Heather Mills

VP, Grant and Funding Strategies
CTC Technology & Energy

Heather Mills leads CTC’s grant and funding strategies team, which develops strategies and delivers tactical application and post-award support to CTC’s public sector clients. She has authored guidance on new and emerging federal broadband funding programs that is highly regarded by industry colleagues. With more than a decade of experience in project management and data analysis, she has exceptional skills in long-term strategic planning for broadband funding; execution of complex tactical funding plans; and grant administration, budgeting, and financial reporting.

At CTC, Mills guides clients on strategic funding for network planning, as well as applying for and complying with the requirements of major federal broadband and communications grant programs, including NTIA grants, ARC/EDA POWER grants, USDA RUS grants (such as ReConnect and Community Connect), and New Market Tax Credits. She has particular expertise in the Federal Communications Commission’s E-Rate program, Lifeline program, and Healthcare Connect Fund.

She and her team have supported several clients with applications to the U.S. Department of Commerce’s EDA Public Works and Economic Adjustment Assistance program for funding related to COVID relief; she guided clients in many parts of the country through the consultation process with EDA regional representatives. Under her management, the CTC team supported clients with strategy and navigation of the USDA ReConnect application process through Rounds 1, 2, and 3, which required detailed understanding of the application, the application portal, and applied strategy. She and her team also advised clients on federal funding programs such as the NTIA’s COVID stimulus programs, the FCC’s Emergency Broadband Benefit and Emergency Connectivity Fund, and EDA’s ARPA programs, while keeping a close eye on and providing singular analysis for clients around funding programs created by the recent Infrastructure Act.