Jill S. Schwartz

Founder & Managing Partner, Jill S. Schwartz & Associates, Winter Park

Jill S. Schwartz & Associates is an employment law firm, representing both employees and employers. Schwartz has been the founder/managing partner of the firm since 1992. Schwartz organized and chaired the annual Life, Art, Music gala, raising several million dollars over seven years that were used to build Hospice House, Central Florida’s first inpatient facility for end-of-life care.

EDUCATION: Rutgers University (BA), University of Maryland School of Law (JD)

IF I WERE GOVERNOR: As a resident of Florida for nearly 40 years, I have come to appreciate the unique, unspoiled and spectacular environment. Carefully balancing the protection of this with our rapid population growth would be first on my agenda.

MENTOR: From the beginning of my career, I have admired Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. While an undergraduate at Rutgers, where Justice Ginsburg was a professor, I took several of her courses. Like her, I had to overcome significant gender discrimination.

INSPIRING FLORIDIAN: Living by Mary McLeod Bethune Park in New Smyrna Beach, I’m inspired every day by the Florida educator and civil rights leader who was so critical to advancing the rights of African Americans and women in this country.

MOTIVATIONAL MANTRA: Margaret Mead said it, and it sits on my desk: ‘Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.’