Debra Schwartz

Debra Schwartz leads MacArthur’s Impact Investments program and is a member of the Leadership Advisory Team, which advises the President on strategic and policy matters.

Over the past 40 years, MacArthur has made impact investment commitments totaling more than $800 million to advance equity, inclusion, and sustainability. To unlock impact and additional investment that would not otherwise be possible, the Foundation prioritizes the use of catalytic capital that is patient, flexible, and risk tolerant. Debra and her team also make grants to help grow and strengthen the field of impact investing globally.

Prior to joining MacArthur in 1995, Debra was an investment banker in public finance at John Nuveen & Co. and worked for social welfare nonprofits in Chicago in counseling and financial management roles. She is a frequent public speaker and guest lecturer at leading universities, including the University of Chicago, where she originated and taught “The Business of Nonprofits.” 

In 2024, Forbes recognized Debra in its third annual list of “50-over-50” impact leaders. She also is a Sorenson Global Impact Leader, a past Social Enterprise Fellow at the Yale School of Management. During the George W. Bush Administration, Debra served as a Presidentially appointed member of the U.S. Treasury Department Community Development Advisory Board. Currently, she is a founding board member of the Mission Investors Exchange and a member of the International Women’s Forum Chicago chapter, for which she previously served as treasurer and board member.

Debra holds an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and a BA degree from Yale University.