In his three decades of general and global business aviation experience as Aviation Director for Coca-Cola and long-time flight department manager for Texaco®, Don devised countless creative ways to integrate services and software among the company's small, satellite flight operations to improve safety and standards.

While serving as NBAA interim President and Chairman of the Board, Don became even more convinced that smaller flight departments require and deserve the same level of resources, services, and safety management as their larger counterparts. With the creation of Baldwin Aviation Safety & Compliance, safety management programs became available to all sizes of flight departments that weren't fortunate enough to have Texaco or Coca-Cola sized support.

In 2010, Don was awarded certification in Aviation Safety & Security through the renowned University of Southern California - Viterbi School of Engineering program and is a Registered Safety Professional of the ISSP (International Society of Safety Professionals). Besides chairing the NBAA Board and sitting on numerous NBAA committees, Don's industry involvement has also included positions on NetJets Advisory Board, FAA FOARQ Committee, Gulfstream Advisory Board, Signature Flight Support Advisory Board, and Embraer Advisory Board to mention a few. Don is a recent winner of the Jack Doswell Award recognizing his "high standards for lifelong individual achievement on behalf and in support of the aims, goals and objectives of business aviation."