In recognition of the 40th anniversary of the Stuart Foundation’s investments in California, the Foundation will be engaging in a year-long series of conversations to better understand both California’s progress toward advancing an equitable public education system and the next critical steps in that journey.
In this first in a series, Dwight L. Stuart and Elbridge H. Stuart III, who have served on the Stuart Foundation Board of Directors since its inception in 1985, reflect with Roberta Furger on some of the essential lessons of four decades of work in California.
Roberta: Over four decades, the Foundation’s strategy and areas of focus have evolved to meet changing needs and opportunities, as well as to reflect a deepening appreciation and analysis of the complexities of systems change. Through these changes, what are some of the core principles and understandings that have guided the Foundation’s work?
Elbridge: One core principle is a commitment to understanding complex issues and being open to diverse perspectives. This orientation increases trust in our organization and enables us to serve as bridge builders and facilitators across groups and people who may not always agree. For example, in 2011 we were one of the early funders of the Labor Management Initiative, which brought education management organizations and unions together to build relationships and discuss issues. Our support of this effort was not about advancing a particular Foundation agenda. Rather, it was because we understand the value of creating a forum in which organizations with different perspectives could sit and talk to one another. This is so important, especially now. We’re proud of our ability and interest in understanding diverse perspectives and bringing groups together to facilitate conversation and understanding.
Dwight: That’s right. That commitment to understanding issues also guides our long-time focus on research and data. There are many examples of how we have supported research and data collection and analysis over the years. One example of this is our support for the Center for the Future of Teaching and Learning (CFTL), beginning in 1995 for 17 years. That work made clear the challenges with teacher shortages and teacher turnover in California, data that remains important today, given that the single most important factor in a student’s education is the quality of teaching and teachers. The data, once collected and reported by CFTL, is now collected by the state.
The research on the teacher workforce is just one example in a long history of research investments that have informed policy and practice. We were among the foundations that supported the first Getting Down to Facts set of research studies, which played a big role in informing what became the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF), for example. And the research we supported on the education of youth in foster care, conducted by WestEd originally, raised the profile of this student population and laid the groundwork for youth in foster care being identified as one of the targeted student groups in LCFF.
We continue to fund research and data collection and analysis as an essential part of our strategy.
Roberta: The Foundation has also been a convener, connecting people and organizations to build knowledge, understanding, and relationships to move work forward. Can you share a bit more about this work?
Elbridge: Collaboration and partnership—this is an orientation that we hope grounds all of our relationships and work. Several years back, for example, we surveyed education-focused organizations in California and what we heard was that it wasn’t just the money that mattered to them. They also valued how foundation staff offered guidance, made introductions, and thought with them about strategy.
Dwight: Collaboration has been a core practice over the years. It’s a hallmark of our two new funds, the Purpose of Education Fund and the Youth Thriving Through Learning Fund. It isn’t easy to navigate different priorities and interests, but we understand and have seen the value of productive collaboration.
Roberta: Thanks for elevating the two collaborative funds anchored by Stuart Foundation investments. One through-line across the two funds is a commitment to transforming the high school experience for young people to prepare them for success in a rapidly changing world and to provide them with opportunities to learn about and practice democracy. How does this goal fit into the Foundation’s broader vision of adolescent thriving?
Dwight: It’s all about the skills young people need the instant they get out of school. The same skills that help them with jobs or in college contribute to them being informed and engaged civically.
Elbridge: I think the Foundation’s emphasis on integrating civic learning is very important. It’s about knowledge of history, as well as an understanding that if you take an active part, you can help make change possible.
Roberta: The Foundation’s work has long been about improving systems, structures, and practices to improve support for the most marginalized students. Why has that work been such an important anchor for the Foundation over the years?
Elbridge: We know from the research that when the public education system adjusts and improves to better support students who are furthest from opportunity, it benefits all students—not just those for whom a particular intervention or program might be designed. That’s why we keep banging away at it—because the students deserve the opportunity and support to help them thrive and because the whole system is better for it.
Roberta: Over the Foundation’s 40-year history, the landscape of education philanthropy in California has morphed and changed quite a bit, with new funders emerging and long-time funders shifting their priorities. And yet, despite these changes to the philanthropic and education landscape, the Foundation’s focus has remained consistent. Why do you stick with it?
Dwight: Well, I just think there’s nothing harder to do and there’s nothing more important to do in a collective sense. Now, obviously, we have an education system that in many ways is still tied to the industrial system, and that needs to be updated and remodeled to meet today’s needs and realities. I don’t think you can have a vibrant society, a democratic society—I say that in a broad sense—and social viability for families and children and young adults without an education system that works well for every young person.
Elbridge: That’s right. A quality education is a ticket to possibility. It doesn’t guarantee success, of course, but without it, young people and our democracy will struggle.