Unlock ATE Funding: Free Mentors, Proven Success

Daphne Lewis is the Director of Institutional Grants at Johnston Community College (JCC) and has over 27 years of experience in community colleges, including 25 years in North Carolina through Foundation support and grants development at Forsyth Tech CC, Rowan-Cabarrus CC, and Johnston Community College (JCC). Working collaboratively with faculty and staff, she has helped secure more than $50 million in grant funding (not counting $14.2 million in HEERF funding), with over $20 million of that raised at JCC. Before joining JCC in August 2017, Daphne served for two and a half years as an administrator at Metropolitan Community College in Kansas City, Missouri, where she was part of the Grants Finance and Compliance team and served as fiscal lead for a statewide $19.7 million DOL TAACCCT grant. She is a Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE) and holds an M.A. from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG).

Pamela Silvers is the Principal Investigator (PI), Mentor, and Director of PI 101 for the Mentor-Connect initiative. She began her involvement as a Mentor Fellow and Mentor, later becoming co-PI of Mentor-Connect Forward in 2023. In December 2024, she assumed the role of PI.

Before joining Mentor-Connect, Silvers served as PI for three NSF Advanced Technological Education (ATE) projects focused on student recruitment and retention. She retired after a 31-year career at Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College, where she taught computer technology and held various leadership roles.

Silvers holds a bachelor's degree from UNC Asheville and a master's degree from Western Carolina University. She enjoys the beauty of Western North Carolina and is a devoted Disney fan.