The Stuart Foundation (formally the Elbridge Stuart Foundation) is a left-leaning grantmaking foundation formed by Elbridge A. Stuart, the creator of Carnation-brand evaporated milk. Its principal focus is on education in the state of California.
Background
The Stuart Foundation was started by Elbridge A. Stuart in 1937. Elbridge Stuart formed the Carnation company, a food processor best known for its evaporated milk product. Carnation was later sold to the Nestle corporation in 1985 for $3 billion. [1]
The Stuart Foundation is a grantmaking organization that provides funding for education and child welfare initiatives. [2] It has an asset base of $520 million with expenditures of approximately $21 million each year. [3]
The son of Elbridge Stuart started the Dwight Stuart Youth Fund in 2001. The DSYF was later merged with the Stuart Foundation. The Board of Advisors for DYSF is comprised of the late Elbridge A. Stuart’s four sons. [4]
Leadership
In 2014, the Stuart Foundation announced a new president. Jonathan P. Raymond replaced Christy Pischel, who had led the organization since 2003. [5] Jonathan Raymond is the former director of the California Office to Reform Education and Superintendent of the Sacramento Unified School District; he later left Stuart Foundation. [6]
In 2019, the Board of Trustees for the Stuart Foundation announced that Sophie Fanelli had been selected as president for the foundation. Fanelli previously worked at UCLA and the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California. [7] Ms. Fanelli replaced David Barlow, who acted as interim president during a search for the next president of the Stuart Foundation. [8]
Grants
Grants from the Stuart Foundation primarily focus on programs in the States of Washington and California. [9]
The Stuart Foundation has provided financial grants for Oceanside Promise,[10] the California Office of Reform Education,[11] a California State University San Marcos program called “ART=OPPORTUNITY,”[12] Treehouse,[13] the Community School for Creative Education,[14] the Education Leadership Development Academy,[15] and CASEL. [16]
Funding
While the Foundation’s endowment investments are its principal source of revenue, in 2018, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation provided a grant to the Stuart Foundation for a learning collaborative based on state-level education equity. [17]