Foundation For Enterprise Development

FED Goals

FED Programs

The FED actively funds and participates in inter-disciplinary research and education at universities. With the business environment changing dramatically, this is an opportune time for universities to play a critical role in leading the way by providing a comprehensive understanding about new realities and opportunities for corporations to be more effective for shareholders, employees, and other stakeholders. As practitioners, FED is also creating and engaging in research, development, and advisory consulting programs for solving problems of national and global importance.

Academia: With universities across the nation, the FED creates and oversees new applied research and education programs in support of students and faculty at business schools, engineering schools, and entrepreneurship centers. The desired impact is that technical and business leaders will start and lead technical enterprises that consider broad-based employee ownership, achieve more sustained firm success due to that ownership, and create a more solid basis for a free enterprise system.

Entrepreneurs: The FED supports entrepreneurs directly in advancing important, disruptive innovations and growing small businesses through government-funded programs, innovation-based competitions, and publications.

FED Programs (PDF, 130 KB) Download PDF

FED Principles

FED Principles

The FED encourages entrepreneurs to foster a culture of innovation within their company—an essential component to developing solutions to hard, complex problems—and is also committed to fostering business principles that support the creation of an ownership culture with employees who grow the company. If employees are valued and feel valued, they create value.

Our guiding principles include:

  • Give employees the freedom to create the kind of business and environment they would be passionate to work in.
  • Encourage entrepreneurship and superior performance, and give employees ownership of the organization and rewards commensurate with their contributions.
  • Create an empowering culture where employees have a say in the policies and management of the company, know how the company makes money and is performing, and take actions for sustainable long-term and short-term performance.

FED's Three Circle Diagram More Information

Our Trustees

  • Bob Beyster

    Dr. J.R. Beyster, Founder and Chairman

    Bob Beyster is the founder and chairman of the FED. He oversees the strategic direction of the FED and actively participates in special projects that promote the values and practices that he used to build Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC)—the company he founded in 1969 and grew to over $8 billion in annual revenues.

  • Mary Ann Beyster

    M.A. Beyster, President

    Mary Ann Beyster became FED president in 2005, reporting directly to the chairman. Ms. Beyster creates and manages programs to promote and advance interdisciplinary research on broad-based employee ownership and works directly with early-stage and expansion companies to help prepare companies for growth and maintain ownership with those who grow their company. She is the principal investigator for Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (DARPA) initiative to facilitate small business technology transition. Previously, Ms. Beyster held management and business development positions at SAIC, CH2MHill, and SRI International, working in a range of fields including energy, environment, water, life sciences, and national security. She is on the advisory boards of UCSD Foundation, UCSD’s Rady School of Management, and MIT Sloan School of Management. She is a member of the Academy of Management, and is a Next Generation Fellow (Colombia University). View Mary Ann's LinkedIn Profile.

  • Tom Darcy

    Thomas E. Darcy, Trustee

    Tom Darcy is chief financial officer of Tocagen, a biopharmaceutical company pursuing the discovery, development, and commercialization of products for the treatment of cancer. Tom was an executive vice president for Strategic Projects at SAIC after serving as SAIC's chief financial officer for five years starting in 2000. He led the finance organization of SAIC during a period of significant reorganization and change, and served as chairman of the audit committee of AMSEC. Prior to working at SAIC, Tom was a partner at Price Waterhouse, where he worked for over 25 years. His clients comprised public, venture capital-backed, and private companies; and numerous entities that completed initial public offerings. Tom is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (CPA) and the California Society of CPAs, and is on the Board of Directors of the College of Business Administration at San Diego State University (SDSU), the Campanile Foundation at SDSU, the SDSU School of Accountancy, and the YMCA of San Diego County.

  • Steve Fisher

    Steven P. Fisher, Trustee

    Steve Fisher is the Treasurer of SAIC and oversees the treasury operations, capital markets, retirement programs, and accounts receivable functions. He has approximately 20 years of financial and operational experience in technology-based business, including overseeing capital structure and strategic financial planning, and developing and implementing a spectrum of equity-based incentive programs that foster entrepreneurial business activities and employee-ownership-based management practices.

  • David Binns

    David Binns, Secretary

    David Binns is the secretary of the FED Board of Directors and the chief operating officer of Macfadden, a professional services corporation providing disaster response management services, integrated information technology services, program management services, and management consulting services to government agencies, corporations, and other organizations. Prior to joining Macfadden, he was an associate director for the Beyster Institute, where he managed the development of employee-ownership consulting and outreach programs. David has been actively involved in efforts to promote the use of employee ownership as a means to facilitate privatization, defense conversion, and economic development in several foreign countries.

About FED

The FED is focused on helping the sustainability and growth of U.S.-based science and technology companies through its research, education, and services that advance innovation and broad-based ownership.

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