Carter Stewart

As executive vice president for programs at Mellon Foundation, Carter Stewart works closely with Mellon’s president, board, and staff to shape the Foundation’s funding priorities and direction.

Prior to joining the Foundation, Carter was a managing director of the Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation (DRK), where he identified and supported new investments and grantees—primarily early-stage, justice-oriented organizations. He was appointed by President Obama to serve as the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, where he emphasized deterrence, crime prevention, and alternatives to incarceration. Carter has also been a litigator, held academic positions at the Ohio State University, taught history at Friends Seminary High School in Manhattan, and was a New York City Urban Fellow. 

Carter has served on the boards of the Contemporary American Theatre Company and the Joyce Foundation, and is a current trustee for The Marshall Project, the Nantucket Film Festival, the Nantucket Historical Association, and the Atlantic Foundation. 

He holds a BA in political science from Stanford University, an MA in education policy from Columbia University, and a JD from Harvard Law School.