The Planning Committee for NATCA’s 21st Biennial Convention Holds First Meeting

Jan 20, 2026

The committee that will be planning NATCA's 21st Biennial Convention held their first meeting. The Convention is scheduled for April 27-29, 2027, in Chicago, Il. Great Lakes Region Regional Vice President Dean Von Almen and Planning Committee Chair Jennyfer Rivera (Indianapolis Center, ZID) welcomed the other committee members, who include Sarah Ezell (Chicago TRACON, C90), Vanessa Gurrola (Chicago O'Hare Tower, ORD), Mary Hernandez (Aurora Tower, ARR), Charles Howell (Oakland Center, ZOA), Dave Lysen (Chicago Center, ZAU), and Drew Stewart (Seattle Center, ZSE). Also joining the meeting were NATCA Charitable Foundation President Corrie Conrad (Portland TRACON, P80) and NATCA Historical Committee Chair Ryan Herrick (Minneapolis TRACON, M98) and NATCA staff members Jill Blimline, Alicia Jordan, and Meagan Roper.

NATCA's 21st Biennial Convention will take place four decades after NATCA's first Convention also was convened in Chicago at a hotel near O'Hare Airport.

About the upcoming convention, Dean Von Almen stated, "We look forward to welcoming our NATCA family to the Great Lakes Region in April 2027 for NATCA's 21st Biennial Convention." Jen Rivera added, "The planning committee is hard at work to make NATCA's Chicago Convention our Union's best convention yet."