Lyric Hamilton

School: Fox School of Business
Degree and Year: Executive MBA, business administration and management
Hometown: West Oak Lane, Philadelphia
Current Job Title:
Current Employer:

Setting the stage. As director of events for the Wells Fargo Center, at just 26, Lyric Hamilton, FOX ’23, led all aspects of weekly events at the 20,000-seat South Philadelphia arena, including Flyers games—making her the first Black woman to oversee operations for a National Hockey League team. After seven years with the center, Lyric left in late 2024 to plot her next big move.

Honoree Lyric Hamilton standing above the Flyers rink at the Wells Fargo Center

“At Fox, I learned how to look at things from that 10,000-foot level. The program basically shows you how to build a business as an executive and run it from every angle.”

—Lyric Hamilton

Growing up in Philly. Lyric was raised with a sister by her single mother and grandmother in the West Oak Lane neighborhood. “We didn't always have everything we wanted,” Lyric says, “But these women taught me how to be, how to act and what was important in life. It was a house full of love.”

At Philadelphia’s Central High School, Lyric joined a stage crew responsible for daily management of the school’s auditorium. She fell in love with managing productions and went on to obtain a BFA in theater with a stage management emphasis from The Pennsylvania State University.

Hat trick. A summer internship at the Wells Fargo Center led to her first professional job as event coordinator at the center. In less than three years she earned two promotions to director of events, where she managed all departments leading up to, on day of and after the events; designed floor seating arrangements for concerts; bridged communications between the venue and her clients; and pulled 20 hour-plus shifts on event days to see things through from beginning to end.

Temple transformation. In 2022 Lyric was named to the Wells Fargo Center’s Executive Scholarship Program, which awards one employee each year 50% off tuition for a graduate degree. Lyric chose to pursue an executive MBA at the Fox School of Business due to the school’s “highly regarded” reputation, as well as the program’s flexible scheduling and rapid 16-month calendar. She says the program has moved her closer to a dream of one day landing in a corporate C-suite.