WithersRavenel has expanded its Funding and Finance team with the addition of Joy Chavis, MPA, PMP, a Project Manager focused on helping municipal clients throughout the Southeast identify, secure, and manage funding for critical infrastructure and community investments.
Based in South Carolina, Chavis works closely with Cindy Steinmann, WithersRavenel’s Funding Team Lead for Georgia and South Carolina. Her addition strengthens the firm’s ability to support communities across both states, with a particular emphasis on expanding services and client relationships in South Carolina.
“Joy understands municipal funding from both sides of the table,” Steinmann said. “She knows the challenges public-sector leaders face when balancing infrastructure needs, available resources, regulatory requirements, and community expectations. That experience allows her to connect funding opportunities with practical, achievable project strategies.”
Chavis brings nearly 30 years of experience spanning local and state government, higher education, engineering consulting, capital project planning, grant administration, and program management. Her background includes overseeing complex capital improvement programs, coordinating with state and federal funding agencies, managing projects from initial planning through closeout, and helping organizations align available funding with their long-term priorities.
Before joining WithersRavenel earlier in 2026, Chavis served as Project Manager and Capital Funding Manager for Cranston Engineering, where she led client projects and strategic funding programs. Her responsibilities included funding strategy, proposal preparation, grant compliance, project oversight, scheduling, client coordination, and support throughout the full funding and project lifecycle.
She previously spent more than seven years with the City of Aiken, South Carolina, including serving as Capital Projects, Funding and Airport Manager. In that role, she helped guide voter-approved capital projects, supported project budgeting and construction coordination, and identified and managed grants through closeout. Her work helped the City leverage local resources to secure more than $100 million in grants and state and federal appropriations from agencies and programs including the Federal Aviation Administration, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Environmental Protection Agency, Economic Development Administration, South Carolina Department of Transportation, and State Revolving Fund programs.
Chavis also contributed to the planning and management of Aiken’s approximately $450 million Capital Improvement Program and managed projects associated with the Aiken Regional Airport.
Her earlier experience with the University of South Carolina included capital planning, programming, budgeting, and project approvals. She helped develop major capital plans, coordinated project requests across university campuses, and prepared materials for review by university leadership, the Board of Trustees, and state agencies. That experience further developed her ability to connect long-range planning, capital renewal, project delivery, and funding strategy.
Chavis said WithersRavenel’s combination of technical services, planning resources, and municipal experience attracted her to the firm.
“WithersRavenel has an outstanding reputation and an exceptionally skilled team to assist municipal communities at all funding levels, while providing the tools for lifecycle modeling and capital improvement program development,” Chavis said.
Her public-sector background also gives her firsthand insight into the financial constraints communities encounter as they work to maintain infrastructure, respond to growth, and meet residents’ expectations.
“Having worked in the public sector, I understand the unmet needs of communities due to funding shortfalls,” Chavis said. “The WithersRavenel team provides communities the ability to leverage additional resources through grants and alternative funding programs to provide the infrastructure services expected by citizens.”
Chavis joins a team that has helped secure more than $1.1 billion in public funding for North Carolina clients. WithersRavenel is building on that experience as it expands its funding, financial planning, and infrastructure consulting services throughout the Southeast.
The firm’s funding professionals work alongside engineers, planners, asset management specialists, GIS professionals, and other technical experts to help communities move from identifying infrastructure needs to developing fundable projects. This integrated approach can include funding strategy, grant and loan applications, capital improvement planning, asset and lifecycle analysis, project administration, compliance support, and coordination with funding agencies.
As WithersRavenel continues growing its presence in South Carolina and Georgia, Chavis will help municipal clients evaluate available resources, develop competitive funding strategies, and manage the requirements that accompany grants and alternative funding programs.
Chavis earned a Master of Public Administration and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of South Carolina. She is also a certified Project Management Professional and a graduate of Leadership Aiken County and the City of Aiken’s Senior Leadership Program.
Her addition reinforces WithersRavenel’s commitment to pairing local knowledge and public-sector experience with the multidisciplinary resources communities need to plan, fund, and deliver essential projects.
Let's Connect
Municipalities need more than a list of available grants. They need a funding strategy that connects infrastructure priorities, capital planning, and project delivery.
Connect with Joy Chavis, MPA, PMP, to discuss how WithersRavenel can help your community identify funding opportunities, leverage local resources, and navigate grant and alternative funding programs throughout the Southeast, with a particular focus on South Carolina. Joy brings nearly 30 years of public- and private-sector experience in capital planning, funding strategy, grant administration, and municipal project management.
