Lisa Hamilton, President and CEO of the Annie E. Casey Foundation: Empowering and Supporting Youth

Lisa Hamilton, President and CEO of the Annie E. Casey Foundation, delves into the organisation’s mission and its groundbreaking efforts to create lasting change for children and families across the United States.

The foundation, established by Jim Casey, the founder of UPS — the world's largest logistics company — carries forward a legacy rooted in empowering young people facing adversity. With an annual grant distribution exceeding $100 million and an endowment of $3.5 billion, the foundation focuses on child welfare, economic opportunity, community development, and juvenile justice reform.

Lisa highlights the foundation’s innovative approach to philanthropy, acting as a catalyst for systemic change rather than merely funding ongoing programs. By identifying promising ideas, piloting initiatives in diverse communities, and leveraging data to scale proven solutions, the foundation partners with nonprofits, government agencies, and community stakeholders to effect change at scale. She underscores the importance of improving systemic operations — whether within juvenile justice, child welfare, or education systems — to ensure sustainability and broad impact.

A key topic of the discussion is the foundation’s Thrive by 25 initiative, which focuses on adolescence as a critical and transformative period of development. Lisa emphasises the necessity of providing young people aged 14 to 24 with the resources and opportunities to succeed, including access to housing, education, financial stability, and meaningful adult relationships. She stresses the importance of aligning programs with emerging brain science, which highlights adolescence as a time of heightened potential for growth and learning.

Lisa calls for a collective reimagining of adolescence as a time of promise rather than peril. She celebrates this life stage as a cornerstone of human development and a fertile period for nurturing leadership, resilience, and creativity.

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