{"id":131085,"date":"2026-02-12T11:00:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-12T11:00:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/131085\/"},"modified":"2026-02-12T11:00:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T11:00:07","slug":"scholarship-awarded-to-staten-island-teen-who-made-history-as-youngest-african-american-female-pilot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/131085\/","title":{"rendered":"Scholarship awarded to Staten Island teen who made history as youngest African-American female pilot"},"content":{"rendered":"

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. \u2014 A Mariners Harbor teen who skipped a grade and started college early<\/a> \u2014 becoming the youngest African-American female to earn her private pilot\u2019s license \u2014 was selected to receive a Victor Kilo Fund Scholarship<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Kamora Freeland<\/a>, an 18-year-old honors student who is a junior at Spelman College<\/a>, has been awarded the $10,000 scholarship to aid in her goal of becoming a commercial airline pilot. She will attend Flight King NYC<\/a> in Farmingdale on Long Island for her training.<\/p>\n

The funds will specifically help Freeland obtain her instrument rating, a specialized certification for flying in difficult conditions. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s honestly motivation to me because I see it as if people still want me to keep going and they\u2019re supporting me in this process, because aviation is very expensive,\u201d Freeland said. \u201cJust knowing that I have people here to support me throughout my journey is honestly so motivational.\u201d<\/p>\n

She also offered advice to other aspiring aviators by emphasizing the importance of seeking scholarships and joining organizations to build a network in the close-knit aviation community.<\/p>\n

\u201cAviation is very expensive. However, scholarships obviously lessen that cost. Also look for organizations that you can be a member of because the community is so small,\u201d Freeland said. \u201cWhen you\u2019re dedicated to your craft and passion, there\u2019s going to be people out there who want to see you succeed in that field.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"KamoraKamora Freeland (right), and Jeffrey Madison (left) of the Victor Kilo Fund pose together in a selfie. Freeland received a Victor Kilo Fund Scholarship to help pursue her dream of becoming a commercial airline pilot.Courtsey of Jeffrey Madison<\/p>\n

Jeffrey Madison,<\/a> a Harvard-educated flight instructor, mentor pilot, author and airline pilot created the Victor Kilo Fund as a way to give back to the aviation community.<\/p>\n

The Victor Kilo Fund\u2019s mission<\/a> is to close the aviation talent gap by providing scholarships, full-motion flight simulators, support and funding for inclusive aviation.<\/p>\n

According to Madison out of the 600,000 pilots in the United States, fewer than 120,000 are commercial pilots, of that, fewer than 3.5% are women and of that fewer than 1% are African-American.<\/p>\n

Madison emphasized the significance of Freeland\u2019s training, \u201cWhen you achieve your commercial pilot\u2019s license, your instrument rating and commercial pilot license, that\u2019s like graduating from graduate school.\u201d<\/p>\n

Madison said that Freeland was picked for the scholarship because she displayed resilience and tenacity at a young age<\/a> because becoming a private pilot at any age is no easy task. <\/p>\n

\u201cBecoming a private pilot at any age has its own struggles, but to do so while you\u2019re also juggling high school is particularly noteworthy,\u201d Madison said. \u201cThen to continue that in terms of becoming the youngest African-American woman or female in the United States to achieve that, was a big goal \u2014 really remarkable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Madison also highlighted Freeland\u2019s academic career at the prestigious Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia, where she is an honor student.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis scholarship has helped me continue my flight training, specifically my instrument rating,\u201d Freeland said. \u201cWhen you\u2019re flying and have your instrument rating, you\u2019re able to fly in rough conditions if it ever came down to it.\u201d <\/p>\n

For young people who are inspired by Freeland to enter the aviation field, Madison offered a key piece of advice: Do the work.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe advice I would give other young people is do the work if you\u2019re really interested in it,\u201d Madison said. \u201cIf this is a journey you wish to be on, it\u2019s a fantastic journey, but it takes focus, determination, resilience, and tenacity. These are all things you learn, you don\u2019t have to be born with.\u201d<\/p>\n

Freeland also has a GoFundMe<\/a> to help sponsor her continued aviation education. <\/p>\n

According to the GoFundMe, the total cost of completing flight training, including the necessary licenses and ratings, can exceed $100,000.<\/p>\n

\u201cDespite reaching this incredible milestone, my journey as a pilot is far from over,\u201d Freeland said in the fundraiser\u2019s description. \u201cThere are still many more ratings and licenses to obtain, each requiring rigorous training and significant financial investment.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. \u2014 A Mariners Harbor teen who skipped a grade and started college early \u2014 becoming…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":131086,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[9,24,63,134,136,135],"class_list":{"0":"post-131085","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-staten-island","8":"tag-new-york","9":"tag-new-york-city","10":"tag-nyc","11":"tag-staten-island","12":"tag-staten-island-headlines","13":"tag-staten-island-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131085","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=131085"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131085\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/131086"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=131085"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=131085"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=131085"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}