Quixote Foundation, Inc.

Quixote Foundation founder Arthur Stuart Hanisch grew up as part of a prominent and wealthy family in a U.S. social climate shaped by the Great Depression and World War II. His awareness of the gap between his own affluence and the circumstances of others surfaced early. He was born in 1932, the same year the Lindbergh baby was kidnapped. Fearing for Stuart's safety, his parents sent him to school in a limousine. Although very young, Stuart insisted on being dropped off a few blocks away, resisting a privilege he realized others couldn't share.

This intuitive response matured into a lifelong concern for social fairness. In 1962 Stuart used hidden cameras and wireless microphones to document housing discrimination based on race. When the University of Wisconsin refused to complete the film, he resigned a staff position there in protest. He continued to promote civil rights, participating in the non-violent sit-ins and demonstrations that helped build support for the Civil Rights Act, and serving on the local and state NAACP boards.

Over time, Stuart devoted energy and money to social action that ranged from reducing the influence of political advertising to documenting endangered species restoration. He created Quixote Foundation in 1997 and began making formal grants for diverse organizations in the U.S. and abroad.

For the next five years he remained engaged with many of the organizations the foundation funded, holding them--and himself--accountable for living out the values and principles they claimed. Stuart could afford luxury, but chose to live modestly instead. He saw the foundation's role as secondary to nonprofit groups and their leaders, saying "Money provided doesn't deserve credit--what people and organizations do, does deserve credit."

Stuart died in 2002 and his son Erik became president. Stuart gave Erik complete freedom to decide how his own values would be expressed through the foundation. While Quixote Foundation's interests have evolved under new leadership, they've continued to reflect Stuart's influence.