The Robin and Sandy Stuart Foundation is a left-of-center private family foundation based in Lake Forest, Illinois named for and directed by Alexander “Sandy” Stuart and his wife Anne Peake “Robin” Stuart. ^{1 2 3 4 5}

Background

The Robin and Sandy Stuart Foundation was established as a tax-exempt private family foundation in May 2017 in Lake Forest, Illinois. Its namesakes, Alexander D. “Sandy” Stuart, president of North Star Investments, and his wife, Ann Peake “Robin” Stuart, a photographer, are members of the Stuart family that traces its roots to Elbridge Stuart, the creator of the Carnation company known for its evaporated milk products that was sold to multinational food conglomerate Nestle in 1985 for $3 billion. ^{1 2 3 4 5}

Activity

The Robin and Sandy Stuart Foundation has supported at least two fellowships at Ragdale, an artist residency program in Lake Forest, Illinois. ^{6 7}

Grantees

The Robin and Sandy Stuart Foundation has given grants to local, left-of-center, and environmentalist organizations including the Episcopal Church of Nashville, the Millenium Park Foundation, the Buffalo Bill Center of the West, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, the Gorton Community Center, Heterodox Academy, the James Madison Program in New Jersey, the Savannah Music Festival, Lake Forest Open Lands, the Institute of Politics at the University of Chicago, the Nature Conservancy of South Carolina, Yellowstone Forever, the Bipartisan Policy Center, the Garden Club of America, the American Writer’s Museum, the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless, Allies for Community Business, the Chicago Abortion Foundation, the Ragdale Foundation, the Yellowstone Coalition, the Future Caucus, Govern for America, Mixteca, and Planned Parenthood of the Rockies. ⁸

Leadership

Alexander D. “Sandy” Stuart is a director of the Robin and Sandy Stuart Foundation as well as the president of North Star Investments, president of the Stuart Family Foundation, and a trustee of organizations including the Northwestern Lake Forest Hospital, Lake Forest College, and the St. Andrew’s School in Middletown, Delaware. Previously, Stuart was the president and CEO of Conway Farms, a partner and board member of Black Stone Minerals, president of Lake Forest Country Day School, chair of the board of Chicago Public Media, and a trustee of the State of Illinois’s Teachers’ Retirement System. ^{4 8 9}

Ann Peake “Robin” Stuart, the wife of Alexander D. “Sandy” Stuart, is a director of the Robin and Sandy Stuart Foundation as well as a director of the Stuart Family Foundation and a photographer. ^{5 8 9}

Teresa Acuna is a director of the Robin and Sandy Stuart Foundation as well as the treasurer of the Stuart Family Foundation. ^{8 9}

1. “Travel through our history timeline.” Nestle. Accessed March 18, 2025. https://www.nestle.com/about/history/nestle-company-history
2. “Stuart Family.” Forbes. July 7, 2014. Accessed March 18, 2025. https://www.forbes.com/profile/stuart/
3. “Robin And Sandy Stuart Foundation.” ProPublica. Accessed March 18, 2025. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/810839186
4. “ART INSTITUTE ICONIC: PHOTOGRAPHS FROM THE ROBIN AND SANDY STUART ’72 COLLECTION – JULY 17, 2019 – SOLD OUT!.” Princeton Club of Chicago. Accessed March 18, 2025. https://www.princetonclubofchicago.org/article.html?aid=524
5. Sweet, David A.F. “The Whole Picture.” Classic Chicago. March 29, 2020. Accessed March 18, 2025. https://classicchicagomagazine.com/the-whole-picture/
6. Homepage. Ragdale. Accessed March 18, 2025. https://www.ragdale.org/
7. “Current and Recent Residents.” Ragdale. Accessed March 18, 2025. https://www.ragdale.org/residents/category/Robin+%26+Sandy+Stuart+Fellow
8. Robin and Sandy Stuart Foundation. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax. (Form 990), 2023. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/810839186/202422419349100127/full
9. Stuart Family Foundation. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax. (Form 990), 2020. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/363422731/202123199349106827/full