“You told us what you thought we want you to be. What we want to know is who you really are.”
Jeff Buenrostro calls these words from Dean Robert Joss some of the best advice he has ever received. After his first application to the GSB was rejected, 22-year-old Jeff asked Dean Joss why. That conversation shaped his life.
In his twenties, Jeff traveled the world restoring Buddhist monasteries in places like Mongolia and Nepal, and other historic sites. Later, while working for a San Francisco nonprofit on affordable housing and sustainable energy, Jeff applied again to the GSB, a successful application that reflected who he truly had become.
After business school, Jeff and three partners founded a digital marketing agency with a dual mission: build a successful company while providing opportunities that matter to employees and communities. Each employee could partner with a nonprofit, contributing time and the agency’s technological resources. When the pandemic accelerated the agency’s growth, the partners saw an opportune time to sell the business. Jeff became an independent consultant, helping for-profit and nonprofit organizations strengthen strategy, operations, and leadership.
Jeff joined Project Redwood when friend and GSB alumna Meredith Bates (MBA ’12), founder of Delta Education Collective in Uganda, asked him to sponsor Delta’s grant application. With co-sponsor Danae Pauli (MBA ’12), Jeff introduced Project Redwood to an organization that, rather than giving money, organizes parents, teachers, students, and community leaders to radically improve public education. Delta has since received four Project Redwood grants. Watching Delta’s collaborative model succeed has influenced Jeff’s own approach to advising nonprofits.
When Jeff brought his teenage daughter to visit Delta, students welcomed her into their activities and friend groups. Jeff joined meetings of students, parents, and teachers, witnessing Delta pull together stakeholders to make decisions.
Jeff continues to pursue innovative social causes. He brought a design curriculum to help middle and high school students find solutions to community challenges in rural Colorado. For example, one student created a community effort to turn a public alleyway into an innovative center for LGBTX youth. Jeff also advises organizations using technology to expand opportunity—including a client in rural Zambia that connects physicians through reliable solar technology, AI, and Starlink to share medical expertise.
For Jeff, personal meaning is about creativity in helping others. It is about using the skills, perspective, and network he gained at Stanford to help others thrive. That same opportunity—pairing philanthropy with creative expertise—is at the heart of Project Redwood.