Low-keyed and reserved, Martin “Marty” Schwartz’s manner veils his business acumen and strong management skills. His 25-year career at United Parcel Service (UPS) prepared him to take the challenge to transform a small foundation focusing on foster care into a change-agent of systems that affect at-risk youth.

A Brooklyn native, Schwartz enrolled in City University of New York’s (CUNY) Engineering School, only to interrupt his education to serve four years in the U.S. Air Force during the Korean War. Two of those years were spent learning the electronics of the atomic bomb; the other two years were spent in England servicing them. Schwartz returned to CUNY for his bachelor’s degree in civil engineering, and has an industrial engineer equivalent from the University of Southern California. He worked for two years as a civil engineer before, he adds, “I figured out it wasn’t for me.”  “I joined UPS in 1960 and found myself on the ground floor of a developing company worldwide,” says Schwartz. A little known company servicing retailers at the time, UPS has turned into the largest delivery company in the world. Schwartz developed the industrial engineering department to meet growing needs, introduced innovative methods to improve the distribution system, and helped establish a UPS presence throughout the U.S. and in Canada and Germany. UPS founder Jim Casey had established a small, private foundation, called The Annie E. Casey Foundation, in honor of his mother. Upon his death, Casey had left the foundation a considerable amount of money, and Schwartz was asked to become its first Executive Director.  “My job,” says Schwartz, “was essentially to give the foundation a face, to develop the mission.” The foundation’s mission was focused on at-risk youth, so Schwartz spent his first year studying their problems—from poverty, abuse, neglect and homelessness to lack of education and jobs, teen pregnancy and runaways, drugs and alcohol, and nutrition and health care. After Schwartz retired from the foundation, he worked as chairperson of Earth Conservation Corp. in Washington, D.C., a not-for-profit conservation project that employed at-risk youth to rehabilitate the waters around Washington, D.C. He set his sights locally, too, serving as a board member of The Community Synagogue in Port Washington where he spearheaded a major building renovation. He also served on the board of EAC (Education Assistance Corporation).  Transferring his focus to at-risk communities, Schwartz was a founding member of Sustainable Long Island. He currently serves on the board of advisors of the Long Island Community Foundation and as Vice President of the Hempstead Boys and Girls Club.  “The Boys and Girls Club is not complicated; we try to nourish kids’ potential. It’s exciting and important, and I’m committed to their work.” He says he’s learned that it’s extremely difficult to make change in large systems, and adds, “It’s much easier to help individual kids and try to make a difference in their lives.” Schwartz says he enjoys mentoring managers, getting to understand their personalities and styles, and helping them set priorities that really make a difference to their organizations. “So far,” he concludes, “it’s been a very rewarding life.”