Preserving Hamilton's Legacy – Energizing Tomorrow's Leaders

Alexander Hamilton spent his entire life trying to make America's governmental, legal and economic systems function. His successes resulted in a thriving new democracy: the United States of America. This America is Hamilton's monument and his greatest legacy. Therefore, to preserve Hamilton's legacy our task at Hamilton Friends is clear: to help create leaders capable of maintaining and improving the democratic values of the United States of America.

Our Mission

To identify young Americans who, like the young Alexander Hamilton, demonstrate leadership abilities, academic excellence, a passion for public service and financial need– and, through practical training programs, internship experiences and financial assistance, help them reach their highest personal and career goals.

Identify – Each year we identify 100 high-achieving, service-oriented, low-income high school juniors who receive the Alexander Hamilton Citizenship Achievement Award. The purpose of the Hamilton Award is to recognize high school students for their academic, personal, service and entrepreneurial achievements and to select students for the Hamilton Leaders Academy.

Hamilton Leaders Academy Practical Training Programs - Our Hamilton Award Winners are enrolled in our Hamilton Leaders Academy training program. Hamilton Leaders Academy is an educational program that focuses on personal vision, goal setting, leadership and practical skills for college and the workplace. The program is currently two years in length, but our plans call for expansion to four years in the future. Each academic year of training ends in an intensive week of leadership training called the Hamilton Leader Week.

Internship Experiences – Our philosophy at Hamilton Friends is that internships should be paid work experiences that move students along their chosen career path. Our Experience New York Internship Program sends students to New York between their freshman and sophomore years in college. These paid internships are meant to give the students some general work experience that will both help them gain real-world skills and give them the opportunity to explore their professional interests more fully.

This program is designed as a general internship program to enable students to obtain professional work experiences in New York for an eight-week period between the freshman and sophomore year of college. Future internship programs will be tailored to individual needs and will be offered across the country.

Financial Assistance – One of our long term objectives is to see all of our award winners emerge from college debt-free and launched in careers of their choice unencumbered with student loans. Hamilton Award winners receive $500 scholarships. These funds are intended to help students pay for the costs of college applications, campus visits and related expenses. In addition, we help our Hamilton Scholars students find scholarships they might otherwise not identify. As our organization grows we intend to provide financial assistance to all our winners who need it. That goal, however, is several years away.