Alan Schwartz AO 
Co-Founder at Trawalla Foundation, and Chair and Founder at Transition Accelerator

Alan Schwartz AO's professional life has transitioned from business builder to active investor, philanthropist and social entrepreneur.

Over 30 years, Alan created, acquired, managed and sold businesses across publishing, software and professional services. In 2007, he and his wife, Carol Schwartz AO, founded Trawalla Group and Trawalla Foundation to support their investments and philanthropy. In 2017 Alan launched the Universal Commons Project to understand how business, the economy and public benefit can be better aligned. He chose to apply the insights from this initiative to tackling the climate crisis – something he describes as a menacing example of market failure.

Through the family office, Alan deploys capital across the continuum to enable climate action – from investing commercially in climate solutions to funding philanthropic advocacy and policy work to drive systemic change. Transition Accelerator is the cornerstone of this work. Alan launched this not-for-profit in 2024 to pioneer blended finance models for climate and nature projects that would otherwise not get funded.

Alan is a past chair and life member of Philanthropy Australia, reflecting his long commitment to strengthening the philanthropic sector in Australia. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia in June 2023 for his contributions to business and community.