make a positive difference in the world.

Additional Links & Resources:

• Connect with Aisha on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aisha-said-57132321a/
• Learn more about Space for Humanity: https://spaceforhumanity.org/?locale=en
• Astronaut Application: https://spaceforhumanity.org/apply
• Learn more about Logistics with Purpose: https://supplychainnow.com/program/logistics-with-purpose
• Learn more about Vector Global Logistics: https://vectorgl.com/
• Subscribe to Logistics with Purpose: https://logistics-with-purpose.captivate.fm/listen

This episode was hosted by Kristi Porter. For additional information, please visit our dedicated show page at: https://supplychainnow.com/earth-space-space-humanity-democratizing-space-travel-lwp117

Welcome to Logistics with Purpose, presented by Vector Global Logistics in partnership with Supply Chain.

Now we spotlight and celebrate organizations who are dedicated to creating a positive impact.

Join us for this behind the scenes glimpse of the origin stories, change making progress, and future plans of organizations who are actively making a difference.

Our goal isn't just to entertain you, but to inspire you to go out and change the world.

And now, here's today's episode of Logistics with Purpose.

Hello, everyone, and thank you for joining us for another podcast.

We're going to go a little bit interstellar on this episode, so we usually cover things that are happening on the ground.

And this time, which we've done, I think, only once before, we're going to hit you with a topic that's coming from space, which of course is a huge topic right now.

And I have been following this organization for a while, so I am delighted to talk to Aisha Said, director of Human experience at Space.

Space for Humanity.

Space for Humanity.

So they may not be the ones that are all over the news at this point, but we're going to tell you more about them soon and you're going to want to listen in because it's going to be a really fun conversation.

And just Aisha's story in general is really exciting, and all you travelers out there are going to get something out of that as well.

So first of all, Aisha, welcome.

It's so good to chat with you.

Thank you so much for having me.

Well, before we get into all the exciting adventures that you're up to, just to get us started, I want to ask some quick questions and you're just going to respond with the first thing that comes to mind, okay?

You bet.

Okay, so main thing you do to start the morning and to start with.

Energy, a strong cup of coffee.

The classic Lebanese singer, Pharus.

Wow.

Okay.

All right.

I may have to come back to that one later then.

That's awesome.

Your best skill, Problem solving.

Good one.

Favorite movie?

Can I do a series?

Sure.

The American Office.

I love it.

Oh, yeah.

Yes, I'm with you there.

A quote that you live by.

Be the change you want to see every day.

Really?

And favorite planet or star?

For sure.

Hands down, Mars.

Okay, okay, we'll talk more about that soon.

So before I go on, do you identify with one character in the audience office more than the others?

No, I just see myself a fly on the wall.

Yes.

And I just love the shenanigans they get up to.

Absolutely.

I agree, it would be a blast.

But also, I would rather be a fly.

On the wall than actually having to work there, I think.

So.

Thank you so much for those answers.

Fascinating.

We'll probably come back to a few of those as well.

But before we get into what's current, let's talk about your background.

So tell us a little bit about where you grew up in your childhood.

You bet.

So I was born in Ottawa, Ontario, with the capital city, Canada, Big, bustling city.

When I was seven years old, we moved to northern Alberta, Canada.

Very small, very remote, a hamlet.

So really isolated.

My mom worked on the reservation in this very, very small town.

And it was, you know, looking back on it, such a blessing because I grew up around a lot of traditional indigenous influence.

You never think about how isolation really creates community.

And of course, in those times to date myself, we didn't have the Internet, and so the toys you had were, you know, flat full.

Couldn't acquire many, you know, new, like a new set of toys.

Wow, that was Christmas.

And, like, very exciting.

So, you know, I think my love of problem solving really came from having only a few things to kind of rejig and create new and exciting games with my friends.

And also being outside in nature and having no fear of the outdoors was such a unique experience growing up.

Yes, absolutely.

So, yeah, I've been close to Ottawa.

I haven't been there before.

Haven't been any higher than Edmonton.

So I definitely.

