Meet the SAFTAs Finalists: The people moving the industry forward
We’re delighted to share the second round of finalists for the inaugural SAFTAs (Sustainable Aviation Futures Trailblazer Awards) recognising the organisations, projects, and individuals delivering tangible progress in SAF and wider aviation decarbonisation. From scaling production and enabling next-generation projects, to improving airline operations, airport readiness, and the systems that make market growth possible, the SAFTAs exist to spotlight work that’s credible, replicable, and ready to scale.
In this edition of SAF Spotlight, we’re introducing a selection of this year’s finalists, sharing the stories behind their progress, the partnerships that made it possible, and why they’re the people, projects, and businesses moving the industry forward.
The Exceptional Woman in SAF Award
Finalist: Amy Hebert, CEO, Arcadia eFuels
Amy Hebert, CEO of Arcadia eFuels, is leading a new chapter in energy security and the energy transition; taking the charge to pioneer and lead the development of a new market of eSAF, synthetic aviation fuel, for the aviation sector. As governments and industries worldwide grapple with fuel supply vulnerabilities and the urgent need for energy independence, Hebert is positioning eSAF not just as a climate solution, but as a strategic energy asset. With over 30 years of experience across the refining and chemicals sectors, she has built her career at the intersection of technology and commercialization. At Arcadia eFuels, that experience is now being applied to navigate the complex challenges of bringing a first-of-a-kind electric refinery to market through project finance.
Arcadia eFuels is focused on producing electrofuels (eFuels), created by combining captured carbon dioxide with green hydrogen from renewable electricity. The result is a carbon-neutral drop-in fuel that works within existing engines and infrastructure. This compatibility is critical for aviation, where electrification alone cannot meet the demands of long-haul travel.
Under Hebert's leadership, Arcadia is advancing eSAF as a practical and scalable pathway to reducing lifecycle emissions. Unlike alternatives that rely on limited feedstocks such as waste oils, eFuels use abundant CO₂ and renewable energy, enabling production at the scale global aviation requires. With over 99% carbon efficiency, the process creates a circular system in which carbon is captured, reused, and recaptured.
This work builds on Hebert’s earlier role as Deputy CEO/Chief Commercial Officer at Topsoe, where she helped expand the company’s technology and catalyst businesses across hydrogen, ammonia, methanol and fuels. That experience now informs Arcadia’s focus on moving beyond innovation to deliver commercially viable projects.
This industry-building mission extends through Project SkyPower, a European coalition co-led by Hebert to accelerate eSAF scale-up, bringing together stakeholders across the value chain to move from ambition to execution. Governments worldwide are also introducing mandates to accelerate SAF adoption, including the EU's ReFuelEU Aviation regulation, the UK SAF mandate, and the U.S. SAF Grand Challenge, reinforcing that eSAF is increasingly central to both climate strategy and national energy policy.
Arcadia's tagline captures the dual mission simply: Producing the world's future fuels to protect our environment and power our world. While a net-zero future can feel distant, Arcadia eFuels is showing that progress is already underway. By enabling emissions reductions without new infrastructure, eFuels offer a bridge between today's energy systems and a more resilient future. Through her leadership, Amy Hebert is not only shaping a company; she is writing the playbook that the resilient aviation fuel industry will build upon for decades to come.
Finalist: Delphine Millot, Senior Vice President, Sustainability & Advocacy, GBTA; Managing Director, GBTA Foundation
Fueling the Future: How Corporate Demand Can Accelerate the SAF Market
When I look at the evolution of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) over the past few years, I see more than a market taking shape, I see a movement that I’ve had the privilege to help drive within the corporate travel space. Through my work at GBTA, engaging daily with companies across industries, I’ve seen SAF move from a distant ambition to a central pillar of corporate climate strategies. Yet, as our GBTA SAF Insights Report highlights, the market today is defined as much by momentum as by imbalance. Corporate interest is growing rapidly, but adoption remains concentrated among a relatively small group of pioneers.
From Intent to Investment
In my conversations with corporate leaders, a consistent theme emerges: the gap between ambition and execution. Budget limitations, cost premiums, complex purchasing processes, and evolving reporting frameworks are real challenges.
What keeps me optimistic is the scale of the opportunity. With an estimated $400 billion spent annually on business air travel, corporates hold a powerful lever.
A key part of my work has been helping companies navigate that shift, turning interest into tangible action and making SAF a more accessible and credible pathway within their broader sustainability strategies.
