Columbia College promotes Katherine Swartz Hilton

Katherine Swartz Hilton, M.A. has been promoted to Executive Director, McNair Center for Entrepreneurism and Community Engagement at Columbia College. In this new role she will oversee the College’s student-driven entrepreneurship programs in addition to outreach entrepreneurship and leadership programs serving girls (grades 8-12) and professional women.

Notable programs in Katherine’s portfolio include the McNair Entrepreneurship Fellows, McNair Scholars, Columbia College Micro-Seed Fund, Summer Leadership Institute for high school girls, FastTrac for Female Founders, LeaderSHIFT for executive women and the SC Women’s Entrepreneurship Network. Entering her fifth year at Columbia College, Katherine has 18 years of experience as a nonprofit executive in the Southeast, with an emphasis on building impactful and sustainable programs and developing active volunteer networks.

Katherine holds a MA in Organizational Change and Leadership from Columbia College and a BA in Mass Communications from the University of South Carolina. A graduate of the Riley Institute at Furman University and the Nonprofit Leadership Institute at Francis Marion University, she is a certified facilitator with Kauffman FastTrac and the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship.

Katherine is actively involved in the community, serving as secretary to the Board of Trustees for Richland Library and on the board of directors of the Palmetto Center for Women.

Columbia College

Columbia College, founded in 1854, is a liberal arts institution with an undergraduate women’s college and The Communiversity- coeducational offerings online, evening and graduate programs.