Hamilton Friends Association: Who We Are
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2009: A Capacity Building
Ye a r f o r H a m i l t o n F r i e n d s
Our Mission
The vision of The Alexander Hamilton Friends Association is to preserve Alexander Hamilton’s legacy by
energizing tomorrow’s leaders.
Since it began serving students in 2005
Hamilton Friends has focused chiefly on
developing its programs and increasing the
number of students served. In 2009, however, Hamilton Friends focused on improving
its current programs and building enough
operational capacity to sustain more program growth in the coming years.
Our Hamilton Scholars
Hamilton’s biggest move, literally, happened on January 1st, 2009 when Hamilton
Friends relocated from its home office in
Woodway, Washington to a new office in
downtown Seattle. The new office is located
in Seattle’s historic Pioneer Square in the
newly renovated Grand Central Building.
We identify our students through a citizenship achievement award, The Hamilton Award. The Hamilton
Award is designed to identify students who have proven records of community service, high academic
achievement, demonstrated leadership ability and financial need. Our winners come from all across the
United States and represent a diverse set of cultural and economic backgrounds.
“We chose the Grand Central building
because it was cost effective, easy to get
to and will allow us to hire more staff,” said
George Cox, Hamilton Friends President.
Our Programs
Another development for Hamilton Friends
was the implementation of SalesForce, a
CRM database, which will help Hamilton
Friends better track and organize their
student information, donor information and
staff communications.
Our mission is to identify young Americans who, like the young Alexander Hamilton, demonstrate
leadership abilities, academic excellence, a passion for public service and financial need. Through
practical training programs, internship experiences and financial assistance, we help them reach their
personal and career goals.
After receiving the Hamilton Award each scholar is offered admission to the Hamilton Leaders Academy, a four year, fully funded program designed to supplement each scholar’s traditional education. The
program focuses on the development of a personal vision statement, leadership training, paid internships,
financial assistance, goal setting and practical skills for college and the workplace. During our first year
program we offer individual college counseling including help with the college search, essay development
and the college application process. The year ends with a week of leadership training in Seattle.
In year two of the program we assist students in the transition to college. The program focuses on technical aspects such as personal budgeting, debt avoidance, and effective time management. This year ends
with an international volunteer experience in Guatemala. The week is designed to expand each student’s
worldview, exposing them to a global perspective.
The third year program will concentrate on the leadership and financial literacy aspects of the program.
The leadership training builds on the skills taught in the previous years, emphasizing goal realization and
workplace skills. The financial literacy program touches on financial issues of major concern to young
adults, such as debt management, tax forms and short and long term savings programs.
The fourth year program continues the programs launched in the third year. Fourth year Hamilton Scholars will have an opportunity to mentor first year Hamilton Scholars as they enter and experience college.
They will also revisit their seven year development plans to gain an understanding about how their own
attitudes have changed and shifted during this formative four year period in their lives.
Our Journey
Since its incorporation in 2004, Hamilton Friends has come a long way. What started off as a simple
essay contest for students has grown into a viable organization that has helped students think critically
about their future and supports them as they journey from high school to college and beyond.
Each year Hamilton Friends has continued to innovate, grow and improve their programs so that they
can best serve their Hamilton Scholars.
With the support of generous donors, students and volunteers, Hamilton Friends will continue this
growth, always searching for new ways to help deserving young people reach their highest personal and
career goals.
“We decided to use SalesForce because it
allows us to access and organize our data
efficiently and effectively,” said Joslin Boroughs, Director of Operations. “With this
system we can serve our students better
and also improve communication with our
donors and other constituents.”
Hamilton Friends has also increased its staff.
In 2009, a part-time employee was hired to
help with communications work and there
was an increase in the use of paid interns, all
of which were current Hamilton Scholars!
“As Hamilton Friends grows its programs
we also need to grow our organizational
capacity,” said Joslin Boroughs, Director of
Operations. “The new office, increased staff
and new database will allow us to serve
more students in 2010.”
