Jarrod Schwartz, MSOD
Founder & Principal Consultant
Jarrod Schwartz is the Founder and Principal of Equity Praxis Group, LLC. Jarrod is an educator and consultant with more than 35 years of experience working with schools, universities & colleges, nonprofit organizations, businesses, government, and communities.
Jarrod’s unique approach draws upon the fields of social justice and organization development to foster inclusive, multi-stakeholder processes that result in organizational, community, and social change.
Before starting EPG, Jarrod served for almost 20 years as the founding Executive Director of Just Communities - a nonprofit organization dedicated to making the Central Coast of California a more inclusive and just region.
From the early to late 1990’s, as the Program Director for The National Conference for Community and Justice (NCCJ), Jarrod developed and led a comprehensive, multi-issue social justice leadership institute for youth that became a national model. He also led an initiative to dismantle racism in the St. Louis Region. In 2001, Jarrod was invited to California to launch a new NCCJ office to serve the communities of the Central Coast. In 2007, this organization became Just Communities.
Jarrod holds a Master’s Degree in Organization Development from American University and the NTL Institute for Applied Behavioral Science. He is a past Associate of the A.K. Rice Institute for the Study of Social Systems, a past board member of the Grex Center for the Study of Authority Dynamics of Social Systems, and a past Commissioner for the Santa Barbara County Human Relations Commission. He served as an Adjunct Faculty Member for Antioch University’s undergraduate and Master’s in Education programs and currently serves as a Faculty member for Fielding Graduate University’s Master’s in Organization Development and Leadership program.
His personal and professional mission is to foster social change and build community through transformative education experiences and dialogue processes for individuals, groups, organizations, and communities.
Jarrod lives in the California Central Coast with his twin daughters Alix & Sydney.