The world’s best and brightest leaders are here, applying ingenuity to better humanity. We celebrate our rich and uniquely Foster partnerships with iconic companies – we collaborate, we innovate, we call them neighbors. From entrepreneurial ventures to world-class companies, you will find Foster alumni working to create their greatest impact.
Community is the heart of who we are – it is why we start our purpose statement with “together.” We are committed to fostering a welcoming and inclusive environment that inspires everyone to be better together. We encourage every individual to bring their full self to all that we do. We foster leaders who better humanity through action. We foster the future by striving to be better tomorrow than we are today.
Our approach relies on fostering imagination, curiosity and innovation to solve unstructured, real-world problems. We gather insights by listening and truly hearing each other. We find strength in diversity and originality. We proactively lift each other up.
The Foster Foundation in Seattle brought their total contributions to the University of Washington Business School to $50 million with a new gift of $36.5 million in 2007. To honor this gift and the life of the Foster Foundation’s co-founder Michael G. Foster, the University of Washington’s Board of Regents renamed the UW Business School the Michael G. Foster School of Business on Sept. 20, 2007.
Michael G. Foster, born in 1937, graduated from Roosevelt High School and attended the University of Washington before starting his business career with Dominick & Dominick, a bond firm in New York. Eventually he returned to Seattle and joined Foster & Marshall, becoming president in 1971.
After selling Foster & Marshall to Shearson/American Express in 1982, Michael and his father and mother would establish The Foster Foundation in 1984 — which gives to a wide array of causes, such as education, the arts, health and human services. Michael Foster would go on to found another successful firm, Foster, Paulsell & Baker, but much of his energy for the remainder of his life would be focused on the philanthropic work of the foundation. One of the first major gifts of The Foster Foundation was $3 million in 1990 to help build a new business library for the UW Business School that would carry the name of Albert O. and Evelyn W. Foster.