And of course, we're recording this in mid October.

We just had a phenomenal northern lights experience across the US So I imagine you got to see some of that as well.

Oh, yeah.

Growing up all the time, we had northern lights.

And actually, you know, it's believed that if you rub your fingers together, the northern lights dance for you.

Okay, I'll keep that in mind next time.

Next time.

Yeah, rub your little fingers together.

Okay, I'll do that.

And then, as you mentioned, so the reservation, very interesting, unique experience.

So I'm sure there's probably a story from that time that helped shaped who you are, what you do now.

Oh, yeah, absolutely.

So I think I was lucky that in my 20s, I kind of sat back and really digested and reflected a lot.

But growing up at that time, there was so much in your face racism that happened.

So in northern Alberta, it's an oil and gas town, and so we had a lot of people coming in or the oil rigs and really coming in with a mentality, you know, that had overt racism attached to it.

The region had also been ravaged by residential schools.

And so, you know, that's when the policy was to take children from parents to re educate.

So this had really left the region in a lot of ways scarred, but at the same time coming together as community.

And there was, you know, so much rich cultural heritage.

And so I felt like I was nestled within that, but at the, at the same time hyper aware of the politics that surrounded me.

Yeah, that was one of the things I was going to ask.

A lot of times when we're kids, we don't recognize like if we're in a unique situation or something interesting is happening around us.

You know, it's just kind of this is who you are and what you live with every day.

So you did recognize it for what it was.

Well, you know, I'm biracial, my dad is East African and my mom is European Canadian.

And there was not a lot of multiculturalism in Northern Alberta.

However, there was very much a lot of, you know, the kids in the school, some kids wouldn't play with me because they thought I was indigenous.

Some kids thought, oh, her mom's white, so she must be white.

So there was a lot of politics that the kids brought in from what they heard at the dinner table.

And so my mom, being a social worker and also seeing this go on, really tried to walk me through it, especially surrounding creating an identity because it's so hard to navigate when there's just such in your face racism that you grew up around.

Yeah, absolutely.

And your mom, I'm sure taught you some valuable lessons as well.

And I'm sure that was a very fulfilling and challenging career that she had in social work as well.

Did she see positive changes?

I hope happen?

You know, it's interesting, I get so much from my mom.

She was original hippie.

Okay.

Left home, traveled to Northern Canada before we went up.

She had, you know, as a teenager lived up north and just fell in love with the people and the culture.

And you know, I really believe her heart was just in Northern Alberta.

She loved it up there.

Oh, that's awesome.

It is a beautiful, beautiful place.

So speaking of Canada, you actually graduated from the University of Calgary earning a bachelor's degree in International Development Studies.

Makes a lot of sense in what you just said.

And then pursued a Bachelor of Education in inclusive education, which I didn't even know was something that you could major in, so.

But also sounds very fitting with how you grew up.

So what were you planning to do at that time?

Well, I knew I was just really curious about the injustice in the world and how education was a key that opened up so, so many doors and an elusive key, like it was kind of tossed to some people, other people had to find it.

And so that's why I took that degree in international development studies.

And I was curious about learning and how best to teach and how people learn best, the traditional ways of knowing.

And so I took that second degree in education, not wanting to be a classroom teacher, but really wanting to know how people tick and how they learn.

And interestingly enough, it was a two year after degree and I thought, you know, I'll go into social studies, I've traveled a lot, love a map, love a little history.

And I'll tell you what, I just couldn't sit through the lecture, I was so bored.

And so someone said, well, you love a challenge, you're a problem solver, why don't you look into inclusive education?

And so fell in love from the first moment because it is so complicated and so important.

So we're looking at linguistic differences, cultural differences, physical and cognitive, and really tweaking the lesson, tweaking the delivery so that every learner feels like they're attaining success, loves the day, is having fun.

And you know, long gone are the days of the special education room, instead, you know, it's on the teacher to create an environment where everyone can find their footing.

Wow, I wish that more and more teachers could go through something like that.

It sounds like, sounds like an incredible program, an incredible time to learn.

