Amanda Hamaker, 38

By Paul Anthony Arco

The events of September 11, 2001, changed many people forever. For Amanda Hamaker and her family, it changed their course of direction.

Amanda, 38, husband Jeffrey, and their young son, were living in California and planning a move back to Portland, Ore., where they previously had lived. The events of 9-11 forced them to cancel a house hunting trip scheduled just two days after the attacks. Rather than rescheduling, they planned a move to Jeffrey’s hometown of Rockford, where the Hamakers have lived for seven generations.

“We started changing our priorities,” Hamaker says. “It was important to be near Jeff’s family.”

When they finally made the move in 2003, Hamaker soon found out she was pregnant and took some time off. Part of an avid Scout family growing up in southern California, she accepted a fundraising and marketing position with Girl Scouts – Rock River Valley Council when her infant son was one month old.

She knew she was in the right place when her boss allowed the baby to come to work with her. Hamaker quickly rose through the ranks and now serves as the organization’s Chief Operating Officer.

Since joining the Girl Scouts in 2004, she has made a significant impact. She started a grant program and secured $65,000 during her first year to help fund outreach staff positions. Services to Rockford’s neediest girls have doubled, and in 2007, due in large part to her efforts, Girl Scout outreach programs were for the first time fully funded.

Hamaker also serves on the Klehm Arboretum board of directors and is the treasurer of the Rockford Network of Professional Women. She is involved with Next Rockford, a group of young leaders dedicated to the advancement of the Rockford community.

Amanda, Jeffrey and sons Harry, 9, and Sam, 4, couldn’t be happier living in Rockford. “Seattle, Orange County, Portland…We liked to move around, but not anymore,” she says. “We’re settled now. We are a part of a community.”