Barak Swarttz is a YouTuber, speaker, coach, and founder of GRIT for Good, a nonprofit built around doing good for the world through basketball, storytelling, and raising consciousness. Since age six, when his family lived in Jerusalem during the Second Intifada, basketball has shaped his life. He played college ball in the United States and later professionally in Israel, and went on to train NBA and WNBA players including Deni Avdija and Omri Casspi.
Personally affected by October 7 and carrying survivor’s guilt for not being called to serve, Barak chose to “enlist himself” into his own service, pausing coaching to develop his brand GRIT–Gain Resilience In Time–into a framework built on responsibility and truth.
Today he reaches over 15 million people monthly and has shared his perspective on podcasts including The Roseanne Barr Podcast, Digital Social Hour, and Success Story Podcast, Spotify top rated shows. His work has reached over 100 million people.
Using sport as a universal language, Barak brings the boots on the ground reality of the Middle East to audiences worldwide. His mission is to humanize the conversation about Israel, reframe the ‘hasbara’ model, and fulfill his dharma–the Hindu word for purpose–by doing as much good around the world.
Barak made Aliyah from Boston, Massachusetts in 2021.