And of course the education system does not change very quickly and so that sounds like it could be a huge benefit to others.

So there's also the dynamics of not wanting people to have a separate space, to want them to feel included.

But of course then also trying to manage so many dynamics within a classroom setting.

So what are some takeaways from that that you learned about key learning styles, either challenges or opportunities?

Yeah, something that I learned is that, you know, and I think that this talks to my upbringing as well, is that we need to go back and really study traditional ways of learning and really acknowledge that a classroom is an institution.

And so no kidding, it's really tricky when you about 30, 35 kids in a room and you expect everyone to have a great time with the rows of death.

Right.

And so I'm a really big proponent of a flexible learning environment of many teachers teaching at the same time.

Right.

You know, they say it takes a village, but when we actually break it down and we have a few teachers in the room and we have a bigger space and we have some flexible learning environments, you really start seeing the success and you also are able to, you know, it's not about separating to another classroom, but sometimes you do need to pull someone aside and one on one, ask some more direct learning, break things down differently, and that's okay, but in a rigid classroom, really hard logistically to do.

Absolutely.

And what do you mean by multiple people teaching at the same time?

Yeah, so, you know, we can have many adults in a room.

Okay.

And so what I love to see is maybe someone who specializes in language and so they're over reading a book, you've got someone else talking about numbers, patterns, shapes, you know, a mathematics specialist, you know, somewhere else.

I think people are overwhelmed by the idea of kind of like breaking down the walls in a school.

But the only real lesson for kids is like, you know, the tone of the voice.

And once you get that down, you can really have different learning centers and different little hubs and areas where you've got different teachers all teaching at the same time.

That's an idea that really excites me.

Yeah, I think that sounds very cool and very collaborative.

And of course, back to your upbringing sounds very community driven, so it makes a lot of sense as well.

Well, you did end up doing some teaching.

You were in Mexico and China and Dubai.

You just talked about your travel experiences.

Tell us more about that.

So you did end up going into teaching for a while.

Yeah, exactly.

I, you know, I knew that I couldn't talk about pedagogy and how people learn if I didn't take the time to teach.

And I knew I needed to do it internationally because I also wanted that experience.

And so, yeah, I actually started in my first degree.

I didn't even have my learning or my teaching credentials.

And I taught in Mexico, I taught in Kenya, finished, came back to Canada, finished my degree, taught in Macau, China for a few years, taught in Dubai.

And something that I really learned was that kids are the exact same no matter where you go.

They just want to have fun, you know, and parents are the exact same as well.

They want their kids to be happy, to be safe, to feel fulfilled.

People get really caught up by, you know, our differences, and it's really important that we take the time to understand our differences.

Right.

Those intercultural communication skills, so important not to be missed.

But at the end of the day, we've got so much more in common than we have.

Indifference.

Absolutely.

Yes.

Thank you.

And is there something that the education system in one of those countries was doing that you would really like to see brought to other places?

Oh, I mean, each one had a little, a little gem to it.

I think there's something really magical about my first school in Mexico because they just let me run with it.

You know, they had some pedagogy that they needed ticked off, but they were really open.

And so I did so many really cool things with the kids.

Talking about, you know, learning about different cultures, learning about the world around us.

Really hands on learning that.

I think that other schools that are a little bit more set in their ways can be a little bit rigid in letting a teacher just kind of run with what the kids find interesting and doing that exploration.

Yeah, that sounds really cool.

What an amazing experience.

You're currently in Egypt.

Have you picked up languages in or at least phrases in all of these different places?

Do you speak multiple languages?

So I became fluent in Spanish in Mexico.

Okay, again, truly dating myself.

We had no Google Translate.

I had a little notebook.

And I taught two classes, grade three and grade six.

And I had only one student who spoke English.

Also the other teachers, it was rural Mexico.

A lot of the teachers didn't speak English either.

So I would pass this student on her lunch break to come to my classroom and I would be like, okay, how do I say this?

Or I heard this?

What does this mean?

And it was that true immersion.

And it happened really quick.

