BeaconStone Foundation began with compassion for people experiencing homelessness in Los Angeles, and with concern that the public could not tell whether the money meant to help them was working.
Accountability is how we act on that concern. We follow public dollars, test success claims against independent evidence, and make the results public, so programs that work can be protected and expanded and programs that fall short can be fixed. The people running a program shouldn't have exclusive control over how its success is defined and presented.
Follow the money. Follow the outcomes. BeaconStone's first major policy initiative is an independent Homelessness Inspector General for LA: an office with real investigative independence, subpoena authority, forensic auditing capability, and the power to follow funds all the way through agencies, providers, and contractors — paired with independent verification of outcomes, public reporting, and a searchable public transparency database.
Cameron Stearns is the Founder and CEO of BeaconStone Foundation, a Los Angeles-based organization focused on strengthening transparency, accountability, and measurable outcomes in the public response to homelessness.
After a long career in financial services, Cameron became increasingly troubled by the suffering visible on Los Angeles streets, and by how hard it is for taxpayers to see how billions of dollars devoted to homelessness are spent and whether those investments are changing lives.
He founded BeaconStone on a simple principle: public programs should be judged not only by how much they spend or how much activity they report, but by independently verifiable outcomes.
Through research, public education, and advocacy for stronger independent oversight, Cameron is working to make complex systems more understandable and accountable to the people they serve.
BeaconStone Foundation is currently funded entirely by its founder, Cameron Stearns. It receives no government funding and no money from homelessness service providers or from any organization whose work it examines. BeaconStone does not yet accept donations, and no payment to BeaconStone is tax-deductible. When BeaconStone begins accepting support, it will publish its funding sources and the policies that protect its independence.
BeaconStone Foundation is building public support for stronger accountability in Los Angeles. Here's how to get involved.