The Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health announced a gift of $2 million from Lisa Schwartz and Mark Schwartz, AB ’76, MBA ’78, MPP ’79, to establish the Schwartz Family Innovation Fund for Climate Change and Sustainability. The Fund will help develop a shared set of resources that can be deployed across the School to further research in the areas of food, nutrition, climate, and sustainability, with a special focus on supporting junior faculty research on climate change and health.
The Schwartzes’ gift will advance the Harvard Chan School’s groundbreaking work in climate science and its efforts to ensure that policymakers and the general public understand the effects of climate change on human health—not just in the future or in remote locations, but also here and now. The gift will strengthen the School’s ability to translate scientific discoveries into sound policies and focus resources on promising efforts in a variety of fields.
“Public health offers an extremely important perspective on why people should care about climate change,” says Lisa. “The Harvard Chan School has a remarkable legacy of impact in this area. Its interdisciplinary and international approach to science and communications is exactly what’s needed to address a problem as complex as climate change.”
Global health and sustainability have been major focus areas for Lisa and Mark for many years. They founded and operated Rainbeau Ridge, a sustainable farm in upstate New York where people of all ages were able to connect with the land, learn to cook, and enjoy locally produced food. Lisa co-authored the book Over the Rainbeau: Living the Dream of Sustainable Farming. Mark is former president and chief executive of MissionPoint Capital Partners, which specializes in impact investing in areas including climate change mitigation and local food systems. They have also served on the boards of numerous education and health-focused nonprofits.
“I am deeply grateful for this generous foundational gift from Lisa and Mark Schwartz and for their invaluable service to the School as members of the Board of Dean’s Advisors,” says Dean Michelle A. Williams, ScD ’91. “I look forward to working with the faculty to support efforts that will focus the attention of policymakers and the public on the intersection of climate change and health.”