Supported Organizations

Selecting and funding education and conservation opportunities in California through various partnerships.

Donors Choose

By partnering with Donors Choose, The Biz and Livia Stone Foundation has been able to support 121 classroom projects and made a modest impact on the lives of almost 10,000 students mostly located in California with a strong focus on the San Francisco Bay Area. In addition to funding projects, Biz and Livia are on the Advisory Board of Donors Choose.

WildCare Bay Area

WildCare is environmental education and advocacy rooted in compassion. In addition to programs, WildCare operates a wildlife rehabilitation hospital, a 24/7 Wildlife Hotline, and a humane wildlife solutions service to address problem wildlife encounters. In addition to funding this organization, Livia has been hands-on for over six years rescuing and rehabilitating injured and orphaned wildlife. Additionally, Biz serves as an honorary board member and co-chair with Livia of the annual fundraising Gala.

PRBO Conservation Science

Founded in 1965 as the Point Reyes Bird Observatory, this nonprofit organization does bird ecology research, creates management tools, leads field science training programs, and develops and delivers bird science education programs to advance biodiversity conservation in the west on land and at sea. PRBO scientists study birds because they are excellent indicators of environmental health—they are top predators, relatively inexpensive to monitor, and widely distributed.

The Biz and Livia Stone Foundation is proud to support PRBO because of their commitment to sound science. Science and conservation programs work to reduce the negative impacts of rapid environmental change. These methods help us understand climate change, landscape ecology, habitat change, and endangered species. Findings are used to evaluate ecosystems and actively guide management and restoration efforts led by government agencies, nonprofits, and private parties.

The Marine Mammal Center

The Biz and Livia Stone Foundation supports The Marine Mammal Center. This organization is a nonprofit veterinary research hospital and educational center dedicated to the rescue and rehabilitation of ill and injured marine mammals. Their focus is primarily elephant seals, harbor seals, and California sea lions.

Through rehabilitation, the research team based in a state of the art facility in the Marin Headlands studies the causes of various marine mammal illnesses and by doing so, learns about conditions affecting the health of marine mammal populations and the oceans—conditions that can affect humans too.

The Marine Mammal Center inspires stewardship of our oceans with education programs that teach nearly 30,000 students and adults each year about marine mammals and the urgent need for environmental stewardship of earth’s marine environments. The goal is raising awareness of ocean conservation.

The Alta Vista School of San Francisco

The Biz and Livia Stone Foundation supports The Alta Vista School, and independent elementary school in San Francisco’s Mission district. Biz serves as an active advisor to the school as well. Alta Vista emphasizes science, math, and technology with small class sizes and generous financial aid programs.

Students are challenged with a vigorous, interactive approach that engages imagination and nourishes curiosity while providing the stimulation and tools to solve problems and think effectively. Giving back to the community and working with public schools is important to Alta Vista.

Programs & Grants

Creating and implementing specific, unique, opportunities to support education and conservation in the San Francisco Bay Area.

School Activities

The Biz and Livia Stone Foundation in partnership with Henry Haight Elementary, and the Alameda Parks and Recreation Department developed a selection of activities for kids along with a simple scholarship application process—all who applied won.

With help from teachers, administrators, and the community at large, we encouraged students to apply for scholarships for activities ranging from camping to a full range of youth sports such as soccer and swimming—even Hawaiian jujitsu.

The families, teachers, administration, and most importantly the kids were energized and excited by this program. Together, we made a modest impact for the Henry Haight community. We look forward to more programs that support our mission in California.

On Site Field Trips

It’s not always possible for kids to go on a field trip so The Biz and Livia Stone Foundation has teamed up with The Marine Mammal Center and WildCare Bay Area to bring the field trip to the classroom! We offer grants to schools we support so the Whale Bus and the Nature Van can pay them a visit.

Guided by professional science educators, the Whale Bus and the Nature Van both teach students about animal characteristics, adaptations, and food webs all without leaving school. The students can examine specimens, and conduct research projects that strengthen their understanding of our natural world.

For families of children who can’t afford the fee and don’t have transportation to visit The Marine Mammal Center or WildCare Bay Area, these mobile learning experiences make a difference. Kids have fun while at the same time broadening their view of our shared environmental responsibilities.

Arts Education Grant

The Biz and Livia Stone Foundation funds modest grants program intended to support art education in the Bay Area. In this time of tightening the belt, we know that many arts programs are on the chopping block. It is our hope that these grants, as modest as they are, will enable teachers to provide students with the supplies they need to create or complete arts programs in their classes.