Every meaningful foundation is built on something deeper than its mission statement. For the Schultz Foundation, that something is a set of values forged in northern Utah across five generations of family living, serving, and being shaped by the communities around them. Those values aren’t just words on a page. They guide every partnership, every grant, and every decision our foundation makes, and they explain why our work feels so deeply connected to the people and places we serve.
What is the Schultz Family Foundation?
The Schultz Foundation is a U.S. private family foundation dedicated to the natural land and the hardworking people of Utah. Our mission is to build a legacy that creates lasting improvements across the state, with a particular focus on Utah and the broader Intermountain West.
We give to 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations, identifying opportunities through both a programming and geographical lens—but our work goes beyond traditional grantmaking. Our foundation backs risk takers, hard workers, and extraordinary leaders, the people who understand service and are working to change Utah’s communities for the better. Our philosophy values action over intention and momentum over good ideas alone.
That commitment comes to life through four guiding values, each one reflecting a different facet of what our foundation believes a stronger Utah requires:
Create
At its core, the Schultz Foundation believes opportunity should be earned and rewarded. We believe in opening doors to upward mobility based on hard work, not handouts.
Through our Bootstrap initiative, we support the doers of Utah—the people willing to roll up their sleeves and put in the effort. That means offering mentoring and financial backing to help young people advance, whether they’re continuing their formal education or building a future outside the classroom. It’s a value rooted in a belief that talent paired with grit deserves a real shot. By investing in individuals at these pivotal moments, our foundation helps create a ripple effect that reaches families, workplaces, and communities across the state.
Stewardship
In a state as tied to its land as Utah, stewardship is more than a buzzword. Our value for stewardship centers on protecting the western lands and wildlife that define the Intermountain West.
At the Schultz Foundation, our Sawmill Stewardship Lab initiative builds partnerships with individuals, nonprofits, and like-minded institutions to explore, experiment, and document best practices for caring for the land and wildlife that future generations will inherit. This work supports organizations like the Mule Deer Foundation, which restores and protects mule deer habitats across Utah, and the Western Ranch Management Academy at Utah State University, which equips ranchers and industry professionals to manage land responsibly for the long term. Behind each of these partnerships is a recognition that Utah’s natural landscapes and the livelihoods tied to them are inseparable, and that protecting one means investing in the other.
Amplify
We believe strong communities depend on people getting involved. Amplification, for us, means recognizing and encouraging civic participation—the everyday actions that make our communities and democracy work.
The Schultz Foundation seeks to increase public awareness of the many ways Utahns can engage in government, public meetings, volunteer service, and community initiatives while inspiring more people to take part in civic life. Civic engagement fosters belonging, strengthens communities, and creates meaningful opportunities for individuals to shape the places where they live. By helping more Utahns move from the sidelines to active participation, and by celebrating those whose often-unseen contributions keep our communities strong, we can build a healthier democracy and a more resilient Utah.
Give
Giving is at the heart of the Schultz Family Foundation. As a U.S. private family foundation, the Schultz Foundation gives to 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations, identifying opportunities in conjunction with our annual goals and with a clear focus on Utah and the Intermountain West.
Our Bootstrap Grant exists for those who aren’t afraid of hard work: people with a vision who just need a little backing to make it real, whether they’re learning a trade, launching a small business, or getting a side hustle off the ground. That includes entrepreneurs like Lily at Groovy Flower Farm in Tremonton, who sells fresh-cut arrangements from a recognizable blue VW bus, and Weber County students running the Second Flight Thrift Store, who make fashion affordable while reducing waste and hope to model their shop for other schools.
Giving here isn’t transactional. As we like to say, a well-chosen action creates a ripple that extends beyond a lifetime.
- Learn more about how we give to people with a vision in Utah by visiting our impact page.
Values That Become Action
What makes the Schultz Foundation’s values meaningful is that they don’t stay abstract. Creating, stewardship, amplifying, and giving show up in real partnerships with real people and organizations across Utah, each chosen because it reflects something the foundation deeply believes in. Together, these priorities form a coherent picture of our foundation, seeing Utah’s future as something to be actively built rather than passively hoped for.
Supported by Mike and Melissa Schultz, our foundation channels these values into work that strengthens Utah’s land, its industries, and its communities for generations to come. The result is a legacy measured not in dollars given but in opportunities created, landscapes protected, and people empowered to lift those around them.
To learn more about the Schultz Foundation, our priorities, or the organizations we support, reach out to get involved, partner, or contribute to building a stronger Utah.