The Stuart Foundation is a family foundation dedicated to improving life outcomes for young people through education.
For over three decades, we have contributed to the conditions in which youth can develop into successful and thriving adults. We do our work in California and Washington State.
January 2022 Update
From its founding in 1985, the Stuart Foundation has worked to improve life outcomes for young people through education, with an emphasis on supporting those who are furthest from opportunity to become successful, thriving adults. We have approached this work with humility and a learning orientation as we seek lasting, transformational change in systems as complex as public schools. We also approach it with urgency in the context of a devastating pandemic and our nation’s ongoing struggle to confront a legacy of racism and inequities.
This spirit of urgency propels us into 2022 with a refined strategy informed by reflection and deep listening with our Trustees, staff, community, grantee partners and colleagues in philanthropy. As Kenji Treanor details below, the Foundation will move forward by focusing on two critical strategies: Thriving Adolescents and Improving Systems for Equity.
Adolescence is a time of remarkable growth and potential that not only deserves but demands our complete attention. Too often, adolescents – who in California are majority low-income and youth of color – encounter school and community structures where they are not empowered, seen, welcomed or engaged. Yet we know that schools and systems can be transformative for young people, accelerating academic success, creativity, agency and belonging. (more…)
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Our Purpose
Improving life outcomes for young people through education.
Our Values
Act with Integrity and Respect • Make an Impact • Pursue Diversity, Equity and Inclusion • Be Bold and Persevere • Pursue Excellence • Be Accountable
Our Vision
We believe all young people can succeed in school and in life if they have opportunity and support. To make this aspiration real, we must navigate away from narrow definitions of achievement toward an approach that supports a well-rounded education for all, and especially adolescents who are furthest from opportunity. This kind of learning is found within schools and systems that are intentionally designed to deliver it and where students are seen and valued, and have the agency and support needed to succeed.
Our Desired Future
We envision schools and school systems with both the people and the means to break stubborn historical links between race, class, academic achievement and opportunity. These schools accomplish the most important work there is: helping every young person thrive, regardless of neighborhood or circumstance.
