Steve and Marti Diamond Scholarship Fund

Steve and Marti Diamond both started from humble beginnings. At age 15, Steve was awarded an academic scholarship to Tulane University in New Orleans. He earned a B.S. in theoretical mathematics and an M.D. followed by his internship in surgery and residency in psychiatry at Stanford Medical School. He ventured into commercial real estate which ultimately became his full-time career.

Steve bought his first home in Carmel in the early 1970s. He built their current home 25 years ago. It has been their refuge over the years from their busy life in the Bay Area, especially during the pandemic, and has become their full-time home. Through a combination of intelligence, aptitude, passion and entrepreneurial spirit, they both grew thriving businesses in the San Francisco Bay area. They met through mutual friends and were social and business acquaintances before eventually tying the knot on one of Marti’s yachts. Theirs is a true partnership, living and giving together.

Marti, a native of El Salvador, began selling homemade tissue flowers to neighbors at age seven. She learned her creativity from her mother and her risk-taking from her father and was always driven to improve her life and that of her family. Her entrepreneurial spirit was evident as she restored a 60-foot boat at her home in California after navigating it from Florida through the Panama Canal with her three young children. She turned her love of being on the water and natural hospitality into a successful charter business that included a fleet of four luxury dining yachts, two of which she commissioned and built. She sold the California Spirit to Giants Enterprises and proudly markets that vessel and her Diamond Seas with the Giants. One of the few women in this male-dominated industry, she led the way and mentored other women to find their passion and success in other fields.

The couple started the Marti and Steve Diamond Charitable Foundation Fund at the Community Foundation for Monterey County (CFMC) in 2017 and the Steve and Marti Diamond Scholarship Fund in 2022. Their main area of interest is education. They have invested in College Futures Monterey County, a CFMC initiative combining scholarships and success services to give students the best opportunity to get to and through college. They have also supported Bay Area students through the nonprofit 10,000 Degrees.