Building Trust in a Fragmented Landscape
If there is one lesson I’ve learned, it’s that trust underpins everything. For SAF to scale, corporates need clarity and confidence in accounting mechanisms, and the integrity of the system.
Today’s landscape can feel fragmented, often creating confusion for buyers. I’ve seen how this uncertainty can slow progress, even among highly committed organizations. This is why collaboration is so critical. Through initiatives like GBTA’s SAF Corporate Connect, we’ve created space for airlines, corporates, and fuel producers to align on principles and work through practical solutions.
Why Advocacy Matters
From Brussels to Washington, D.C., I’ve spent the past 20 years advancing public-private dialogue and partnerships. This experience that leaves me convinced that policy will play a
defining role in SAF’s trajectory. Incentives, mandates, and funding mechanisms are essential to closing the price gap with conventional jet fuel.
The SAF levy in Singapore is one example drawing global attention. If successful, it could demonstrate how coordinated policy and market action can unlock scale.
At the same time, geopolitical instability has reinforced the risks of fossil fuel dependence. Advancing SAF is not only about sustainability, but also about long-term energy security. This convergence of urgency and opportunity makes this a pivotal moment.
A Call to Collaborate
SAF is not a silver bullet, but it is one of the most immediate solutions available to decarbonize aviation without requiring fundamental infrastructure changes. That makes it indispensable.
From where I stand, working day in and day out with committed industry partners, I know progress will depend on sustained collaboration. At the GBTA Foundation, we see our role as creating the conditions for such collective action.
I’m grateful to be on this journey with my GBTA teammates, Kelsey Frenkiel, Fanny Everard, and Cady Wolf, whose expertise and energy continue to drive this work forward. This is what progress looks like: collective, determined, and built to last.
Finalist: Marieke Verhoeven, Senior Manager Decarbonization Solutions, Shell Aviation
Marieke Verhoeven on Why Trust Is Essential to Scaling SAF
Marieke Verhoeven, Senior Manager for Decarbonization Solutions at Shell Aviation, has spent more than two decades translating ambition into action across operations, safety, and climate strategy. Today, she sits at the center of aviation’s shift from decarbonization targets to implementation—where trust, data, and practical decision-making matter as much as innovation itself.
“I realized early on that change was required,” Marieke reflects on her first experiences at Shell. “What has always driven me is turning ideas into real world progress. Numbers matter, but impact matters more.”
That action-oriented mindset, shaped through years in operational and HSSE roles, continues to influence how she approaches aviation decarbonization today. Working close to assets taught her how organizations make decisions under pressure, how culture really changes, and why accountability is non-negotiable. “The responsibility to ensure everyone goes home safe has always been central for me,” she says. “Those experiences grounded how I think about risk, trust, and leadership.”
In her current role, Marieke co-develops the development of Avelia, Shell Aviation’s blockchain powered book and claim platform for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). As demand for SAF grows faster than physical supply, the industry faces a fundamental challenge: how to act now while infrastructure catches up. Book and claim help bridge that gap by separating the physical fuel from its environmental benefit—allowing customers to access SAF benefits even where it is not yet physically available. “It enables progress today instead of waiting for perfect conditions,” Marieke explains.
Building trust in that model has become the core of her work. “Book and claim only works if people trust it,” she says. “That trust comes from clear rules, credible data, and independent assurance.”
Three focus areas underpin her approach. The first is technical clarity. In 2025, Marieke led the publication of the Avelia Rulebook, bringing consistency around terminology, carbon accounting principles, auditing, and registry requirements. The second is assurance—ensuring volumes and emissions reductions are externally verified, following recognized international standards. The third is advocacy, helping align the wider aviation ecosystem through collaboration with industry bodies and stakeholders.
“Without consistent, verifiable data, nothing scales,” Marieke notes. “No confidence means no investment—and no impact.”
That same pragmatism shapes how she works with customers. “Every organization is different,” she says. “My role is to listen first, then translate complex sustainability data into something decision makers can stand behind—at board level.”
What energies her most is the tangible progress already underway. By the end of 2025, Avelia had enabled the injection of more than 64 million gallons of SAF into the global fuel network. “Seeing measurable outcomes keeps me optimistic,” she says.
Looking ahead, Marieke believes aviation decarbonization will increasingly be defined by execution rather than ambition. “The era of targets is giving way to the hard work of implementation,” she reflects. “Partnering with customers, business leaders, and technical experts to make that happen is both challenging and deeply rewarding—and it’s where real progress will be made.”
