Colin Hamilton

Principal

I have built a career partnering with organizations—including those without traditional donor constituencies or high visibility—to access the resources they need to grow and better serve their communities. I am particularly interested in cross-sector projects with a community development vein.  

Some of the more significant initiatives I’ve participated in are described in the projects section, but let me flag a few details. 

I got my start working for a political consulting firm in Northeast Ohio, where my primary focus was helping public agencies – school districts, libraries, mental health, and transit agencies – build public support for tax referendums.

From 2000 to 2007, I served as the Executive Director of the Friends of the Minneapolis Library. I led a $140 million referendum campaign and a $16.7 million capital campaign for the Minneapolis Central Library, before helping advance a politically complex merger between the city and county systems. In my last year, we were voted the nation’s most outstanding Friends organization, and I was named one of the Twin Cities’ “40 under 40.” 

I then spent ten years leading advancement and planning work at Artspace, a national nonprofit developer working at the intersection of the arts, cultural heritage, and community development. I was deeply involved with local projects in neighborhoods of Minneapolis, New York, New Orleans, Honolulu, Seattle, and elsewhere, while also active in helping shape creative placemaking as it emerged as a more defined national field after the Great Recession. 

Following the 2016 election, I made a significant change and joined Public Radio International (PRI), which had helped create iconic radio programs like The World, Marketplace, The Takeaway, and Studio 360. I helped PRI complete a capital campaign focused on digital transformation a year and a half ahead of schedule. As PRI merged with PRX, public media’s leading technology and podcast innovator, I worked with the CEO and board to set the new organization’s mission and strategic priorities while restructuring the development program to best suit our culture and needs. 

I launched Hamilton & Associates in 2019 with my first client, the Trinity Park Conservancy, which is creating a 210-acre park in the heart of Dallas while pursuing an ambitious equitable community development agenda in partnership with the adjacent neighborhoods. I am a frequent collaborator with Sarah Lutman and 8 Bridges Workshop. 

On a more personal front, I grew up in Iowa City, went to Amherst College, thought I’d become an anthropologist, and then lived in Prague for three years before returning to Iowa for an MFA in creative writing. As a kid I was diagnosed with dyslexia and speech impediments, but now spend most of my time reading, writing, and talking to people. I have published a book of poetry and a novel, and I have a book of stories that will be published in 2023. If you are curious about that work, more can be found here. I live in St. Paul.