Charitable giving highlights: The foundation gives $500,000 to nonprofits each year and has awarded $5,000 in grants to the Washington region since 2010.

Tell us about the company’s corporate philanthropy.

We give through two arms. We give through the Subaru of America Foundation where we have a structured giving program that is reactive. On the corporate side, we tend to be more proactive. Our areas of focus are education and the environment. The population that we support is through high schools. We partner with organizations that do teen safe driving, a variety of community and youth initiatives and the environment.

When was the foundation created?

1984.

What was the culture of philanthropy before the foundation?

We always supported local communities. It was a reactive approach.

How has it evolved over the years?

When I first came 17 years ago, we supported a variety of programs under five categories: health and human services, the arts, social and civic, and social services. But we knew we couldn’t be all things to all people. We wanted to really make an impact with our grant making. IWe went through a couple reassessments to see what were the needs in the communities where we live and work, and how can we make a difference there. That’s how we came to the priorities that are now our giving focus: education and environment.

What activities do you do?

Under education, we have a partnership with a children’s museum where we sponsor a science-based learning center for teachers to get materials they can use in their elementary schools. We’ve sponsored a program in the Washington region called the City Kids, an after-school project. We have an office in Columbia that hasn’t been there all that long. Sometimes it takes a while to let charities know that you are there. We’re looking forward to furthering our relationship with the D.C. community.

— Interview with Vanessa Small