Hamilton Friends 2009: A Year in Review
Hamilton Scholar Profile: Elena De Jesus Hernandez
A new member of the Hamilton Friends family,
Elena De Jesus Hernandez, a 2009 Hamilton Scholar,
embodies all the qualities of a Hamilton Scholar: high
academic achievement, excellent leadership abilities,
and a commitment to community service. Despite
some difficult obstacles in her childhood, Elena is now
a senior at Liberty High School in Hillsboro, Oregon,
preparing to attend college.
In 2003, at the age of nine, Elena came to the United
States from Mexico with her father and younger
siblings after her mother passed away. Her family had
come from Oaxaca, Mexico, a small village where
only Mixteco, an indigenous dialect, is spoken. As a
result, her father did not know how to speak Spanish
or English.
Each year Hamilton Friends receives hundreds of
applications from around the country. From those
applications, 35 new scholars are selected to join
the group of talented students who make up the
Hamilton Friends Association.
“When we first came to the United States, everything was a challenge. My father struggled to even
buy groceries at the nearby store since he did not
speak Spanish or English,” says Elena.
Elena and her family settled in Oregon where they
lived with her aunt in a crowded apartment. Each
summer her entire family would go to work in the
nearby berry fields picking strawberries and raspberries. “My family and I are always the first ones to
arrive and the last ones to leave,” says Elena.
In the years after she arrived in the United States,
Elena attended the Migrant ESL Night School after
working in the fields with her family. There she
quickly mastered English and developed a love for
education. She was soon placed in the regular public school curriculum and, before long, began taking
honors level courses.
’07 Hamilton Scholars: Leader Week Experience in Guatemala
In the summer of 2009, the 2007 Hamilton Scholars
traveled to Quetzaltenango, Guatemala, known by
local people as the city of “Xela,” for the Second
Annual Guatemala Leader Week. The week was
organized through Cross-Cultural Solutions (CCS),
a leading organization in the field of international
volunteering.
At the other volunteer site, a local elementary
school called Escuela 15 de Septiembre, the Hamilton Scholars painted a mural and spent time with
the elementary school students. Scholars were
invited to play soccer and talk to the children, many
of whom live with only their mothers since their fathers have been forced to immigrate to the United
States to find work.
Nineteen Hamilton Scholars attended the trip. They
expected to volunteer, reconnect with one another,
and refine their vision for the future, but they received so much more; they witnessed the incredible
poverty and enduring strength of the Guatemalan
people.
The volunteer placements, organized by Cross Cultural Solutions (CCS) staff, offered Hamilton Scholars the opportunity to interact with local people
seeing firsthand the challenges and problems faced
by the city of Xela. All students went alternately to
both locations volunteering for four hours each day.
“In Mexico our village was so poor and small; there
was no education program. When I first saw the
building where I went to school I was shocked. It
was so huge and clean that I thought it was a large
company at first,” jokes Elena.
Xela
On the first morning the Hamilton Scholars awoke
bright and early and, after quickly eating and dressing,
they boarded the vans that would take them to their
volunteer sites.
Hamilton Scholar Continued on pg. 4
2 0 0 9 H a m i l t o n L e a d e r We e k i n S e a t t l e
In June of 2009, twenty-six Hamilton Award Winners, traveling from nineteen states across the
country, convened on the University of Washington campus for the Third Annual Hamilton Leader
Week in Seattle. The week included focused
seminars and presentations designed to create a
life-changing experience that will reveal and nurture
the unique leadership potential of each Hamilton
Scholar.
Hamilton Friends Communications Associate, Anna
Renzetti, assembled a panel of college students with
varied backgrounds who shared their experiences
and words of wisdom with the soon-to-be college
freshmen. After a day filled with lectures and discussion, the students enjoyed a memorable evening on a
boat cruise around Lake Washington.
Day 3
“I have been to numerous leadership conventions,
but not one quite like the Hamilton Leader Week,”
said Rachel Brill of Boynton Beach, Florida. “Not
only was I empowered to reach my goals and overcome any obstacle, but I also made lifelong friends
who I cherish.”
Day 1
After a full day of travel the enthusiastic students
got situated into dorms and were given a program
overview by Hamilton Friends President, George
Cox. The rest of the evening was devoted to enjoying the new friends they had “met” via telephone
conferences during the previous year.
