Debra D. Schwartz
Director, Program-related Investments, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
Debra Schwartz is Director of Program-related Investments (“PRIs”) for the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, an international, independent, grantmaking institution headquartered in Chicago.  PRIs are below-market loans and investments made for charitable purposes.  Under Schwartz’s leadership, the Foundation has tripled its commitment to this innovative form of philanthropy, allocating $300 million to a self-financing portfolio that supports community development and affordable housing across the United States. Before coming to MacArthur in 1995, Schwartz was chief financial officer for a child welfare agency in Chicago.  From 1987 to 1992 she was a public finance investment banker at John Nuveen & Co.  Schwartz is a past presidential appointee to the United States Treasury Department Community Development Advisory Board and a founding member of the PRI Makers Network steering committee.  Currently a Lecturer at the University of Chicago, Schwartz graduated from Yale University and earned a Master’s degree from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.