But I was also like 19, though I was a sponge as you mentioned.

Right now I'm in Egypt trying so hard to learn Egyptian Arabic, have a bit of a time scramble because I have a one year old.

Oh yeah.

So as long as I learned just a little beforehand, then I'm doing okay.

Or he can just teach you.

Oh, exactly.

That's awesome.

I was talking to a friend the other day and she was talking about when she broke down her car broke down in another country, but her kids were had grown up there and could speak it.

So she was having to use them as trans translators to get the car fixed and towed and all of those kind of little things.

So yes, it's amazing to be able to pick it up when you're young.

And so many beautiful languages that you've been around too, and beautiful cultures.

What are some of your favorite cultural traditions that you've seen?

Oh, wow.

I could just go on and on and on.

The first one that popped into your mind?

Well, when I was in Kenya, I think there was so much to learn.

I also didn't work at a school.

I was working at different orphanages.

And so traditional education, traditional learning really interests me.

And so there was a lot of teaching children, teaching children about the different tribes.

Maybe that they belong to.

Maybe not.

Maybe they knew the tribe they came from, maybe they didn't if they were an orphan.

But there was house mamas and I saw the house mamas as the most important person at the school.

Like forget about the principal, forget about the teachers, certainly forget about me.

These house mamas, because they were teaching life skills how to do their laundry, they would, you know, tell stories and also traditional stories of different tribes and tribalism is something also that certain parts of the world really connect with and it can be really unifying.

And so teaching that to children in a modern way really fascinates me.

Yes, absolutely.

Well, I know we could spend forever just talking about your travel and the things that you've learned.

But let's also of course, spend a little time on Space for Humanity, which is why we're here.

Tell us.

It is not, you know, space is on.

I feel like everybody's all the news cycles right now.

It's in the news all the time.

It's something that's going on.

But space for humanity might not be as well known yet.

So tell us the origin story and your mission.

You bet.

So Space for Humanity is an American nonprofit and we have the planet's first sponsored citizen astronaut program.

So we're sending regular civilians to space.

It can democratize access and improve the state of the world.

So democratize access.

That is definitely something that we're seeing you all take a lead in.

It's something we've seen on the news right now until very recently.

Until recently it has been dominated, which seemed rightly so, by people who have studied, you know, and done these test missions and everything for decades.

So how long is the training?

How long does the trip last?

How do you democratize something that seems like it would take some specialized skill?

Very good questions.

All very good questions.

So right now we have the advancement of commercial space flights.

And so those space providers are looking to send people to space.

It's a very limited trip, but we still have astronauts who are going out for scientific research for different mission specific purpose or maybe to spend some time at the iss.

Now you can still be a visitor and a paying civilian, but these different vessels that are taking people are now able to say, okay, it's a short duration suborbital space flight and we can open the door because you're not up There for like months at a time.

You're up there for maybe 10 to 15 minutes.

And so now the barrier to entry is a lot lower because things such as health metrics, you know, they can open the door.

Of course they have chief medical officers that give the final okay.

But at the end of the day, you know, we're seeing people in their 90s flying and so the risk is a lot lower and it's really opening the door for many more people to have that experience.

Incredible.

How many missions have you done so far?

We've sent two people to space.

Okay.

Maxia Ecuzareta, the first Mexican born woman and Sarah Sabri, the first Egyptian to go to space and the first Middle Eastern woman and African woman to go to space.

Wow.

Incredible.

As we've kind of been discussing, it's on actually mentioned on your website to expand access to space for all of humanity.

What is?

You're talking about diversity and inclusion.

You just talked about some major firsts that have been happening.

What is your criteria?

How do people apply?

Asking not just for a friend, because I've applied as well.

So it's time to give us all the scoop.

Yeah, let's get into the nitty gritty because I feel like I lose people right at the moment of we send people to space, right?

Yes.

And they're like, why?

What's so important about this?

Well, we've got a program where we're saying to people, okay, we're going to send leaders to space who want to make change.

So we look at three criteria.

We look at their leadership, community development and impact.

