Worcester Business Journal

18 Worcester Business Journal | August 20, 2018 | wbjournal.com F O C U S 4 0 U N D E R F O R T Y Elton took over at Tower Hill in April 2017 and didn't take long to update an institution through its parent organization, the Worcester County Horticultural Society, dates to 1842. Elton helped lead Tower Hill to its most successful fundraising year, raising more than $5 million, and its highest annual attendance at 140,000. Tower Hill had a record number of people – more than 9,000 – taught in its education programs last year, and her acquisition of 39 acres to the garden's footprint was the largest expansion at Tower Hill in more than two decades. Elton is among the youngest heads in the country of a large botanical garden, but the task doesn't feel foreign to someone whose parents met while working at Everglades National Park in Florida. Perhaps with help from a memory of walking among rows of orange trees growing up, Elton has taken to the industry, having led Temple University's Philadelphia Flower Show exhibits in 2009-2011, and served as the director of horticulture for the Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden in Richmond, Va. Elton serves on Worcester Cultural Coalition's board and chairs its governance committee. – Profile by Grant Welker From judge Milka Njoroge: "Grace is an innovative leader who is committed to the community, creating opportunities for people from all backgrounds to connect with and enjoy nature." What is the best advice you've ever gotten? My grandma Grace Rudig told me to travel as much as possible to see the world and learn about other cultures. When they eventually build a statue of you, what will the inscription say? Grace Elton created beauty and inspired people to love plants, gardening and the natural world. Grace Elton, 37 CEO Tower Hill Botanic Garden, Boylston Lives: Worcester Birthplace: Cincinnati Colleges: University of Delaware, University of Florida Dufu moved from her native Ghana to the United States at age 12, living in the predominantly white town of Randolph. There, she experienced prejudice for the first time because of her skin color – and she was determined to devote herself to create a safe space for women to feel empowered. At Worcester's Burncoat High School, Dufu used her talents in the arts to address social justice and celebrate diversity, winning Citizen of the Year by the Martin Luther King Business Empowerment Center. In 2008, Dufu created Ellite Event Planning, where designers, artists, poets and dancers showcase their talents. Dufu has been a supervisor at the Department of Children & Families' Worcester office since 2013, after being a DCF social worker for seven years prior. As a social worker, Dufu led cultural competence trainings and created a curriculum for working with families from West Africa. As a supervisor today, she serves on DCF's diversity team. Her work included the creation of a model for immigrant and refugee service work. – G.W. From judge Michael Arnum: "A true renaissance woman, Efua Dufu has had a major impact on her adopted community, and she's now extending the hospitality she experienced to a new set of recent arrivals." Other than Massachusetts, where would you like to live? Washington, D.C. I often visited in my 20s and felt motivated to see young entrepreneurs – people of color – making great contributions to the city that looked like me. What TV character is most like you? Olivia Pope from "Scandal." She is confident, fearless, a risk taker, a leader, persistent, creative and, most of all, resilient. Efua T. Dufu, MSW, LCSW, 38 Owner Ellite Event Planning, Worcester Lives: Worcester Birthplace: Accra, Ghana Colleges: Curry College, Rhode Island College Photo taken at Tower Hill Botanic Garden in Boylston.

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