Eric Schwarz

An experienced social entrepreneur, Eric Schwarz is the Co-Founder and CEO of the College for Social Innovation (CFSI), which seeks to "educate and inspire the next generation of problem solvers for humanity's tough challenges.” CFSI seeks to build a bigger, better prepared, and more diverse talent pipeline for the social impact sector through its flagship Semester in the City experiential learning program in Boston and a new national Semester for Impact program set to launch in 2023-24. Eric is also Co-Founder and former CEO of Citizen Schools, an apprenticeship-based model for out of school time learning, which has had a positive impact on the after-school and extended learning time fields across the U.S. 

Prior to starting Citizen Schools in 1995, Eric served as vice president of City Year, the national service program, and as a journalist at The Oakland Tribune and The Patriot Ledger (Quincy, MA) where he was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize.  

Eric is a member of the board of Citizen Schools, College for Social Innovation, and Crimson Goes Blue. He is a past board member of First Night, The Breakthrough Collaborative, Do Something, Beyond12, the Harvard Outward Bound Project, and past chair of the FAO Schwarz Family Foundation and of Citizen Schools.  

Eric is the author of the critically-acclaimed book, The Opportunity Equation, the co-editor of The Case For 21st Century Learning, and the author of numerous articles and book chapters, including “Calling All Citizens” in The New York Times best-selling Waiting For Superman.

Eric graduated from the University of Vermont (B.A.) in 1983 and from the Harvard Graduate School of Education (M. Ed) in 1997.  He lives in Brookline, MA with his wife and two children.