The Mission welcomed Silverio (Ace) Barrera as the new Davis Maine Scholarship program Director earlier this winter. Ace comes to the Mission with 18 years of experience in college admissions, transition and orientation programs, and student advising.
In his role, Ace will provide support for Davis Maine Scholars to ensure a smooth transition to and success in college. The Davis Maine Scholarship is a partnership between Maine Seacoast Mission and the Shelby Cullom Davis Charitable Fund. The program offers full, renewable, four-year scholarships at three partner colleges for first-generation students from eastern Hancock and Washington Counties. Students in the program can attend Clark University, University of New England, or Wheaton College.
“The Davis Maine Scholarship provides life-changing opportunities for students in Downeast Maine,” says Andrew Davis of the Shelby Cullom Davis Charitable Fund. “I am confident that Ace will find working with these remarkable students and their families very rewarding.”
“We are excited to welcome Ace to the Mission. With his knowledge of student success and his perspective as a first-generation college student himself, we knew he was the right person to work directly with first-generation students from Downeast Maine through the Davis Maine Scholarship,” says Mission President John Zavodny.
The first cohort of six Davis Maine Scholars will complete the first year of college this spring. The second cohort of Scholars will graduate high school this June and applied to their colleges of choice. They will select their colleges by May. The Mission is currently recruiting its third cohort who will graduate high school in 2024.
“I am very happy and excited to serve as the new Davis Maine Scholarship Program Director. I view this role as a continuation of my personal and professional passion to assist students and their families in their transition to higher education,” Barrera says. “It is also a great honor for me to serve our Downeast communities as a member of the Maine Seacoast Mission.”
Learn more about the Davis Maine Scholarship Program and the students it serves in Washington and eastern Hancock counties.