With your generous support, we provide financial assistance to promising young women who are working on obtaining a private pilot’s license or any subsequent flight ratings as part of their advancement into their desired careers in aviation. Our scholarships are offered through the Women in Aviation International (WAI) organization, of which Val was an avid member. She encouraged fellow female aviators to attend the annual conference, and she advocated for and embodied female mentorship within the naval aviation community, inspiring other women to follow in her footsteps.
The Lt. Valerie Cappelaere Delaney Memorial Scholarship started in 2014 as a $1,000 scholarship and has since increased to $10,000, which makes a huge difference in offsetting the financial burden of private flight training. Our scholars are selected from a highly competitive pool of applicants and embody many of the same characteristics as Val and other women in the military aviation community. We provide assistance to the selected scholarship recipient to attend the annual WAI Conference so that we can present the award in person and they can get the added experience and benefits of the conference. We have facilitated a tight network among our scholarship recipients and have been amazed to follow their incredible career advancements within aviation when we attend and support them to attend the WAI Conference each year. Get to know our past scholars below and consider donating to help us keep Val’s legacy alive by assisting more women in earning their pilot’s wings!
Meet The 2026 Scholarship Winners
Learn about all of our past scholars
Eleanor Kay (2018)
2018 Drone Scholarship Award Winner ($,5000) - Eleanor Kay is a high school student in Maryland who has been honing in her photography skills as a volunteer with Images for Good. According to Eleanor in her [...]
Elyse Cosgrove (2018)
2018 Drone Scholarship Winner ($5,000) - Elyse Cosgrove is a storyteller passionate about documenting life experiences, human connection and emotions through photo and video. She lives in the DC area and started her own photography/videography business Elysees Eye [...]
Madison Warner (2018)
Capt Sara Knutson Cullen Scholarship Winner ($2,000) – Madison Warner of Salt Lake City, UT is a Firefighter and Canine Search Specialist working on her helicopter flight training so she can pursue a pilot career as [...]
Lea Van Den Brink (2018)
Lt Valerie Cappelaere Delaney Scholarship Finalist #2 ($2,000) Lea Van Den Brink is a French Citizen of Dutch descent who has ambitions of enlisting in the French Air Force as a pilot . In her application [...]
Alexandra Kemp (2018)
Lt Valerie Cappelaere Delaney Finalist #1 ($2,000) Alexandra Kemp is from Atlanta, GA and has ambitions of pursuing a career in the aerospace industry. She currently works in healthcare, has volunteer and intern experiences with NASA [...]
La’Shanda Holmes (2018)
2018 Lt Valerie Cappelaere Delaney Scholarship Winner ($5,000) – LT La’Shanda Holmes is a helicopter pilot for the US Coast Guard stationed in Miami, FL. She overcame a challenging childhood after losing her mother at an early [...]