Finalist: Melanie Form, Managing Director, aireg
Paving the way for Sustainable Aviation in Germany and Europe: The Lasting Legacy and Vision of aireg
As a finalist for “The Exceptional Woman in SAF Award” and Managing Director of aireg, it is my honor to introduce aireg – Aviation Initiative for Renewable Energy in Germany e.V. – Europe’s oldest organization dedicated to promoting Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF) as part of sustainable aviation. aireg was founded in 2011 with 25 members, emerging from a partnership between Lufthansa, Airbus, airports, and research institutions such as DLR and Bauhaus Luftfahrt in response to the aviation industry’s voluntary commitment to climate-neutral growth starting in 2020. This pioneering work made aireg a trailblazer that promoted research, demonstration projects, and political advocay long before SAF requirements and obligations became mainstream.
aireg’s long tradition underscores its role as a competence network connecting the entire SAF value chain—from raw materials through production to certification and use. Headquartered in Berlin, the organization has evolved into a driving force with over 60 members, including numerous SAF producers such as BP, Neste, TotalEnergies, OMV, HIF and Zaffra, as well as startups. Its contributions to Germany’s mobility and fuel strategy, including pre-feasibility studies for biorefineries, illustrate its early successes.
aireg supports the EU ReFuelEU Aviation Regulation, which came into effect in 2024, but sees a significant need for adjustments to ensure the successful implementation of the EU SAF quotas. aireg sees particular opportunities for Germany to develop into a lead market for SAF, thereby promoting the establishment of a globally leading SAF/clean-tech industry and securing a competitive, sustainable aviation hub.
As part of positioning Germany as a European SAF “Advanced Mover” (First Mover Alliance), aireg specifically engages in a reliable regulatory framework that goes beyond quotas and subsidies: grandfather rights for investment protection (15–20 years), compensation mechanisms in the event of regulatory changes, and financing support mechanisms for off-take agreements (e.g., double-sided auctions). This is intended in particular to accelerate the production of eSAF and secure as well as safeguard billions in investments.
Central to aireg’s rise is my role as Managing Director. As a member of the Executive Board, I have worked with my colleagues since 2016 to drive membership growth, forge strategic alliances (e.g., CAAFI, Hamburg Aviation, H2BA, ASAFA, RLCF Alliance), expand aireg’s offerings to its members (e.g., through influential webinars), and exert political advocacy on EU and national regulation. This has made aireg a leading SAF competence network in Europe and helps accelerating the transition away from fossil kerosene on the path to net-zero by 2050. Big driver for this development has been implementation of aireg´s “Biennial International Conference”.
aireg’s successful development proves that visionary collaboration and commitment can contribute addressing and finally solving climate challenges. Rooted in tradition and driven by innovation, aireg significantly contributes ensuring a sustainable aviation. https://aireg.de/en/
Decarbonisation Rising Star
Finalist: Amy Strang, Environment and Sustainability Marketing Manager, Airbus
The future generation of leaders in aviation sustainability
The need to reduce aviation’s impact on climate change is widely recognised as one of the air transport industry’s most critical challenges. Meeting this challenge will demand unprecedented levels of investment and collaboration over long periods of time in order to deliver the solutions needed to transform the way we fly.
Fortunately, the aviation industry is accustomed to thinking long term (the average airliner lifespan is approximately 20 years), which is why the next generation of sustainability professionals in the air transport sector are already taking steps to prepare the industry itself for future decision making. Those who are at the beginning of their career today will be in leadership roles from the 2030s onward, when the sustainability solutions being proposed and implemented today are expected to scale and lead the way in aviation’s journey towards net zero carbon emissions, through to 2050 and beyond.
If we know decarbonising the industry will require an unprecedented level of collaboration, then these future aviation leaders need to be equipped with the skills, global networks and knowledge to work together and guide the industry through this transition.
In September 2025, under the umbrella of the Air Transport Action Group (ATAG), the young professionals network Emerging Leaders in Sustainable Aviation (ELSA) was launched at the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Innovation Fair in Montréal. Developed by a taskforce of 13 young professionals from across the aviation industry, ELSA is a new global initiative focused on empowering future leaders in air transport to lead the industry’s net zero transition. Many of these individuals have continued their support of ELSA through their involvement in the established Executive Committee. At the time when this newsletter was published in May 2026, ELSA counted close to 400members from all over the world, working towards a common goal of learning, networking and developing the skills needed to take the lead in the years to come.
