Fostering Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Ownership
FED History
Introduction
In 2005, I became President of the Foundation for Enterprise Development (FED), which was created in 1986 by my late father, Bob Beyster. Renamed in 2017 as Beyster Foundation for Enterprise Development , the BFED has had an exceptional history of advancing research, thought-leadership, and education/training programs at the intersection of innovation, entrepreneurship and broad-based employee ownership (BBEO). Today, the holders of our endowed positions and recipients of our annual grants are re-imagining global educational resources, high-road government policy, and practical interventions through entrepreneurial experimentation so that more companies will offer meaningful ownership and participation with their workers, and through that, create thriving companies, communities and economies.
Advanced Research
The Beyster Foundation is focused on applied research by leading institutions. BBEO has proven to be strategically beneficial to companies, employees, and economies by creating and sharing wealth with more than just a few. Advancing BBEO and associated employee participation takes a thorough understanding of the range of solutions from Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOP), equity stock purchase plans, options plans, employee ownership trusts (EOT), cooperatives, and others forms of shared ownership.
Read more
Ownership Education
Impactful employee ownership goes far beyond an equity transaction. It requires leadership and the hard work of establishing and updating equity (or profit sharing) ownership along with enabling management practices. We support educational programs, training and tools that inform founders, executives, board members, and employees about employee ownership.
Read more
Community Catalyst
The Beyster Foundation is focused on innovative place-based and community-led initiatives that are directly engaged with owners and entrepreneurs who are likely to adopt and sustain shared ownership models, learn from each other, and build additional support systems in the community/ecosystem.
Read more
Our Founder
Dr. J. Robert Beyster’s employee ownership philosophy: “Someone who is involved with the company should own a piece of it;” and “Those who really perform well are rewarded by having their stock increased. People involved in the company should share in its success.”
He believed in this philosophy and as a result, Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) grew into one of the largest and most successful companies in the world. Dr. Beyster knew that applying this philosophy of shared wealth and responsibility to other organizations can make a real difference in the economic lives of people everywhere. His trust in the power of employee ownership also led him to create the FED.
More Info
About the Foundation for Enterprise Development
The Foundation for Enterprise Development (FED) is a private, nonprofit operating foundation established in 1986 by Dr. J. Robert Beyster.
The FED is dedicated to advancing entrepreneurship and science and technology innovation through broad-based, employee ownership. FED programs in research and education support the creation, growth, and sustainability of US-based science and technology companies.
FED Programs include:
- Inter-disciplinary research fellowships, awards, and symposiums
- Curricula development and collaboration on the largest global Curriculum Library on Employee Ownership
- Development and distribution of curricula, books, films, and multimedia programs through FED Productions
The FED launched the Beyster Institute in 2002, which became part of the Rady School of Management at the University of California, San Diego in 2004, and provides training, education, and consulting in employee ownership.
Beyster’s Blog is a multimedia initiative of FED, and went live with the first version of the blog in April 2006. It has been an interesting experiment. We succeeded in our first objective to reach out broadly for input to support Dr. Beyster’s book. We have since then used the blog for input on numerous educational initiatives, including the Network Solutions book and the 2nd edition of The SAIC Solution.