Ariel Schwartz

Ariel Schwartz is the executive director of global leadership programs at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, where she heads the strategy and development of a suite of foreign policy and global affairs leadership programs. Since joining the Council in 2022, she has directed the Emerging Leaders program, the Council's original and signature global leadership development program. She designs programmatic curricula, manages implementation and evaluation, and devises and executes program recruitment and alumni engagement strategies.

Schwartz previously directed interdisciplinary, community-based research initiatives at Northwestern University's Buffett Institute for Global Affairs and served as a faculty member at both Northwestern University and Lake Forest College.

Beyond her work in learning and leadership development, she is an expert in religion, secularism, geopolitics, and violence. She holds a PhD and an MA in religious studies and a certification in global politics and religion from Northwestern University; a BA in religion from Barnard College of Columbia University; and a BA in Hebrew Bible from the Jewish Theological Seminary.