ELSA’s mission is to connect the sector’s up-and-coming leaders and young professionals who are passionate about sustainable aviation, giving them a means to connect with one another, share ideas and best practice and access senior leaders from different parts of the industry. The group provides an independent platform for anyone aged 35 and under, passionate about sustainability and aviation, to connect and exchange with peers and established leaders in the sector, through virtual events, networking and thought leadership. More senior leaders in the industry can support the network in sharing their expertise and connect with young professionals.
To date, ELSA has hosted two global webinars with C-suite level speakers, launched an online networking platform “Coffee Dates” for members and regularly posts blogs and articles on its webpage and LinkedIn providing insights and guidance for those developing their careers in aviation and sustainability. ELSA are currently promoting their next webinar “Elevating Ideas: The Startup Journey in Aviation” which will feature founders of startups from across the aviation ecosystem. Check out the ELSA webpage for more details and to register.
Finalist: Fanny Everard, Manager, Sustainability, GBTA Foundation
From Single-Use Plastics to Sustainable Aviation Fuel
My interest in sustainability didn’t start in the air. It started in the ocean.
At 19, I began noticing the debris piling up on the shorelines I’d loved my whole life, spurring me to co-found a non-profit organization to fight against single-use plastics. Thanks to our advocacy and quality of our product, over 300 restaurants, hotels, and coffee shops across Europe stopped using single-use plastics. A few months later, we had an audience with legislators to push for policy change, helping inform the European Union Ban on Single-Use Plastics set to take effect in 2030. The work was messy and slow, but it taught me something that still holds true: change doesn't happen without the hard, consistent work of dedicated individuals.
In 2021, I moved from Belgium to New York for a graduate program at Columbia University’s Climate School. After graduating, I joined the GBTA Foundation, the non-profit arm of the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA), which represents and advocates for the $1.57 trillion global business travel and meetings industry. At the Foundation, I got to experience firsthand this industry’s complex puzzle: advancing sustainability and reducing emissions while supporting business travel’s ability to connect people. As I started thinking about the challenges of decarbonizing aviation, I felt something click.
Decarbonizing aviation is fascinating, particularly because it is so intricate technically, commercially, and politically. As the sector continues to grow, so do its emissions. And yet, aviation is also the industry that connects people, broadens horizons, and supports communities. So how do we promote the good of aviation while minimizing its negative externalities?
Corporate travel is uniquely positioned to help accelerate aviation decarbonization because it represents a meaningful share of both air travel demand and associated emissions. In 2025, we launched SAF Corporate Connect, an initiative bringing corporates, airlines, and SAF suppliers together to empower companies to make Sustainable Aviation Fuels certificate (SAFc) commitments. Leading this initiative places me at the intersection of cross-industry collaboration, corporate travel management, and SAF market development. We help travel and procurement professionals understand SAF and navigate rapidly evolving accounting frameworks, procurement models, and emissions claims.
This work has given me firsthand insight into the building blocks required to turn corporate interest into credible SAFc commitments. Many professionals I work with recognize that business travel represents a significant share of corporate emissions, yet they are not SAF specialists. My job is to bridge that gap: taking a technical, fast-moving market and
translate it into something actionable for people uniquely positioned to help drive demand for lower-carbon solutions. With this mission in mind, we published the first-ever SAF Playbook for Corporates.
Fundamentally, this work is about fostering relationships: building trust and credibility to move organizations from curiosity to SAFc commitments. It means translating complex concepts into smaller, actionable steps. It means patience, and a willingness to meet people where they are. Building confidence in SAF will take time, but we will get there one conversation at a time, just like we did with single-use plastics all those years ago.
Decarbonisation Leadership & Advocacy Award
Finalist: David Zaziski, PhD, Vice President, Government Affairs & Public Policy, Infinium
Turning Policy into Possibility: David Zaziski, PhD, VP of Government Affairs & Public Policy, Infinium
Decarbonizing aviation is one of the defining environmental challenges of this decade. While there is no shortage of committed stakeholders and promising technologies, adoption still often lags behind demand.
Driving meaningful progress requires more than innovation alone — it requires thoughtful policy, strong advocacy, and a deep understanding of both the technical and commercial realities shaping the SAF industry. With many competing perspectives and complex analyses across pathways and technologies, building durable, effective policy is no simple task.
David Zaziski continues to take on those challenges head-on, helping advance global understanding of SAF policy among governments and industry stakeholders alike, and playing an important role in driving progress forward.