Because once they go up to space and they have this overview effect.

So seeing the earth from above, we know that there's a cognitive shift that kind of changes perception and this acceleration in big problem solving.

We've seen scientists come back to earth and now flip to wanting to do philanthropy and be change makers.

And so the idea is we're sending people we already know have high scores in being change makers to go up, have this awe inspirational experience, come back down.

And we say to them, okay, now we're asking you to do a year long impact project.

We create it together, we look for impact markers so we really know there's going to be change, lasting change here on earth.

And we asked them to do that for one year post flight.

Okay, fantastic.

That is amazing and very cool to see.

It isn't just 10 to 15 minutes, it is a lasting impact.

Beyond that, along those lines, also on your website you have.

We believe our future in space will Be determined by who we resolve to be on Earth today.

Very powerful statement.

And you talk about the overview effect and how it impacts astronauts lives.

So explain the overview effect.

I think you just started talking about it there.

And explain more about that statement.

Sure, yeah, absolutely.

So you know, we believe that the world's biggest problems are all solvable, but they're human problems.

And so they need people to come back down to Earth, you know, who have this new kind of inspirational second set of eyes, if you will.

And so the overview effect in its essence, changing your paradigm shift or giving you a paradigm shift.

And so we want leaders to go up, come back down to Earth and then relook at the world's biggest problems.

Now we really don't want this to be a joyride.

And that's why we have the criteria, the leadership, community development and impact.

We want everyone to go to space, but in our program we want people who are really dedicated to coming back down to Earth and creating lasting change.

And how do you envision space travel influencing our understanding of humanity's place in the universe?

I think we kind of all heard the stories of, you know, you get such a different perspective when you're looking down at Earth and you have automatically more empathy and more understanding of you're a little piece in such a big place.

What have you seen?

How have you chosen to look at that?

What I hear from people, I haven't had the experience myself yet.

Fingers crossed yet.

Exactly.

But there is this now undeniable rush to create change for the world when you can see it as such a small fragile planet.

From a different perspective.

There is this like, oh, we need to protect this, we need to do change now and stop with, you know, hoeing and humming and theoretical change.

No, it's practical change.

And I think something else is really important to know is that you know, going off world and just that perspective shift, you're now looking down on everything you've ever known, everyone you've ever loved or will love, all housed in this just a very fragile planet.

So it's this knee jerk reaction of like, I'm going to create change, I'm going to do it right now.

And you know, Katya, Echo Zaretta, I remember her talking to me about this.

And she had always been making change, you know, and that's why she was selected.

But she came back down and she was like, well, why wouldn't I talk to the president of Mexico?

They're just a person.

And I was like, oh my gosh, of course they're just a person.

But I'm a little nervous.

I would be quite nervous to be talking to some presidents right now.

And so there's this unifying perspective change that comes and barriers that you had previously held now all of a sudden just go away.

Jolt of courage for sure.

I'm guessing after you do something like that, you fear very little.

Exactly.

What's there to lose?

Right.

There's a new horizon to climb and that's probably about it.

So of course there have been over the last decade especially probably really more like over the last five years there have been so many fascinating discoveries in space travel in space, People going up, people getting stuck, which sounds like it actually doesn't sound so bad to me.

But I'll let others chime in on that.

You actually talked about when we first started talking, you talked about Mars.

So what are some exciting things that you're seeing?

Of course, Artemis is getting ready to go.

Mars is on lots of people's topic list when it comes to space.

What about you?

Well, you know, first I want to touch on that.

Space is in the news like you've mentioned.

And I think that's actually the biggest change that I've seen in the last like two years.

Because before space was very, you know, held to the side, people weren't really interested.

Why is this important?

Was always brought up, which, you know, is an understandable question.

But we've got a lot of new launches, we've got new discoveries, we've got people talking about space.

And that for me is actually the most important change that has happened.

We need everyone at the table because not just for conversation, but the international world needs to shape what outer space looks like right now.

You know, we've got bodies that are deciding all kinds of different norms and policy and regulation.

And I think everyone needs to be a part of that discussion.

