Based on the vision and ambition of Pam and Chris Maxey, the Cape Eleuthera Foundation was incorporated in 1997 with support

from several key instutions and individuals:  

• The Lawrenceville School of Lawrenceville, NJ was the source of the academic lineage, and provided teachers and funding for the initial Spring 1999 programming.
• DP Fox of Grand Rapids, MI provided project management, funding, and land to support programming.
• University of Miami of Miami, FL provided scientific and technical expertise for the pilot research programs.
• The Government of the Bahamas provided investment guidance and permissions.
• Other leaders of Bahamian and US marine-focused charitable and government organizations gave freely of their expertise and support.

The programs supported by the Cape Eleuthera Foundation continue to provide transformational life-changing educational experiences. The foundation invests in future leaders through support of programming to help them realize their own potential, to gain perspective on cultures different than their own, and by creating a broader community that is supportive of that leadership development. As a natural outgrowth of this process, whereby students are learning to live on a green campus powered by renewable energy and that recycles its waste, and whereby students from Eleuthera are realizing opportunities on-and-off island as part of their middle school training, and whereby ongoing science research is attracting expertise, generating knowledge, and informing local decisionmakers we have been recognized as a model for sustainable development.

As Dr. David Orr said during his visit to Eleuthera in February 2003:

…it strikes me that this place is a good bit about reinventing education. There is something new happening here. It’s happening again at the periphery. And education ought to enable us to get to the periphery so we can see the center more clearly. And there is long precedent for going out into the wilderness and seeing the world in a brand new kind of way…. A school can be a model of what we want to do in the world. It is at a scale small enough to get our mind around, big enough to be significant. It is exciting to see a school define itself, as you have here at The Island School as a catalyst for all kinds of exciting things.

The Cape Eleuthera Foundation is a public non-profit charitable 501(c)3 corporation recognized by the US Internal Revenue Service. The Foundation has a Board of Directors and operates fully independently of other organizations in support of its mission: to provide charitable funding support for education, scientific research, community leadership, and sustainable technologies. We hope you will find a way to get involved and join us!