Paul Sznewajs

Paul Sznewajs is Executive Director of the Richard L. Duchossois Foundation. 

With nearly two decades of leadership experience in the philanthropic sector, Paul is recognized for his proven track record of building, launching and evaluating complex social sector initiatives. A nonprofit leader he led numerous fundraising initiatives totaling more than $100M in private and public funding. He served on the transition committees for two consecutive Chicago Mayors.  
 

Paul joined the Richard L. Duchossois Foundation having most recently served as the founding Chief Executive Officer of Parliament Collective Intelligence, a data, strategy, and impact consultancy. There he assisted philanthropies, nonprofits, and government agencies nationally in the use of data and technology to effectively guide and measure strategy toward influencing social outcomes. 
 

Prior to Parliament, Paul was the founding Executive Director of Ingenuity, a nonprofit consortium formed by major foundations and corporations to focus on systems change in Chicago Public Schools. As part of this work, he forged public-private partnerships to launch the Creative Schools Fund, which grants directly to public schools to establish and sustain their arts programs and extend access to underserved students.  

Paul has been honored with numerous awards, including the Boeing Game Changer Award, the Chicago Innovation Award, and the National Leadership Award from Americans for the Arts, along with recognition from the White House’s President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities. Throughout his career, he has forged impactful alliances with urban and state boards of education, departments of public health, hospitals, and esteemed national organizations such as the Aspen Institute, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. 
 

Paul is an Adjunct Lecturer at the Harvey Kapnick Center for Business Institutions at Northwestern University, where he teaches social sector strategy and consulting. He is a graduate of Marquette University with a Bachelor of Art, English degree, and received a Master of Fine Arts degree from Old Dominion University.  

He resides with his wife and their three daughters in the Chicago area, and when not at work, you can find him on hiking trails near home and abroad.