Absolutely.

And what has you so excited about Mars?

I'll go back to that.

You mentioned it earlier.

Yeah.

Mars is tricky.

Mars is really tricky.

A lot of people have it set for the first place that we're going to create a colony.

It's really, really hard.

It's not an easy place.

We can create a problem for everything or a solution for every problem.

Sorry, but Mars just has problem after problem after problem and problems that are not compatible with life.

And so I'm really interested to see how we're going to approach this as a species.

You know, do we want to create an off world habitat?

Do we want to be growing things on another planet?

Something that's really interesting to me is we've got some companies that are looking at growing things off planet, Plants, for example, and they're looking at growing plants on the moon, you know, chupi one day on a colony.

But something that they've kind of forgotten about is a lot of people believe that plants have, you know, a spirit to them that are alive.

And so a conversation that's been had with a lot of indigenous peoples is, how are we doing this?

And is it right to be taking living things off planet to be really isolated to grow just for our benefit?

Is there any ethical issues that are coming up?

Wow, that's an interesting conversation.

Yes.

And it reminds me of the Martian, one of my favorite movies, a classic.

It's so good.

You talked about some challenges, not only with just the moon, Mars, anything like that, but just we've seen, I think, you know, 10, 15 years ago, of course, SpaceX, when what they laid out would just seemed so ambitious.

Now you're talking about space for humanity and really democratizing it.

Because it isn't just.

It's not only the aspect of anybody can go up.

Theirs is more like, if you have the money, you can go up.

Yours is more like based on diversity and inclusion and impact.

And you're a nonprofit.

And so what have some of the challenges been trying to get this idea off the ground as well, literally.

Yeah, well, the price tag.

Yeah.

Because as you said, if you can pay, you can fly.

And we're trying to create equity there and as a nonprofit, be able to, you know, create that sponsored flight.

But those seats are pricey.

And so we do have a number of providers that support us and have different initiatives.

But at the end of the day, we're just also waiting for spaceflight to be more accessible because it is more affordable as well.

Absolutely.

And there seem to be.

We've touched on this a little bit so far.

There's kind of two sides of the space travel conversation right now.

One is probably more like you and me and the awe and wonder and the potential for advancement.

The other side is more focused on cost and how not just, you know, can Jeff or Elon fund their own missions, but should that money be actually used here for people who need it on Earth?

Why is this even happening when there are plenty of good causes down here?

How do you guys chime in on the pro space conversation?

You know, and it's interesting too, because I'm living in the part of the world that needs an influx of resources and support.

And so it's hard living here to Say, okay, I work in the space industry.

And they're like, look around you.

Why?

Why?

Well, I think it's important to know that this conversation is happening, this advancement is happening and we want everyone, as I just talked about, everyone at the table, right?

There's so many resources and spaces set to be a trillion dollar industry.

So we don't want that just in the hands of a few, because that's what it will look like inevitably.

And those resources, we don't.

Well, you guys were busy with other problems and so we just had a few, you know, folks from the Western world managing these resources.

No, we need everyone to be part of the conversation now.

There's a lot in terms of sustainability, if you're sending something to space, it better be reusable, right?

Lessons that we can be learning here on Earth in terms of sustainability, reusability, technology being a support.

And so I think that it's important that as we're taking one step off Earth, that we're also using all of the technology and initiatives here on Earth at the exact same time.

I really don't want us to be looking forward without, you know, really looking at what our needs are today, right now.

Yeah, absolutely.

Can we talk about some of what the two women have gone up so far?

Can we talk about some of what their impact, future impact is, or is that still secret?

Oh, no, this is, this is no secret.

This is no secret at all.

And so you've got Katia Ecuador, the first Mexican born woman.

She has created a foundation and she is doing learning initiatives, really doing a lot with policymaking in Mexico, so that young people who look at her as an inspiration, and that's also a huge one, waves of people now see themselves going to space, but she's creating true, tangible ways for them to get involved in the space industry in Mexico.

And so that has been huge.

