Schwartz + Associates · Denver, Colorado
Executive Facilitation · Collaborative Leadership · POPRA®

Evan Unger.

Helping executive teams move from talking to deciding. For more than thirty years, designing and leading the high-stakes meetings, alignment sessions, and organizational change conversations that turn fragmented leadership into action — anchored in the POPRA® framework.

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Evan Unger, executive facilitator and collaborative leadership consultant at Schwartz + Associates
30+ Years facilitating
leadership teams

A practitioner, not a presenter.

Evan Unger is a senior consultant at Schwartz + Associates in Denver, Colorado. He has spent more than three decades helping executive teams, boards, and operating leaders run the conversations that actually move organizations forward.

Before consulting, Evan served in key leadership roles at Merck, the global pharmaceutical manufacturer, and as Vice President of Leadership, Change & Development at Centura Health, Colorado's largest healthcare provider. He has facilitated for executive teams inside Fortune 100 companies and the growth-stage organizations trying to become them — across the U.S., Europe, the Pacific Rim, and South America.

He holds a Bachelor of Science in Psychology and Economics from Duke University and an MBA from the University of Michigan. Once a year he steps out of all of it for a 10-day silent meditation retreat — a practice that informs how he holds space when the stakes are high and the room is loud.

POPRA® — designing meetings that actually decide.

A five-element framework for high-stakes conversation design. POPRA® is a registered methodology of Schwartz + Associates and the spine of Evan's practice: it applies in person and virtually, in two-person decisions and twenty-person retreats, from a thirty-minute alignment to a multi-day strategy offsite.

PPurpose
OObjectives
PProcess
RRoles
AAgreements

Collaborative Leadership

Building the habits that turn senior individuals into an aligned team that can decide and execute together.

Executive Facilitation

Designing strategy offsites, board retreats, and the conversations organizations tend to avoid until they can't.

Organizational Change

Three decades of change leadership across Fortune 100s, healthcare systems, and growth-stage organizations.

Virtual Facilitation

Turning virtual rooms from hostage situations into productive conversations — a different craft requiring different tools.

Conversations on the practice.

Long-form podcast conversations on collaborative leadership, the POPRA® framework, the HIPPO effect, and how leaders design meetings that produce decisions.

Manage This Podcast Episode 249 with Evan Unger
Manage This · Episode 249

Stop Wasting Time in Meetings: High-Performance Strategies

Hosted by Wendy Grounds & Bill Yates

Evan shares the POPRA® model and practical strategies for leading focused meetings that drive better decisions, stronger buy-in, and higher team performance.
Outlier's Edge Live thumbnail featuring Evan Unger
Outlier's Edge

Live Roundtable on Collaborative Leadership

Hosted by Niiamah Ashong

A candid live roundtable on facilitation, collaborative leadership, and thinking differently inside conventional rooms.
People and Projects Podcast 503 with Evan Unger
People and Projects Podcast · Episode 503

How to Facilitate Meetings That Lead to Decisions

Hosted by Andy Kaufman

Evan unpacks the POPRA® framework, the HIPPO effect, and the techniques that turn high-stakes meetings into decisions that stick.
KPI Fireside with Evan Unger thumbnail
KPI Fireside

Transforming Meeting Culture

Hosted by Keith Norris

Why meeting culture is the fastest lever for organizational change — and how to use it.
Zero to CEO with Evan Unger thumbnail
Zero to CEO

Fix Your Broken Meetings, Build Stronger Teams

Hosted by Jason Sherman

Why meetings fail in startups and remote teams, and the streamlined framework that fixes them.
Gemba Academy Podcast with Evan Unger
Gemba Academy · GA 535

Transforming Meetings

Hosted by Ron Pereira

A conversation with the lean and continuous improvement community on what makes high-stakes meetings work.
The EBFC Show with Evan Unger
The EBFC Show

Mastering Effective Meetings in Construction

Hosted by Felipe Engineer-Manriquez

Applying the facilitation methodology to the unique dynamics of construction: compressed schedules and multi-trade coordination.

About Evan, in his own words.

Who is Evan Unger?

Evan Unger is an executive facilitator and collaborative leadership consultant at Schwartz + Associates in Denver, Colorado. He has more than 30 years of experience helping executive teams, boards, and organizations facilitate high-stakes meetings, drive organizational change, and reach decisions. He is the practitioner behind the POPRA® framework for collaborative decision-making.

What is the POPRA® framework?

POPRA® is a five-element framework for designing meetings that produce decisions: Purpose, Objectives, Process, Roles, and Agreements. It is a registered methodology of Schwartz + Associates and the spine of Evan Unger's facilitation practice. It applies in person and virtually, from short alignment conversations to multi-day strategy offsites.

Where does Evan Unger work?

Evan is a senior consultant at Schwartz + Associates, a consulting firm based in Denver, Colorado, specializing in collaborative leadership, executive facilitation, and organizational change.

What is Evan Unger's background?

Before consulting, Evan served in key leadership roles at Merck and as Vice President of Leadership, Change & Development at Centura Health, Colorado's largest healthcare provider. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Psychology and Economics from Duke University and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Michigan.

What industries does Evan work with?

Evan has facilitated for executive teams across Fortune 100 companies, healthcare systems, school districts, construction firms, startups, and growth-stage organizations in the United States, Europe, the Pacific Rim, and South America.

How can I contact Evan Unger?

Reach Evan at evanunger@terischwartzassociates.com for speaking engagements, executive facilitation, board retreats, and organizational change consulting.

For the meetings that matter most.

Strategy offsites, board retreats, executive alignment sessions, and the conversations your team has been postponing. Get in touch to discuss the work.

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