PHOTOS BY JOHN HARDWICK

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Married eight years and together for 12, Jonathan and Stacy Schwartz still have the sweet demeanor of newlyweds.

Interfaith Mission
First-Timers

Meet Stacy and
Jonathan Schwartz.

Vivian Henoch | Special to the Jewish News

“It’s easy to be

a cheerleader

for the Metro

Detroit area;

it’s made a

great home

for us.”

N

ot everyone likes a
place in the spotlight.
For their volunteer
roles and impressive work on
behalf of the Jewish community,
Jonathan and Stacy Schwartz
have been refreshingly hesitant
to take the kudos.
“Let me begin by saying that
we’ve never done anything like
this interview,” Jonathan says,
“but we want to raise aware-
ness in the community about
Federation’s NEXTGen outreach
to interfaith couples and to the
Jewish LGBTQ community.
“We also wish to express our
gratitude to Federation and its
wonderful staff for the extraor-
dinary opportunities we’ve had
and the friends we’ve made as
co-chairs of Federation’s first
Interfaith Couples Mission to
Israel.”
Married eight years and

together for 12, Jonathan, 33,
and Stacy, 31, still have the
sweet demeanor of newlyweds.
“Jonathan’s the outgoing, talk-
ative one; he’s the extrovert to
my introvert,” Stacy says.
“I always say that Stacy is
my better half,” Jonathan adds.
“It’s absolutely true that she is
my moral compass. Her dedica-
tion to service is what got me
involved in community work —
and that has ramped up over the
past years as I’ve learned more
ways to contribute.”
“Ramped up” is to say the
least about Jonathan’s profes-
sional and community activities.
A business, commercial and
employment litigation attorney,
listed this year among Oakland
County Executive’s Elite 40
Under 40, Jonathan recently
joined the new Southfield
office of the Foster Swift law

firm, where he will bring his
considerable skills and connec-
tions: as co-founder and VP of
the Jewish Bar Association of
Michigan (JBAM), board mem-
ber of NEXTGen Detroit and the
Jewish Community Relations
Council/American Jewish
Committee (JCRC/AJC) and co-
chair of the Anti-Defamation
League (ADL) Sills/Glass Family
Leadership Program.
With a long history of vol-
unteerism and work in the
nonprofit sector, Stacy, too,
has taken a new turn in her
career, recently moving to
the University of Michigan’s
Institute for Healthcare Policy
and Innovation (IHPI) as events
and membership engagement
specialist.
Prior to IHPI, Stacy held
events and program-related
positions at the U-M School

of Social Work, Gleaners
Community Food Bank,
the Community House in
Birmingham and YMCA of
Metropolitan Detroit. While
earning a degree in com-
munity development, Stacy
served a volunteer year with
AmeriCorps.
Slightly “off the beaten path”
of what is considered Jewish
Detroit, Stacy and Jonathan are
proud residents of Plymouth.
“It’s amazing to us how
many people who have grown
up in Birmingham and West
Bloomfield have never spent
time out here before — espe-
cially those who go to U-M
football games! They have no
idea when driving back to the
Detroit area that they are pass-
ing up so many great places
to eat, drink and hang out in
Plymouth.”

continued on page 30

28 November 10 • 2016