Financial Direction for the Wallace Foundation

The Wallace Foundation is a national foundation based in New York City that works to develop and share evidencebased practices that can improve learning and enrichment for children.

Those who work with numbers and complex figures for a living are often forced to embrace the stereotypical label of boring or mundane. Yet in reality, careers in finance are virtually limitless. Indeed, those who earn degrees in finance and accounting can go practically anywhere to work at just about any destination. Such has been the case for Stacy Martin, ‘84, chief financial officer at The Wallace Foundation, a national foundation based in New York City that works to develop and share evidencebased practices that can improve learning and enrichment for children, especially those from underserved communities, and foster the vitality of the arts for everyone. “I don’t look at my career as very exciting,” she said. Modesty befits those who achieve a high level of success while helping others, as Martin has done for more than three decades. Excitement may be in the eye of the beholder, but a cursory glance at Martin’s résumé reveals her life’s vocation has been far from stale. Prior to joining The Wallace Foundation in 2014, she spent 11 years as the chief financial officer and chief operating officer at New Visions for Public Schools, a nonprofit that designs, creates and supports public schools in New York City. From 1996 to 2000, she held leadership positions in the New York City government, including the city’s housing, budget and education departments. She also served as comptroller for Sportvision, a nationwide media corporation, from 2000–2002.

In fact, she can trace her adventurous jobs back to her undergraduate days at LIU when she took a year-long break from school to live and work within the advertising department at a daily newspaper in the Virgin Islands. Martin, a Setauket native, was still a teenager at the time and cherishes the season now.

“It was a great experience. I met lots of people from all walks of life. The Caribbean attracts people from all over the place,” she said. “One memory that always stuck with me: If there was an incident involving a plane, I immediately had to go and pull all of the plane ads out of the newspaper and alert the newsroom that more copy was needed.” Martin maintained an affinity for coastal excursions upon returning to Long Island, living with friends at a house in Bayville while working fulltime and taking classes at LIU. The coursework proved to be foundational for Martin’s career and came in handy at her first job after graduating with European American Bank, now part of Citigroup. She entered the public sector through her next role, joining the New York City Department of Buildings. That led her to eventually ascend to high-ranking posts in the Department of Housing and the Mayor’s Office.

Martin’s tireless work ethic that has marked her career to this point has allowed her to thrive since joining The Wallace Foundation six years ago. Although she may not be pulling airplane ads anymore, she gets a thrill from supporting her colleagues’ efforts in developing the Foundation’s evidence-based practices. “I help them to develop financial models for the strategies and programs they’re implementing across the country, and it’s rewarding to see those happen on the ground,” she said. “Having robust financial models to forecast spending, and then track it, is essential for endowed, charitable foundations for two reasons. Grant funds are raised through the sale of stocks and other assets; and foundations are required to spend 5% of their assets each year. Careful forecasting and tracking help a foundation manage its investment portfolio, meet legal requirements, and, most importantly, support initiatives that produce social benefits.”