Consulting and Community-Based Projects

Through SWED Development, Dr. Swed works with organizations that are trying to grow, clarify their purpose, engage stakeholders, support leaders, and design programs that better reflect the communities they serve.

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Some recent and ongoing projects include:

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• Youth philanthropy and grantmaking education. Dr. Swed facilitates youth philanthropy programs that help teens explore values, understand nonprofits, review budgets, conduct site visits, and make thoughtful grant decisions. This includes work with the Kaplun Foundation Youth Board and the HereNow Giving Circle through The Jewish Board, where young people learn how to connect philanthropy with real community needs.

• Hillel at Temple University. Dr. Swed has supported Hillel at Temple University through executive coaching, staff development, organizational mapping, student leadership workshops, engagement strategy, and conflict coaching tools. This work has focused on strengthening staff roles, clarifying values, supporting student engagement, and building a more collaborative organizational culture.

• Tribe 12. Dr. Swed has worked with Tribe 12 on strategic planning and stakeholder engagement, including focus groups, environmental scanning, and community conversations designed to help the organization better understand its constituents, alumni, staff, fellows, and broader ecosystem.

• Tree House Books. Dr. Swed has partnered with Tree House Books, a Philadelphia-based literacy nonprofit, in research and consulting connected to youth leadership development. This work has helped explore how community-rooted organizations create meaningful opportunities for young people to participate, contribute, and grow.

• Honeycomb. Dr. Swed’s work with Honeycomb, a national Jewish youth philanthropy organization, has informed both her scholarship and applied practice. Honeycomb serves as an important example of how youth philanthropy can function as a powerful form of leadership development when young people are trusted with real decisions, values-based learning, and communal responsibility.

• Germantown Jewish Center. Dr. Swed has supported Germantown Jewish Center through strategic planning, facilitation, and community engagement work focused on organizational vision, participation, and leadership development.

Across these projects, Dr. Swed brings a practical, research-informed approach. She helps organizations ask better questions, listen more deeply to their communities, and design processes that move beyond one-time programs toward more sustainable cultures of participation.

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Teaching and Facilitation

Dr. Swed is also an experienced communication educator. She has taught courses in interpersonal communication, intercultural communication, public speaking, conflict resolution, communication research, relational communication, and leadership. Her teaching emphasizes real-world application, reflection, dialogue, and the connection between theory and practice.

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In the classroom and in facilitation spaces, Dr. Swed is known for designing interactive learning experiences that help participants think critically, communicate more effectively, and apply ideas to their own lives and organizations. Her work often includes conflict mapping, appreciative inquiry, stakeholder analysis, needs assessment, reflective practice, and applied research activities.

Education, Training, and Affiliations

Dr. Swed holds a Ph.D. in Leadership and Change from Antioch University. She also holds an M.Ed. in Adult and Organizational Development, a graduate certificate in Training and Organizational Development, and a B.A. in Communication and Leadership Development from Temple University.

Her professional training includes conflict coaching, Youth Mental Health First Aid, and Technology of Participation facilitation methods. She is affiliated with professional communities including the International Leadership Association, the American Educational Research Association, and the National Communication Association.

How She Works

Dr. Swed’s work is grounded in the belief that leadership development is not just about preparing individuals to lead someday. It is about building the relationships, structures, cultures, and opportunities that allow people to participate meaningfully now.

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Whether she is working with teens making grant decisions, nonprofit staff navigating organizational change, community members shaping a strategic plan, or leaders trying to build more generative institutions, Dr. Swed brings a consistent commitment to inclusion, clarity, curiosity, and practical action.

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She works best with organizations that are willing to ask honest questions, involve the people most affected by their decisions, and build leadership practices that are not only effective, but also more humane.