As Vice President of Government Affairs & Public Policy at Infinium, David holds direct accountability for aligning regulatory frameworks, legislative engagement, and government relationships with the practical realities of deploying Sustainable Aviation Fuel and low-carbon eFuels at scale. Since 2021, his work has helped position the SAF ecosystem to engage effectively with policymakers at a moment when the stakes, and the pace, have never been higher.
David's impact is grounded in translation. With a PhD in chemistry and years of navigating complex regulatory systems in low-carbon plastics, he bridges the gap between the science, engineering, and commercial realities to what policymakers need to form meaningful and lasting plans. That means surfacing the real constraints of SAF development - feedstock availability, power requirements, infrastructure timelines, lifecycle emissions accounting - in ways that inform better policy design rather than create unintended barriers to scale.
That work took tangible form in New Mexico, where David played a central role in guiding the state's Low Carbon Fuel Standard. He supported the creation of a framework that meaningfully advances the state's clean fuels goals while remaining commercially viable for market participants. It is exactly the kind of durable, execution-ready policy outcome that aviation decarbonization needs more of.
What distinguishes David's approach is its scalability. Rather than pursuing isolated wins, he focuses on frameworks and mechanisms that can support repeated deployment of low-carbon fuels across regions and over time. By engaging across government stakeholder groups, he works to build consistent, replicable policy signals- the kind that reduce uncertainty for developers, investors, and offtakers, and that create the conditions for SAF adoption at the volumes aviation emissions targets require.
Equally important is the trust David has built across the value chain. Within Infinium, he works closely with technical, commercial, and development teams to ensure that external policy engagement reflects real project needs. Outside the company, he is known as a credible, evidence-based voice who helps foster the kind of constructive government-industry relationships that accelerate progress rather than stall it.
Looking ahead, David's focus remains on strengthening the policy and regulatory infrastructure that will enable SAF and eFuels to scale globally. As demand accelerates and new markets come online, the quality of that infrastructure will determine whether decarbonization commitments translate into flight operations or remain aspirational.
Finalist: Nora Lovell Marchant, VP Global Sustainability, American Express Global Business Travel
Sustainability has always been core to my career – in law school I clerked for the Natural Resources Defense Council and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Environmental Crimes Division. After working as a litigator for many years, focused on environmental law, I moved in-house to American Express where I helped build the company’s legal and compliance program as we stood-up a standalone company – American Express Global Business Travel (“Amex GBT”). Working for the world’s leading travel company, doing business in over 100 countries, the imperative for decarbonization became apparent with sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) emerging as the clearest solution.
Given our unique role at the center of the aviation ecosystem, I helped drive our company towards maximum impact opportunities in the SAF space. We are supporters of nonprofits including the Sustainable Aviation Buyer’s Alliance (SABA), a joint initiative led by Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) and the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF)—along with the Center for Green Market Activation—to accelerate net-zero aviation. We advocate alongside the SAF Coalition, a nonprofit and nonpartisan alliance of over 50 airlines, low-carbon fuel companies, manufacturers, technology developers and airports who share the objective of accelerating the development and deployment of sustainable aviation fuels in the U.S. We are members of the World Economic Forum and continue to support the Clean Skies for Tomorrow, Airports for Tomorrow, and First Movers Coalition initiatives. We are strategic partners of International Air Transport Association (IATA) for Energy & Environment. We are investors in the United Ventures Airlines Sustainable Flight Fund and actively considering additional opportunities. We are founders of https://www.aveliasolutions.com/ together with Shell Aviation and Accenture, now the world’s most established book and claim platform for SAF with over sixty companies and airlines aboard contributing to over 64 million gallons of SAF being injected into the existing global fuel network with over 590,000 tCO2e abated equivalent to over 1,000,000 passengers flying from London to New York. We have the best customers in the world who have been willing to invest alongside our airline partners to make SAF a reality with a doubling growth rate year over year as detailed in the Amex GBT SAF Index.
My philosophy is “just go.” There is so much to learn by doing. Lawyers are inherently risk-adverse but also creative. This balance has helped our company run rapid pilots, then iterate quickly to meet the moment. Tone at the top is everything and I am eternally grateful for the Executive Leadership Team at Amex GBT who have been open to innovation and experimentation to drive meaningful change.
There is so much work to be done in the SAF space. No company or country can go it alone. We must work together – with unconventional partners – to continue building this industry.