AFCEAN of the Month, April 2025
Jon Silverman has been a hardworking member of AFCEA chapters for years. He has been involved in the AFCEA Emerging Leaders (EL) program since 2018, when he first entered the workforce. At the time, he was a part of the AFCEA Fort Belvoir EL program, helping build the program from scratch. Silverman transferred to the AFCEA Washington DC Chapter in 2022 after the scope of his job changed. He then immediately took on a leadership program with the board, contributing to happy hour planning and creating new events to help young professionals learn networking and golf skills. Silverman has brought in many committee members who have contributed in their own ways and are now in EL leadership positions.
Silverman started with AFCEA as a volunteer and committee member to help grow chapter events. He planned and ran quarterly events that promoted professional development and networking, including a quarterly tech and tee time event.
These events, which have each garnered about 60-plus attendees, allow young professionals to meet other emerging leaders, government officials and members of AFCEA. Under Silverman’s leadership, the EL board planned a golf tournament in summer 2024. The event raised $70,000, with proceeds benefiting STEM scholarships and EL recruitment.
Silverman is also spearheading a pilot program for AFCEA Scholarship Mentorship. This program was an idea suggested by an AFCEA DC Chapter board member, and Silverman ran with it. The program will connect 20-plus scholarship winners with an emerging leader to help with any questions they have and inspire their future leadership. Additionally, Silverman has mentored multiple committee members in AFCEA, leading to six of them earning vice president positions on EL boards.
Silverman is a senior business development associate at Leidos and is recognized as a leader. He has worked on countless deals to provide innovation to various customers, including projects with the U.S. Navy to make sailors’ lives easier when they need to change out equipment on server racks aboard ships. Silverman is currently working on modular systems that will be interchangeable thousands of miles offshore. He has been an integral part of researching, providing information and working with his government customer and engineering team to ensure they provide an easy and effective solution for U.S. sailors.
