Staff Profile
Debra Schwartz
Director, Program-Related Investments
Contact - dschwartz@macfound.org
Debra oversees the Foundation's $300-million PRI portfolio of below-market loans and investments which it uses principally to support economic development and affordable housing organizations in the U.S. Before joining MacArthur in 1995, she served as chief financial officer for a Chicago-based child welfare agency. Previously, Debra was an investment banker at John Nuveen & Co., where she originated more than $1 billion in tax-exempt bond financing for municipalities and nonprofit health care institutions.
Debra is a past presidential appointee to the United States Treasury Department Community Development Advisory Board and a founding member of the Mission Investors Exchange. She is an Adjunct Professor in the College of the University of Chicago, a Social Enterprise Fellow at the Yale School of Management, and also has lectured at Yale Law School, Harvard Kennedy School of Government, Stanford Graduate School of Business, and the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. Her main areas of expertise include impact investing, affordable housing finance, energy efficiency finance, and social sector financial innovation.
Schwartz graduated from Yale University summa cum laude and received a Master's degree in finance and nonprofit management from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.
Related Information
See All
Innovative Public-Private Partnership Introduces $100 Million Program to Preserve Affordable Rental Homes
MacArthur Grantees Participate in U.S.-Russia Civil Society Summit