She's become a public figure and you know, if you take a look at our Instagram and we share some of her stories, she's blossomed also in terms of what interests her.

And she's in the fashion world and she's on magazines and she's been saying, you know, you don't have to choose if you're into them, you don't have to erase part of your passions because it might not fit into this hyper masculine career choice that, you know, unfortunately, it's very hard if you're a gender minority.

Yeah, absolutely.

I mean, it's funny because so much of our conversation it sounds like this futurist movement, but it's happening now your team is making it happen.

What is some of the impact you've seen so far?

Clearly, getting people up into space, big impact, big goals.

And you've started meeting those already.

But I'm sure you've had lots of applicants, lots of, you know, just people interested in what you're doing.

What are some of the impacts that you've seen across the spectrum?

Yes.

So when I came on board to Space for Humanity, I wasn't the director of programs and I wasn't supporting in the Citizen Astronaut program.

I was on the sidelines, as interested as the next person.

And then I slowly supported and I saw that my background in inclusion was helpful for selection.

My background in pedagogy and in creating learning was helpful in preparing people for space travel.

And so, you know, I come at this as someone on the outside looking in.

And each round I see changes in the applicant.

And when we put in and we said, okay, we need leadership, we need community development, and we need impact.

Those are very.

We've got so many different ways that you can.

You can show markers for those.

But what I saw was that people.

I said, I'm interested in going to space, but more importantly, I'm interested in changing the world.

And each year I will read so many applicants, thousands.

And I've noted a few people and, you know, it kept tabs.

And they're motivated to create this lasting change.

Yeah, it helps their application for sure, but they're getting satisfaction from it and it's creating this momentum in and of itself.

And we like to give pointers and support people along their impact journey, you know, as applicants.

And we like to check in with people and motivate them that, like, hey, what you're doing is really amazing.

So, yes, we've got our Sarah and our Katyas of the world who, you know, like I said, go on our Instagram, you'll see their impact stories.

But we've got thousands of people behind the scenes, our applicants, who are creating lasting impact.

And that really motivates me every time I dig into the applicant pool and take a look at what people are achieving.

That's very cool.

What is coming?

There's so much you've done already, but you're still a relatively new organization.

So what can we expect?

What's coming in the future?

What are the goals of the organization?

We want to connect more with those applicants, with those thousands of people that have their eyes set on the skies and set on creating change.

We want to get to know them, create communities surrounding them.

You know, I don't want to spill too many beans, but we're looking at doing more things than just individual space flight.

Of course, we will always have our citizen astronaut program.

There's nothing like it out there in the world.

And so we want to keep doing that, but we want to also motivate young learners, researchers, different people to democratize access to space as a whole.

Very cool.

Well, I'm excited to see what's next for sure.

Thank you so much for your time.

This was so fun.

And as a fan of the organization, I'm delighted to connect with you and to chat and learn more about you personally than just what I read online or your LinkedIn profile.

You have a fascinating background and then you're doing some pretty important things right now.

So thank you for helping democratize space travel, which is just put that on a business card.

That's pretty amazing.

But how can people connect with you?

Of course, I'm sure after listening to this, we have more people that want to apply.

So how do they do that?

What's the best way to contact?

Yes.

So keep an eye at Space Humanity on Instagram and if you go to our website, spaceforhumanity.org you can subscribe to our newsletter, see when applications open.

I urge people to do that.

I know that our two citizen astronauts, I kept hearing from them, even like years later, they're like, I can't believe it was me.

And so if you've got an iota of doubt, that's fine, that's normal.

Keep applying.

I urge you to also keep applying and you can find me at Universal inclusion.

I like to do updates on my socials, updates about program, about inclusion in the space industry as well.

Very cool.

And I would say universal inclusion pretty well sums it up as well as you reach out.

Well, thank you so much for your time for being here.

What a fascinating conversation.

I appreciate all that your team is doing.

Please thank them for us as well and for everyone listening or watching.

Thank you so much for tuning in.

We will have another terrific logistics with purpose conversation in two weeks, so be sure to hit subscribe.

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