About the trust
Family, education, and the long view
The Lafuente Family Education Trust helps the lineal descendants of Lola Salvador de Lafuente pursue their education — and keeps a far-flung family connected in the process.
Lola Salvador de Lafuente
The trust is named for Dolores Salvador Méndez, known to the family as Lola Salvador de Lafuente. The Lafuente family’s story begins in Cuba, and from there the family has grown and spread across the country and around the world.
Lola was herself a Cuban educator — top of her class, a champion of education for working women, and so devoted to teaching that she held classes from her sickbed. Her life is the spirit this trust tries to carry forward. Read her full story →
How the trust began
The Lola Lafuente Family Education Trust was established in 2015 by the Zubizarreta family. The Zubizarretas are descendants of Lola through her child Alma Lafuente Salvador, and wanted to use the good fortune they have been blessed with to lift up as many of Lola’s descendants as they could. Education has always been important to the Zubizarretas, and they believe it is the most surefire way to give someone a real chance at success and sustainability in life.
The trust was established as an independent, discretionary entity with its own governance and funding, and since 2015 it has helped provide an education to about a dozen of Lola’s descendants. The Zubizarretas look forward to seeing the trust continue to support the family’s educational goals for years to come.
The trustees
The trust is administered by a board of trustees, initially appointed in the trust’s foundational documents; future trustees are appointed as needed by the board. The current trustees are Timothy Zubizarreta, Samantha Zubizarreta, Victoria Zubizarreta-Higgins, and Nicholas Zubizarreta.
The trustees value education deeply — between them they hold about seven degrees across various disciplines — and are always happy to discuss the trust. You can reach them through the contact page.
Our mission
The trust carries forward a simple belief: that education changes what is possible for a family, and that no descendant should have to set aside a program they are ready to complete because of its cost.
It helps Lola’s lineal descendants pursue an undergraduate degree, a graduate degree, or a trade-school program — and, through it, a sustainable career of their own. More than tuition, the trust is about connection: by investing in one another’s education, a large and far-flung family stays tied together across generations, around the shared values of sustainability, achievement, and true connection.
The trust is built to endure. Its trustees preserve its capital with the long view in mind, so it can keep helping the family generation after generation. Support for one term is a gift, not a guarantee — each request is considered on its own.