Updated: October 26, 2020
2020 outstanding women in business
Outstanding Women in Business: Hamilton is in it for the kids
Photo | Matthew Wright
Liz Hamilton, executive director of Boys & Girls Club of Worcester
Liz Hamilton has worked with the Boys & Girls Club in some capacity for 17 years, long enough to see many of the nonprofit’s clients grow up and start their own lives as adults.
“It’s a real honor when you get to know a child who starts coming to the club at five years old, and then graduates from high school and is going on to college, and then you're able to give them a college scholarship,” Hamilton, executive director, said. “It’s very humbling to see what you’re doing 14, 15 years later, can really make a huge difference.”
A social worker by trade, Hamilton hails from Tulsa, Okla. She found her way to Central Mass. while participating in the Jesuit Volunteer Corps, after attending Regis University in Denver.
Through the program, she worked for one year in Great Falls, Mont., and then a second in Worcester.
“I had never even heard of Worcester before, but I wanted to be in a more diverse community, in more of a city setting,” Hamilton said.
At the time, she was debating whether she wanted to pursue social work or journalism, she said, but working at Rainbow Child Development Center in many ways made the decision for her.
“What I like about social work as you look at the person in the environment, so it's not pathological,” she said. “I like working with people to solve problems instead of saying what someone needs.”
Hamilton began working with the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families, after which she then had two children and pivoted to consulting work at Foresight Partners in Worcester.
One project she worked on was a capital campaign with Boys & Girls Club.
“I was so inspired by what they were doing,” Hamilton said.
Three years later, she joined the club’s staff. Nine years later, she was named executive director.
Outside of her drive to make a difference in the lives of children and families, it’s hard for Hamilton to say what exactly drew her to heading one of the most well-known nonprofits in the region. In part, she said, it was probably a result of generous and devoted mentors. She remembers a music teacher so supportive of interests in music and theater she took Hamilton to see "The Nutcracker."
“I have benefited from my mentors, and I want to be able to provide that opportunity for our kids,” she said.
Hamilton’s mission focus and strong fundraising ability make her an awesome combination for a nonprofit leader, said Linda Cavaioli, executive director of YWCA Central Massachusetts.
“She’s very good at bringing people together and then identifying and solving problems, and then figuring out the resources to address it,” Cavaioli said.
Hamilton’s propensity for recognizing fruitful partnerships while focusing her attention on her organization’s daily operations is something other leaders might learn from, said Cavaioli.
“She’s the real deal,” Cavaioli said. “And she’s fun. I mean, there’s no airs. She can work in the front, but she’s also a lot of fun to work with and very energetic and enthusiastic, and people are drawn to wanting to work with her to get things done.”
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