Alexander Hamilton Scholar’s Board of Directors is composed of a group of prominent, dedicated leaders who share a passionate commitment to AHS’ mission.
Arthur Hollingsworth
Chairperson of the Board
Arthur has over 35 years of experience in private equity investing and investment banking, and owns his own private equity firm, Lone Star. He is originally from Beverly Farms, Massachusetts and currently resides in Dallas, Texas (Go Cowboys) with his daughter and three very mischievous dogs. His ties to AHS date way back as Alexander Hamilton himself, was Arthur’s great, great, great, great grandfather! This combined with his belief that the power of education can improve people’s lives and our communities is why Arthur has been a member of the AHS Board since 2011 and currently holds the title of Chairperson of the Board.
Rashid Farrell
Vice President
A first-generation American with ties to both Antigua and Ghana, Rashid was raised in CT but currently resides in Seattle with his fiancé Rashida. He works as a Sr. HR Manager at Microsoft and has over 10 years of corporate experience with Fortune 500 companies including UnitedHealth Group, United Technologies Corporation, & ExxonMobil. Rashid is thankful for the programs that set him up for success as he made the transition from being a student, to college, and to employment. The parallels between these programs and Alexander Hamilton Scholars motivated him to get involved upon moving to Seattle and seeking board membership in June 2018. In Rashid’s spare time, he enjoys traveling with Rashida, soaking in the arts, and exploring food.
Jessica L. Goldman
Secretary
Please meet Jessica. She is a lawyer at the Summit Law Group in Seattle, WA with over 26 years of experience. As the daughter of a life-long teacher, she learned from her mother that education is the most important mechanism for upward mobility. She believes it allows us to make the most of our vibrant diversity as individuals and as a society. She herself is now a mother of a college student, and has had the opportunity to watch with pride, as her daughter takes advantage of the benefits that come from growing up in a family with means. She has been an active board member of Alexander Hamilton Scholars for almost a year, and she sees the tremendous value it adds as it opens doors for amazing students who were not born into the same privilege.
Jason Lynch
Board Member
Jason is a father of two each under four, married to his wife Holly, and works for U.S. Trust where he prides himself on the opportunity to help families achieve their goals and advise on challenging questions. He’s been an active board member of Alexander Hamilton Scholars for almost half a decade! His dedication is brought to life through his strong belief in the power of education as an equalizer in our society and that the AHS model is uniquely positioned to help young people achieve their goals.
Betsy Maurer
Board Member
Betsy Maurer practices employment law in her solo firm in Seattle, Washington, counseling both employers and management-level employees. She has previously worked in large and small law firms and in-house at Microsoft Corporation. Betsy is a past president of Temple Beth Am and currently serves on its board and the board of the Seattle Jewish Chorale. She is proud to be a member of the AHS Council of Advisors. Born and raised in Indianapolis, Indiana, Betsy received her B.A. from Yale University and her J.D. from Temple University Beasley School of Law
Mackenzie Welch
Board Member
Mackenzie Welch is a Program Officer at the Millennium Challenge Corporation, a U.S. foreign assistance agency working to reduce global poverty. Before MCC, Mackenzie worked on poverty reduction and human rights initiatives with Dalberg, the State Department, and an international impact investor. At Dalberg, she developed strategies to catalyze investment in agriculture and provide finance to small enterprises in the missing middle. At Global Partnerships, she analyzed the impact of investment projects across ten countries, spanning agriculture, renewable energy, and microfinance.
Prior to this work, Mackenzie spent as much time as possible in Latin America – promoting agricultural programs in Guatemala, working with internally displaced persons in Colombia, and advocating for indigenous clients in an environmental lawsuit in Ecuador. On the policy side, she updated the 2014 Human Trafficking Report at the State Department in Peru and spent a year researching land rights and studying Portuguese in Brazil with the Department of Defense. Mackenzie is a Truman Scholar and graduated with high honors from Swarthmore College with a B.A. in Political Science and minor in Latin American Studies.
In her spare time, Mackenzie enjoys exploring the outdoors, scheming about side hustles, listening to reggaeton, and curling up with a good book.
Rebecca Bennett
Board Member
Regional Commercial Property Services Manager with over 17 years of experience in multi-unit and commercial property management. Rebecca’s responsibilities include overseeing all vendor management services for the Central region for Link Logistics. Additionally, over her 17+ year career she has had oversight of a portfolios consisting of over 27 commercial properties, 128 tenants, approximately 1,002,248 square feet and 14 ownership groups. Rebecca’s commercial property management experience spans the following markets: Arizona, Colorado, Dallas-Fort Worth, Florida, Indiana, Missouri, Tennessee and Waco, Texas where she oversaw property budget management, operating expense reconciliations, oversight of accounts payable and receivables, collections, tenant, vendor, and owner relations.
Rebecca started her real estate career as an Assistant Property Manager with Simpson Property Group, assisting in the oversight of day-to-day operations of multi-family properties, managing revenue and expenses which ensured that budget and financial guidelines were achieved. During her tenure at Simpson, Rebecca’s career progressed to a Property Manager, where she had full oversight for multi-family apartment complexes leading all management activities including vendor management, tenant relations and lease compliance, while addressing issues involving property maintenance and repairs and budget preparation.
Rebecca enjoys traveling, golfing, and spending time with her husband Nate Bennett and her daughter Hannah currently attending Collin Community College.
Rebecca attended Kilgore College and is a licensed real estate agent in state of Texas.
Rebecca previously served as the Chair of the NAI Robert Lynn Cares Committee, which had a focus on serving the underserved community of DFW. As Chair, Rebecca led many successful projects that include, a canned food drive with the North Texas Food Bank that provided 1009 meals for Hungry North Texans, fed the homeless at The Stewpot that offers a safe haven for homeless and at-risk individuals, developed and led fundraising events that raised funds donated to the Voice of Hope, an after-school and out-of-school care nonprofit organization, and finally partnered with the Voice of Hope and adoption of 35 children to provide Christmas gifts.
Other volunteer work included her time as a member of Junior League of Collin County. Rebecca’s duties included serving and mentoring children at Children’s Medical Center Plano and volunteer participation in various fund-raising events
George Thomas Cox
Founder and Development Director
Mr. Cox is a retired wealth management adviser, having spent 35 years with Morgan Stanley and earlier with Merrill Lynch. He has held board-level positions on several non-profit organizations in the Seattle area and formerly was a member of the Coca Cola Scholars National Selection Board and 2014 received national recognition by Invest In Others for his work at Alexander Hamilton Scholars. He is active with the New-York Historical Society, Temple Beth Am in Seattle, and is a local Rotarian. He and his wife, Carolyn, make their home in Woodway (Edmonds), Washington, and have four grown children and four grandchildren. His hobbies include hiking, mushroom hunting, old books, and antique cars.
