STEVE SAROWITZ: FROM PAYLOCITY TO PAYING IT FORWARD

Visionary. Billionaire. Filmmaker. Dreamer. Philanthropist. Runner. Entrepreneur. Husband. Father. Creator. Member of the Baha’i Faith. Highland Park’s Steve Sarowitz is all of these things, and so much more.

A University of Illinois graduate with a passion for software development and solving problems, Sarowitz saw an opportunity in the payroll and HR marketplace following years of experience at payroll companies.

Sarowitz founded Paylocity, an online payroll and HR provider, in 1997 and took the enterprise public in 2014. Today, he serves as chairman of the company, headquartered in Schaumburg, with nearly 6,000 employees and annual revenues exceeding $1 billion. Sarowitz also is director of PayEscape, a United Kingdom online payroll firm based in Northern Ireland.

After actively leading his company for 15 years, Sarowitz has turned his attention to the betterment of humanity, shaped by his journey— inspired by a close friend and running partner—from Judaism to the Baha’i faith.

Central to the Baha’i faith is that all human beings are equally God’s creation, regardless of gender, race, nationality, or creed, and should be respected and treated without prejudice.

These values fundamentally shape Sarowitz’s life mission and are reflected in his endeavors: the Wayfarer Foundation; Wayfarer Studios; and his newest venture, Wayfarer Theaters, a five-theater complex at Renaissance Place in Highland Park.

Wayfarer Foundation, launched in 2021, has a mission to advance humankind spiritually toward a future peaceful world civilization.

According to the organization’s website, “We fund and support spiritually rooted and justice-oriented nonprofits and we center our work on the power of universal participation to create a more hopeful, joyful, and just world.”

In 2021, Wayfarer Foundation awarded nearly $4.2 million in grants to broad-ranging organizations, called “friends in service.” Examples include a $50,000 grant to fund racial justice and COVID-19 recovery in Evanston Public Schools, a $50,000 grant to support youth experiencing homelessness in California, and a $50,000 grant to provide job training for individuals with developmental disabilities. In 2022, Wayfarer more than doubled its giving with over $9 million in grants, and in 2023, Wayfarer will be giving more than $19 million in grants.

Sarowitz’s partner in Wayfarer Studios is actor and filmmaker Justin Baldoni, who is currently starring in, producing, and directing an adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s hit 2016 novel, It Ends with Us, also starring Blake Lively.

Sarowitz and Baldoni, a fellow Baha’i, seek to create “purpose- driven, multi-platform film and television productions that elevate and speak to the human spirit. We are a home for creators and fresh voices debunking the typical studio model by producing stories that serve as true agents for social change. Our work highlights inspiration, unity, and the power of the human connection.”

Sarowitz has high-profile experience in the film industry, having served as Executive Producer of the Peabody Award-winning documentary, Maya Angelou: And Still I Rise, and The Gate: Dawn of the Baha’i Faith and Clouds, which was named one of the best movies on Disney+.

Sarowitz has teamed with another Baha’i friend, actor Rainn Wilson, best known as Dwight Schrute in the hit television comedy The Office, on four different movies, including an action-comedy called Code 3 starring Wilson and Lil Rel Howery.

Wilson recently released a New York Times best-selling book, Soul Boom, in which he asserts that “Our world needs a spiritual revolution.” According to Arthur Brooks in The Atlantic, “Wilson told me how faith—including traditional religions in which adherents worship the divine—give us what we all crave: The bonds to community. A shared purpose. Transcendence. A concept of the sacred. The idea that service to others is the highest form of worship.”

Along with Wilson, Wayfarer Studios is working with Hollywood heavyweights like Robert DeNiro and Bobby Cannavale.

With the goal of being a “collective space for films, live events, and conversation,” Wayfarer Theaters is designed to strengthen bonds of friendship in the community. Highland Park is the inaugural location, with plans to expand to other markets throughout the country.

Sarowitz is quick to credit his team, including Manager Clay Stamper, for their efforts in launching the theaters. “Our mission is to show films that uplift, inspire, educate, and unite our community. Positivity is even more important for all of us after the tragedy last July 4th here in Highland Park.”

“In addition to premiering our own films at Wayfarer Theaters, we are bringing in filmmakers and changemakers for enlightening conversations. In just our first few months, we have brought in Jane Goodall, Penn Badgley, Rainn Wilson, Keith Beauchamp, Bob Hercules, Aviva Kempner, and several others to Wayfarer Theaters,” he explains.

“There’s so much violence and negative energy out there; we’re working to impact meaningful change,” he notes.

What’s next for Sarowitz? “I’d like to welcome more people from Highland Park and throughout the North Shore to Wayfarer Theaters, so we can truly be a beacon for the community and amplify our message of hope and unity. Through our theaters, our foundation, and our studios, we will continue working to advance the good in humanity.”

For more information, visit wayfarerfoundation.org, wayfarertheaters.com, and wayfarerstudios.com.