When Amelia Rose Earhart decided to honor her namesake, aviation pioneer Amelia Mary Earhart, she did it in the biggest way possible — by becoming the first person to pilot a single-engine Pilatus PC-12-NG around the world. The journey to successfully complete this 28,000 nautical miles flight included challenges and obstacles, but ultimately taught her invaluable lessons about life.

It was an odds-defying achievement that included more than two years of route and logistical planning, extensive flight training, open water survival training, and recruiting, training, and leading a team of 100 people. Utilizing the invaluable concept of a flight plan to achieve her dream, Amelia crafted a strategic business plan to design, fund, and market her flight. In the process, she developed a large and passionate social following and forged almost $2 million in partnerships with 28 corporations. Through the Fly with Amelia Foundation, a nonprofit she founded to foster the next generation of women in aviation, Amelia granted 10 flight training scholarships to women ages 16-18 as she circled the plane over Howland Island, the area of the South Pacific Ocean where Amelia Earhart disappeared.

Amelia’s story of hard work, determination, and dedication resonates deeply with many audiences. She takes them along on her epic flight—from Howland Island to touching down on the same runway where she departed in 1937—drawing powerful comparisons to how we lead, work as teams, handle turbulence, and boldly journey into uncharted territory with confidence. Amelia has earned rave reviews from audiences ranging from the Fortune 500 to the United States Air Force Academy. Her upcoming book, Learn to Love the Turbulence: Flight Lessons on Becoming the Pilot in Command of Your Own Journey teaches readers how to navigate the inevitable storms that come with taking flight toward the life we were meant to live.

Before flying around the world, Ms. Earhart was best known as a television news anchor and reporter, covering breaking news, traffic, and weather in Denver and Los Angeles. She continues to use her professional interviewing and polished presenting skills as an emcee and moderator. Her story has been featured in major media outlets, including CNN, The New York Times, The Today Show, and others.

She is a recipient of the Amelia Earhart Pioneering Achievement Award and was named by the Jaycees as one of the “Top Ten Young Americans.”

The Ask Expert, Laura Fredricks, JD trains and coaches individuals, businesses, and nonprofits on How to ASK. She has raised more than $1 Billion for her clients and comes from successful careers in industries known for making the toughest and biggest asks—law and philanthropy. Laura’s 5 Laws on Asking and her prior six books have helped hundreds of global executives, industry trailblazers, accountants, marketing and communication leaders, boards, fundraisers, entrepreneurs, teenagers, artists, philanthropists, and everyday people get their best professional and personal life possible, just by asking. Her most recent book “Hard Asks Made Easy: How to Get Exactly What you Want”, released in June 2023 is Amazon’s  #1 for Business Mentoring and Coaching, #5 Personal Laura’s book was named “One of the Top 15 Business Books for 2023.” 

She is the recipient of the Ralph E. Chamberlain Award for extraordinary leadership in the field of fundraising and lifetime of service to the profession, and the New York Nonprofit Network’s 50 Over 50 Award for excellence in media and philanthropy. Since 2005, Laura has been teaching “The Art of the Ask: Effective  Communications and Negotiation Strategies” at New York University School of Professional Studies.

In 2018, Laura had the honor of being the opening keynote speaker for Marcum’s Women’s Forum in NYC with Hillary Clinton.