Founder

Brian Hamilton

Founder, Brian Hamilton Foundation and Inmates to Entrepreneurs

Founder, Sageworks (now Abrigo)

Brian Hamilton is one of America’s most successful entrepreneurs and a leading expert in finance, known for simplifying the world of money and business ownership for everyday people. He founded Sageworks (now renamed Abrigo), the country’s first fintech company, creating patented technology that made complex financial information easy to understand for millions of small business owners. Brian is also the founder of Inmates to Entrepreneurs, the longest-running program of its kind helping formerly incarcerated individuals start their own businesses. Through his work, Brian has dedicated his career to breaking down financial barriers, demystifying money, and expanding access to economic opportunity.

Earlier in his career, Hamilton started a chain of inner-city coin laundromats, which he turned into community centers in an effort to improve the experiences of his customers. Brian also served as the minority business consultant for the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) in the state of North Carolina. It was there that his passion for helping historically disadvantaged groups create and grow businesses grew stronger.

Raised in a working-class neighborhood near Bridgeport, Connecticut, Hamilton has experienced the challenges of economic disadvantage and the struggle to break that cycle.  He started his own landscaping businesses at an early age, which ultimately funded him being the first in his family to go to college. He graduated summa cum laude from Sacred Heart University, where he later served on the Board of Trustees, and he received an MBA from Duke University.

Hamilton has been widely featured in the press including USA Today, Newsweek, and CNBC and is the recipient of many awards, including the George H.W. Bush Points of Light Award.