Steve Westly and Anita Yu

SOURCE OF WEALTH: The Westly Group

FUNDING AREAS: Education & Healthcare Services

OVERVIEW: Steve Westly and his wife Anita do their grantmaking through the Westly Foundation, which provides education and healthcare for children and underserved communities throughout California.

BACKGROUND: Steve Westly graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Stanford University and an MBA from Stanford’s Graduate School of Business. He began his career in Washington, D.C., where he worked first on Capitol Hill and later in the Office of Conservation and Solar Energy at the U.S. Department of Energy. Steve returned to the West Coast and became special assistant to the President of the California Public Utilities Commission. He is founder and a managing partner of the Westly Group, a sustainability venture firm.

ISSUES:

EDUCATION & HEALTHCARE SERVICES: Steve Westly and Anita Yu established the Westly Foundation in 2000. Since its launch, the foundation has supported children in the areas of education, youth development, healthcare and the "ecosystems in which California children grow."  

The foundation seeks to recognize young social entrepreneurs through the Westly Prize for Young Innovators of California, which awarded its first prizes in 2012. Recent winners include Kana Hammon of YCore, and Miranda Wang of BioCellection. 

The foundation is particularly interested in early- to mid-stage nonprofit organizations. Grantees include Breakthrough Silicon Valley, East Palo Alto Tennis & Tutoring, Stanford University-Haas Center for Public Service, Bay Area Women’s Sports Initiative (BAWSI), Silicon Valley Urban Debate League, and Youth Leadership Institute-Fresno.

LOOKING FORWARD: Expect Westly and Yu to continue to support these interests.