We Were Once Them is a 501(c)(03) non-profit that was founded in 2017 initially as movement which mission is to “Be a beacon of hope as we share our stories and inspire the next generation of African and Caribbean youth through science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM)”.
To inspire, motivate and empower the next generation of aviation professionals and business leaders, especially girls and woman.
To provide STEM education awareness with a focus on the aviation and space industries.
To contribute to the transformation of the aviation industry across Africa and the Caribbean.
Promote the advancement of youth and young women in aviation and space sciences, STEM education awareness, and business entrepreneurship in the field of aviation. We will accomplish this through seminars, school visits, networking events, team-building exercises, and mentorship sessions during the four day event.
Educate youth through communication on aviation careers, by creating a platform for exchange between aviation stakeholders and the next generation of aviation professionals in Africa and the Caribbean. The goal is to also align the future demand for skilled workers in the industry.
Actively promote gender equality across the continent by advocating for stakeholders to invest more in human capital development – especially girls through innovative methods in Africa and the Caribbean to ensure safe and secure aviation for the next generation.
Each year, together with our team of volunteers who are STEM professionals (e.g., pilots, aircraft mechanics, flight attendants, aeronautical engineers, air-traffic controllers, scientists, aviation medical doctors, aviation lawyers, aircraft analysts, and IT professionals, etc.), select countries in Africa and the Caribbean to visit and give back too by hosting aviation & STEM careers outreach events.
Anthony McGee is a Liberian native who fled the country during the civil war and eventually settled in the United States. From a young age, he was fascinated by aviation, having first observed airplanes take off and land in his native country.
Today, he finds it breathtaking to watch planes soar into the sky. McGee is passionate about helping people in Africa and other regions where he works, inspired by his early years when he lacked a positive role model. Giving back is a fundamental part of who he is, and he enjoys mentoring, motivating, and preparing aspiring pilots for interviews.
He also visits schools to encourage students to consider aviation careers. With over 14 years of aviation experience, McGee is a first officer at United Airlines, flying the B787. He holds a degree in airway science from Delaware State University and believes that hard work, persistence, motivation, and tenacity are the keys to success.
Jean Olivier Mbog is an energized individuals that came from humble beginnings. Today he served as Programs Director- Board of Directors with the Organization of Black Aerospace Professionals (OBAP). Helping his peers is a heart destination, the journey of giving back started back in 2008 while becoming a member of OBAP and since then he has support community that he serves.
In 2018, he visited five schools in Kingston, Jamaica, to inspire students about the aviation industry. This is just one of many similar outreach trips he’s taken. He is very active with OBAP, promoting aviation to youth around the world. Mbog was born in Cameroon, Africa. At age 14, he was sent to a Catholic boarding school in Nancy, France. “On my very first plane ride, I caught the aviation bug.
From that point on, I knew I wanted to ‘be one of them!’” he says. Mbog earned a B.S. in Aeronautics from Embry Riddle Aeronautical University Campus. Jean Olivier Mbog is an accomplished pilot, with over 8000+ hours of flying experience. In addition, he has proven leadership competencies in management, flight instruction and mentoring.
He has proven to be a trusted pilot and an adaptable leader, acknowledged for exceptional safety performance, balanced judgment, stability, and integrity. He consistently ensures a high-quality customer experience in both his airline pilot duties and in his business. In 2013, he was hired as a certified flight instructor where he trained Chinese airlines in Ab Initio, taking cadets and various domestic student from their Private to Multi commercial rating. In 2014, he was awarded a ‘Gold Seal’ CFI and joined a 14 CFR part 121 airline as a first officer flying a Dash-8 aircraft.
Today, he is flying for United Airlines as First Officer based in Houston. He is also the Houston OBAP ACE academies Director. At his core, he focuses on safety, being passionate about his job and caring for those around him. And, my international outreach out from Kingston, Jamaica were 2 turns (May & June 2018) over 1500 + students were inspired, I followed up in September in Trinidad & Tobago with 8 schools in Tobago and 1 in Trinidad and end the year in Dakar, Senegal, Accra, Monrovia, Nairobi and surrounding area with over 20 schools to empower my sisters & brothers from the motherland, great year and great time.
George Matimba – Ever since I was 7 years old and I saw my first B747-200 load up with almost 300 people at Harare International Airport, Zimbabwe. Tones of baggage pods and slowly taxi out for departure, I was intrigued. As the Aircraft made its take off roll and slowly began it’s climb, it was at that point I wanted to know what makes such a an enormous beautiful thing be able to defy gravity and sustain lift in the skies for such a long period of time. I looked at my late father and uttered the most ridiculous thing he had ever heard.
I said, “Baba, when I grow up I want to be a airplane driver” My father looked at this 7 year old boy and said, first of all you need to know that airplanes don’t have drivers, they are called ‘Pilots’. Me, not knowing what a Pilot was. I said I want to be whatever they are. My father said you have a long way to go and you need to be good in school to get there.
Fast forward, I end up in school with a very passionate professor Meneer Colanbrant, who one day asked what I wanted to do in life. I simply said I wanted to fly Airplanes. He asked me what I was doing in his class? I told him trying to get an education and he told me to follow my hearts desire and not be stuck doing something what other people think is right for me. Since that day in 1996, I focused on getting my wings and I never looked back.
They were people who never believed in me and thought it was a foolish dream, cause if God wanted me to fly he would have given me wings. I, against all odds, I never looked back after my very first flight with my instructor. It wasn’t easy and certainly wasn’t cheap. Today, I sit in the left seat of a B767ER, I soar the skies. I earned my wings and with each flight hour I am grateful for the gift of flying. I have been a PIC on the CL-65 (CRJ- 900) and B737NG/ Max.