Day 2
The second day of the leader week began with a
crowd-pleasing keynote address by George Cox
who assumed the persona of Alexander Hamilton.
“Mr. Hamilton” led a session on American heritage
so scholars could learn more about the life and
times of the organization’s namesake. Kelly Herrington, Director of College Counseling at University Prep, helped the students understand how to
prepare for their upcoming transition into college.
Joslin Boroughs, Hamilton Friends Director of Operations, started day three with a presentation on the
importance of goal setting. During the seminar, ’06
Hamilton Scholar and Hamilton Friends Intern, Danika
Young, led a discussion that helped students construct their personal vision statements. The exercise
allowed students to create a guiding statement that
will guide them as they set and achieve goals. In the
afternoon the students toured some of the Emerald
City’s most well known landmarks including Gasworks
Park, the Seattle Troll, Pike Place Market and the
Space Needle.
Day 4
High School counselor Evan Hatch and Middle School
music director Chris de Leon started day four by
helping students develop personal goals. By the afternoon each student had outlined a detailed seven-year
personal development plan that included small goals
and objectives meant to help them realize their vision
for the future.
The ’09 Hamilton Scholars also worked with
Seattle poet and UW professor, Linda Clifton, who
helped the students visualize their future through
the medium of poetry. The afternoon ended with a
talk from World-class adventurer Helen Thayer who
talked about her solo journey to the Magnetic
North Pole with her dog, Charlie. Her lively story
of how detailed planning helped her to overcome
even the toughest obstacles surprised and inspired
the students.
Arriving in Guatemala
Scholars spent the evening at Seattle’s Golden
Gardens Park where they played soccer and gathered around a campfire to reflect on the week and
share caring words for one another. “[At Golden
Gardens] we all came back at the end of the night
to circle around, become one, and get even closer,”
said Patrick Foster from Sachse, Texas. “It was such
a great feeling to be around a fire and feel something so natural...I felt extremely close to everyone
and I had an individual bond with each person.”
As soon as they boarded the vans that drove them
out of Guatemala City they knew they had arrived in a place very different from their homes.
Cars honked at every turn and the fumes of diesel spewed into the open windows as the drivers
blasted Latin music through the speakers. Squished
together, the group viewed Guatemala’s largest city
with a mixture of excitement and anticipation for the
week ahead.
After a long day of traveling, the’07 Hamilton Scholars arrived safely in Guatemala City. At the airport
they each exchanged stories about their first year at
college and reconnected after a year apart.
Half the students arrived at Centro de Salud, a free
health clinic in Xela. There the students worked to
restore the outside of the building. As they worked
they were able to interact with and talk to men and
women who had traveled miles to receive health
care. The free clinic is one of only two places residents can turn to for low or no cost health care.
At the center Hamilton Scholars saw firsthand how,
with limited resources, the clinic staff had developed
a range of services and education programs to serve
Xela and the outlying communities.
After five hours of traveling, the vans finally reached
Xela. The group unloaded from the vans and were
welcomed to the volunteer home base by the Cross
Cultural Solutions staff.
Each night the group would gather to eat an
authentic Guatemalan meal and to reflect on their
time in Guatemala. Through various group discussions each Hamilton Scholar had a chance to
wrestle with the intense emotions of seeing and
experiencing so much poverty. The sessions gave
the students an opportunity to discuss what they
found surprising, frustrating or empowering.
“I really got a better understanding of just how
great my life truly
is and how blessed
I am,” said an attending student.
“I will take that
back with me. I
will remember this
experience for the
rest of my life.”
“To hear the situations over the past
week that indelibly
touched my peers
was heartwarming
and memorable,”
said Jordan Franks,
Leader Week attendee. “Many of us were crying as we recounted
the boy who said softly, ‘remember me’ as we got
in the departing van.”
Travel to Guatemala Continued on pg. 4
Hamilton Friends Internship Program: Hamilton Scholars
Intern in New York and Seattle
Day 5
Day five began with a presentation on strengths
and weaknesses by Bill Thomas. During the following class, Hamilton winners were able to push aside
their fears and share personal stories of struggle
during a revealing session facilitated by Carolyn Cox.
