Laurie Schwartz, founding president of the Waterfront Partnership of Baltimore, will retire this June after 18 years as the nonprofit’s leader.Schwartz will retire June 30, coinciding with the Waterfront Partnership’s 20th anniversary in 2025. She has served as the Waterfront Partnership’s president since the organization launched in 2007.The Waterfront Partnership is currently searching for Schwartz’s successor and plans to announce a new president in the coming weeks.“Reflecting on my career, I am deeply proud of what we have accomplished together at the Waterfront Partnership,” Schwartz said in a statement. “The revitalization of Baltimore’s waterfront has been a passion of mine, and I am profoundly grateful to have worked with such a talented and dedicated team of staff and board members. As the organization celebrates its 20th anniversary in 2025, I know it will continue to thrive.”Under Schwartz’s leadership, the Waterfront Partnership launched its Healthy Harbor initiative to improve the health of Baltimore’s Inner Harbor and other waterways, including the management of Mr. Trash Wheel and the city’s other debris-collecting water wheels. In 2023, the Healthy Harbor Initiative announced that the harbor was finally safe enough to swim in – under certain conditions – and in 2024 community members celebrated the milestone with the Harbor Splash, the city’s first public swim event in more than 40 years.The Waterfront Partnership’s latest Healthy Harbor Report Card in October 2024 found the harbor continues to be swimmable under the right conditions, and noted plans to increase events in and along the water. But the report also cautioned that more needs to be done to make Baltimore’s waterways safer, including addressing ongoing issues of sewage overflows, stormwater runoff, and trash pollution.During her tenure as president of the Waterfront Partnership, Schwartz oversaw several projects to transform Baltimore’s waterfront. Some highlights include the establishment of Pierce’s Park, completion of West Shore Park and the Walter Sondheim Fountain, development of Rash Field Park, and the Inner Harbor Ice Rink’s return after 10 years.“Under Laurie’s leadership, the organization has grown into a vital force for the revitalization of Baltimore’s waterfront, and her legacy will serve as a strong foundation for the years ahead,” said Tim O’Donald, board chair of the Waterfront Partnership, in a statement. “I am grateful for Laurie’s visionary leadership and her many contributions to Baltimore, and I look forward to working with the board to ensure her legacy is honored as we prepare for the next phase of the organization’s journey.” When Baltimore Fishbowl spoke with Schwartz in 2023 for our “Big Fish” series, she noted Baltimore’s waterfront has undergone a significant transformation to make it a place where residents and tourists alike want to be. That work has required not only attention to the Inner Harbor, but to the surrounding neighborhoods.“Once the Inner Harbor was developed, it became clear that it was a destination and could be for so much more than just visitors and tourists — it was a place where people wanted to live,” she said. “The key is really making sure we connect the waterfront – the Inner Harbor and other parts – to neighboring areas.”In addition to improving water quality, the Waterfront Partnership has also worked to draw more people to the area with events like the Baltimore by Baltimore monthly festival series. Such events were part of an effort to “break down that perception that we hear too much that some people don’t feel comfortable, local people don’t feel comfortable, coming to the Inner Harbor,” Schwartz said.“It’s just heartwarming to see people coming together like that at the Inner Harbor, which is what the Inner Harbor was meant to be: a gathering place for Baltimore,” she added.Schwartz’s career spanned a total of 50 years of improving Baltimore’s opportunities to live, work, and visit. In addition to her nearly two decades at the helm of the Waterfront Partnership, Schwartz also spent time in various roles in city government and as a consultant. While working in Baltimore City’s housing department, Schwartz helped create the Downtown Partnership of Baltimore, which she led as president for 15 years.Schwartz went on to serve as Deputy Mayor for Economic and Neighborhood Development under Mayor Martin O’Malley. Among her efforts during that time was the planning of the East Baltimore Development Initiative.She also worked for nine years as an independent consultant for Baltimore nonprofits. As a consultant, she was recruited to work with a small group of business and property owners led by Michael Hankin to address improvements to the Inner Harbor – a group that led to the creation of the Waterfront Partnership.“When you walk or drive around Baltimore Harbor today, you are able to enjoy a truly wonderful experience from the new children’s and nature area at Rash Field to multiple wildflower gardens to Pierce’s Park by the Aquarium,” said Hankin, who served 13 years as board chair of the Waterfront Partnership, in a statement It also is amazing to see how sparkling clean the water is and to be engaged by the always friendly Waterfront Partnership Guides. Laurie is the person behind the design and implementation of all of the improvements that people who live and work in Baltimore enjoy today. She is incredibly talented, and her positivity is motivational to many others, including myself. Well done, Laurie!”Schwartz has received numerous recognitions for her work, including Visit Baltimore’s 2024 William Donald Schaefer Visionary Tourism Award, and The Maryland Zoo’s 2015 Michael D. Hankin Award for Conservation. She was also named one of the Baltimore Sun’s 50 Women to Watch in 2014, inducted into Baltimore Sun’s Business and Civic Hall of Fame in 2022, and named one of the Baltimore Business Journal’s Power 10 in 2023.