Will Pomerantz

William Pomerantz is an aerospace executive with two decades of experience in the entrepreneurial and non-profit sectors. He has served as Vice President for Special Projects and Employee #001 at Virgin Orbit; as Vice President for Special Projects at Virgin Orbit; and as Senior Director of Space Prizes at the XPRIZE Foundation, among other roles. He is passionate about ensuring that talented people from all walks of life have the ability to participate in and contribute to the eaxploration of space. Pomerantz is a Co-Founder of both the Brooke Owens Fellowship and the Patti Grace Smith Fellowship, two award-winning mentorship and work experience programs focused on enabling more female, non-binary, and Black undergraduates to pursue successful aerospace careers. For many years, he served as the Chair of the Board of Advisors of SEDS-USA, the world’s largest student space organization. Currently, Pomerantz is an Executive Consultant for the Space Workforce 2030 program, helping chart the future of the nation’s largest and most comprehensive effort to inspire, prepare, and employ the aerospace workforce of tomorrow. Pomerantz holds a bachelors degree in Earth and Planetary Sciences from Harvard and a masters degree in Space Studies from the International Space University. He is also a graduate of the NASA Academy, NASA’s premiere leadership training program for undergraduate and graduate students. Pomerantz has served on two US Federal Advisory Committees: the Federal Aviation Administration’s Commercial Space Transportation Advisory Committee and the National Academies of Science and Engineering’s Committee on Building a Better NASA Workforce.