Profile:

Melissa Vermillion has been a grant writer for Hazard Community and Technical College for 12 years and has been teaching grant writing since 2016. She is one of only 13 individuals in Kentucky who have earned the Grant Professional Certification through the Grant Professionals Certification Institute and the first within KCTCS.  

Melissa currently mentors grant professionals at five KCTCS colleges: Ashland, Maysville, Big Sandy, Southeast, and Gateway.  Prior to joining the college, she served as the director for aging programs in Perry County where she was also successful in a variety of grant and fundraising opportunities, tripling the amount of donations to the program over her tenure.  Melissa has a bachelor degree in business administration and an MBA from Morehead State University.  She has been married to Kevin Vermillion for 34 years and has two adult children, Rebekah and Alex.

Specialties:

Melissa has extensive experience with state and federal grant writing as well as a particular interest in assisting rural nonprofits and communities achieve their goals. She has successfully written grant applications to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Development Administration, Abandoned Mine Lands Economic Revitalization Program, State of Kentucky, Kentucky’s Council on Postsecondary Education, National Endowment for the Arts, National Endowment for the Humanities, Appalachian Regional Commission, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HRSA), U.S. Department of Education Trio Programs, Kentucky Community and Technical College System, James Graham Brown Foundation and several other private funders, securing over $34.8 million in grant funding.  

Location:

Hazard, Kentucky