Ben StoneSenior Vice President, Operations

Ben Stone is the Senior Vice President for Operations at the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA), where he leads the Association’s revenue-generating activities. Stone joined AIA in 2019 and brings over 20 years of experience in associations and the aerospace and defense industries, having held a diverse array of senior leadership roles. From 2019 to 2021, he served as AIA’s Vice President for Membership & Strategic Development.

Before joining AIA, Stone was the Head of Business Development for Renewables & Storage at Enel Green Power North America, a subsidiary of one of the largest energy companies in the world. In this role, he led the company’s business development efforts to identify, evaluate, and implement a portfolio of hybrid power plants, with an associated capital investment of over $1 billion, including business development initiatives with the U.S. Department of Defense.

Stone spent ten years with Leonardo SpA’s aircraft division, including serving from 2013 to 2015 as the President & CEO of Alenia Aermacchi North America, its U.S.-based subsidiary, where he oversaw business activities in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. Previously, he worked at the National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA), where he was the Director of International Trade Policy & Programs and played a key role in establishing their Small Business Division. Stone also served on NDIA’s Board of Trustees from 2013 to 2015.

Stone holds two certificates in Executive Leadership—one jointly from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Business in New York and Imperial College Business School in London, and another from Georgetown University in Washington, DC. He has also completed graduate-level business courses at SDA Bocconi School of Management in Milan, Italy, and at George Washington University in Washington, DC. Stone earned his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Economics from Denison University in Granville, Ohio.