At the end of the morning supportive hugs and
encouraging words were evidence of how close the
26 students had become in a short time.
The final evening was celebrated with over 100 donors, volunteers and supporters at the Third Annual
Hamilton Leaders Gala. The evening was one of
good food, good conversation and inspiring stories
and was highlighted by Washington State Attorney
General Rob McKenna’s inspiring keynote address
on leadership.
Leader Week Continued on pg. 4
In the summer of 2009 Hamilton Friends offered
internships in both New York and Seattle to eight
lucky Hammie Scholars.
The 2009 New York internship program lasted eight
weeks and included Hamilton Scholars Jillian Ogren,
Danya Anouti, Kem Chatfield, Ryan Florek, Farihah
Khan and Kyle Baldwin.
Jillian, Danya, and Kem worked as School Program
Interns at the New-York Historical Society. Ryan assisted with the New-York Historical Society’s Public
Programs Department and Farihah worked in the
Visitor Services Department. Kyle had the unique opportunity to work with Lumus Construction at Hamilton’s newly-restored Manhattan home, The Grange.
Danika Young, a 2006 Hamilton winner, was placed as
a Hamilton Friends Intern. She worked in the Seattle
main office and assisted with the program implementation of the 2009 Seattle Leader Week.
Taylor Matalone, a 2007 Hamilton winner, spent
the summer working with AHFA President, George
Cox, at Morgan Stanley Smith Barney in Seattle. She
helped develop a marketing database while also assisting with the day to day tasks of a finance office.
One hundred percent of the interns felt that their
internships and the supplemental program workshops helped them feel more prepared for future
work experience. Danya, a New York intern, described the program as one that would benefit her
greatly in her future.
“This internship gave me a start to a professional
network and gave me a sense of independence that
I will take with me,” Danya said.
Hamilton Scholar Continued from pg. 2
Leader Week Continued from pg. 2
In spite of learning English at a late age and spending many hours working, Elena has become one of
the top students at her high school, ranking in the
top 3% of her class. She has challenged herself by
taking AP Language and Composition, as well as AP
Spanish.
Along with academics, Elena is highly involved in
her school. As secretary of MECHA (Movimiento
Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan), she is in charge of
the club’s meetings and fundraisers. Elena is also a
teen leader with Students Today Aren’t Ready for
Sex (STARS), a school group educating 7th graders
on methods for standing up to peer pressure for
sexual involvement.
Remaining deeply connected to her family, Elena has
been in charge of running her family’s household
since her mother passed away. “At home I cook
meals for my father and siblings. I’m also responsible
for house-cleaning and work on Saturdays to have
enough money to pay the bills.”
Elena has also dedicated time giving back to her
community. She has volunteered as a choir director for children and is active in a local performance
group called Encuentros, where group members
present dramas to local students in both English
and Spanish about refraining from drugs, alcohol,
gangs and sexual involvement.
Day 6
The day began with hugs and good-byes as the 26 students returned to their homes. A week of memories,
new friends and new-found leadership skills launched each student into a successful freshman year of college
in the fall.
New York’s Paulina Karpis is grateful for her experience. “Thanks to Hamilton Friends, I will enter college in
September as a confident, energized freshman, eager to pursue my dreams and armed with the tools necessary to achieve them!”
“My life has been precious. I was talking to a friend
the other day about the opportunities that we are
blessed with. Opportunities are everywhere. All
you need to do is ask. That’s the greatest skill I have
learned. I have learned to ask for help and to take
advantage of as many opportunities as I can,” says
Elena.
Travel to Guatemala Continued from pg. 2
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Returning Home
As the Hamilton Group prepared to return home, exhausted and moved by their trip, they took time to
quietly reflect on their experiences in Guatemala.
In one week they gained and experienced so much about the world, each other and themselves. A true
leader must be able to look at the world around them and be able to see the many perspectives of power
and poverty. Our young leaders were given the opportunity to look outside their comfort zones and gain a
deeper perspective on who they are and what the world needs from them as future leaders.
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The Alexander Hamilton Friends Association
216 - 1st Avenue So., Ste 345,
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The Hamilton Friends Post is an official publication of The Alexander Hamilton Friends Association (AHFA).
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