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MEET DON SCHWEITZER

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Turning Division Into Impact

Don Schweitzer works at the intersection of academia, social work, and organizational reform. His mission is to help institutions, coalitions, and leaders move beyond rhetorical divides—toward aligned, resilient systems that live out their values.

His signature: frameworks and interventions that diagnose what’s beneath broken systems, integrate trauma and relational insight, and rebuild from mission outward. The work is as much psychological as it is structural; as much about the wounds we carry as the programs we run.

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Heart & Science

Don Schweitzer works at the intersection of academia, social work, and organizational reform. His mission is to help institutions, coalitions, and leaders move beyond rhetorical divides—toward aligned, resilient systems that live out their values.

His signature: frameworks and interventions that diagnose what’s beneath broken systems, integrate trauma and relational insight, and rebuild from mission outward. The work is as much psychological as it is structural; as much about the wounds we carry as the programs we run.

EXPERIENCED LEADER

Dr. Don Schweitzer holds a PhD in Social Work & Social Research (Portland State University), an MSW from Boise State, and a BSW from Idaho State. With over 25 years in community practice, education, and reform, he’s worked directly with homeless and disconnected youth, founded local service programs, and led system-level initiatives in rehabilitation and family support.

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Now a Licensed Master Social Worker (LMSW) and Associate Professor at Pacific University, where he directs the Bachelor of Social Work program, Don continues to bridge research and real-world application. His work centers on youth disconnection, trauma-informed leadership, and systemic reform—helping organizations, educators, and policymakers translate evidence into meaningful, human change.

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Credentials & Foundation

  • PhD in Social Work & Social Research (Portland State University)

  • Master of Social Work (Boise State)

  • BSW (Idaho State)

  • Licensed Master Social Worker (LMSW)

  • Over 25 years of practice, research, teaching, and community engagement

  • Currently Director of the BSW program (Pacific University) and Associate Professor

  • Long track record working with youth disconnection, homelessness, and service system reform

PAST TESTIMONIALS

I've grown professionally in the last year & a half with his guidance, support, and commitment to the development of our MSW program. His ability to foster collegial and student learning and growth is exemplary and much needed in the development of a new program within the professional and academic realms of social work.

Pacific University Faculty

"Dr. Schweitzer is a well-rounded and humble professional. He has used his abilities to
best serve his colleagues, students, department, college, and the university and broader
community as a whole."

Pacific University

"His presentation was a key component of our conference,
which provided many conference, participants fresh insights into the challenges and
opportunities of their own youth programming."

Conference Organizer

What Drives His Work

Don’s research investigates how young people become disconnected from community, how systems fail them, and how policy responses often deepen the problem. He believes too many well-intended change efforts end up reinforcing fragmentation, because they ignore human complexity.

His passion: participatory research. He centers the voices too often silenced—in youth, clients, frontline practitioners—so that solutions emerge grounded in lived experience, not ideology.

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The Bridge Between Worlds

Many consultants lean too far into either theory or practice. Don’s strength is in the middle. He has walked homeless streets, taught in lecture halls, and held board rooms accountable to real people. He’s fluent in:

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  • Institutional systems and bureaucracy

  • Clinical / relational dynamics

  • Academic research and evaluative rigor

  • Social, political, and cultural context
     

This means he doesn’t just hand you a “best practice.” He co-creates frameworks that reflect your history, capacities, relationships, and mission.

Who He Serves

Don works with:
 

  • Nonprofits and agencies struggling with mission drift, internal conflict, or burnout

  • Academic and social work departments seeking to reinvent pedagogy or evaluation

  • Advocacy groups and coalitions seeking deeper coherence beyond rhetoric

  • Leaders ready to lead differently—beyond posturing, into sustainable, healed systems
     

Each engagement is selective: he says no to volume, yes to depth.

A Personal & Relational Stance

  • Don’s orientation is neither cold theory nor shallow platitude. He blends:

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  • Trauma-aware frameworks (because organizations are made of wounded people)

  • Mindfulness and wellness principles (because healing infrastructure matters)

  • Integrity and accountability (no shortcuts, no false claims)

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  • He brings humanity to systems. He brings patience to change. He brings the courage to look under the assumptions we all carry.

Forest Aerial View

Let's Do More

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