I firmly believe business practices must be sustainable. The ways that I see this being relevant are firstly through a worry about human health climates. Everyone wants fresh air, and everyone deserves that. On top of this, most people want to enjoy the outdoors, and what natural resources may have to offer us rather than them being extorted for non-essential products. This is also relevant for businesses through competition. How are companies going to market themselves to the next generation taking care of the planet? They gain traction from sharing their sustainable business ventures. Taking a look at Patagonia, the owner and founder of the company, Yvon Chouinard, made it a point to recycle clothing, use money for philanthropy, and offset emissions from the consumption of energy to create textiles. Being so public about that, it garners attention and customers. The overall issue is that by being eco-conscious and reducing waste, a company has longevity. A guaranteed uptick in business, and a guaranteed reason for being. Looking at this from a consumer standpoint, you want to invest in a business that isn't being wasteful. Wasteful practices feel like a weight on the world, and do more harm than good. When a company practices sustainability, the company cares. One way companies can reduce their carbon footprint is through encouraging employees to utilize public transportation to work. Offering to pay for bus passes or even using hybrid shuttles to offer transportation is a major way to reduce the carbon emissions businesses release through their employee's commutes. This isn't a cheap option by any means, but it helps create solutions to the ongoing battle of car emissions and physical space taken up in a city by cars rather than making urban landscapes possible. When fewer cars are present in a city, it allows nature to grow more, and improves air quality Another way a company could reduce its footprint is by going paperless. There are already many companies that have switched over to electronic statements and e-signature usage, which is fantastic. But the wasteful printing of documents and physical storage is a lot of trees that just cannot grow back fast enough to keep up with consumption. In going paperless, companies are committing to eco-friendly practices and supporting forest regrowth efforts inadvertently. A third way a company could reduce emissions is through utilizing manufacturing locally. By supporting local manufacturers there are far fewer transportation hoops a company needs to jump through. The less distance a company has to have its product travel, the less emissions a company uses. Not only this but by utilizing local manufacturers, companies boost the local economy and potentially elevate local businesses for better support and growth.

My name is Hannah Breuler, I am a proud resident of Seattle Washington and have lived here my whole life. Seattle is a great place for aviation, and I can attest that my affinity for such may be due to that. My love for aviation first started when I was younger, I was nine years old when I first flew in a plane that wasn’t commercial. Neither of my parents were in aviation careers and were both chefs, in fact. The number one thing my mother always told me was “Hannah, please don’t become a chef”, and I appreciate the sentiment behind that. While my parents worked hard to support my younger brother and myself, we had an amazing opportunity from a family friend, Tony, who owned a smaller Piper Archer. He offered to take my brother and I out over the San Juan islands for a flight, and Tony has been one of my largest supporters since. After gaining that experience when I was younger, I knew I wanted to do something with planes. In middle school, I was faced with the opportunity to apply outside of my selected high school and discovered a high school in the area, Raisbeck Aviation High School. After the application process, I unfortunately did not get in, due to the acceptance process being a lottery. That did not deter me from my mission, however, as in my freshman year I went through the accelerated ground school program at Raisbeck. Then, when I was a Sophomore, I found out the Museum of Flight in Seattle was offering an accelerated college program with Green River College to juniors and seniors in high school. I applied and received a spot. I attended this program, Aeronautical Science Pathways, for the full two years and was offered amazing opportunities, one of which was an internship at the Boeing factory in Everett, Washington. Yes, I had to drive over 60 miles every day for this, but it was worth it in my book. I was finally able to explore my passions and work hard for the experiences I had earned there. My internship at Boeing made me realize I wanted to go into aviation finance. I worked in ergonomics, worked with many aspiring pilots, and even worked with aviation technicians on the flight line, and felt most inclined in the finance aspect. When applying for colleges, I was a graduate for the class of 2020, which was my largest challenge yet. I figured out how to navigate school, and my life, and grow into a new job at an Aviation Insurance Underwriting company, while also changing everything I had planned to keep my goal. I wanted to receive a degree in aviation, and after I transferred to Embry-Riddle, I was able to work towards that dream. I want to utilize this degree to pursue Aviation finance, going into plane leasing or plane sales, or even airport budgeting and planning. Currently, I work at London Aviation Underwriters, helping to write insurance in the state of Washington, and all other lower 48, and ensuring that pilots are covered for flight. Sometimes it's important to support the ones in the air and provide a solid foundation here on the ground.