The Heinz Endowments were formed in 2007 through the merger of the Howard Heinz Endowment, created in 1941, and the Vira I. Heinz Endowment, created in 1986.
The endowment’s primary purpose is aiding organizations in western Pennsylvania, but the foundation has a national profile because of its collaborations with other left-of-center philanthropies and because of Teresa Heinz Kerry’s dual role as chairman of the Heinz Endowments and as wife of former Secretary of State and U.S. Senator John Kerry (D-MA), the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee.
Background
Formation
In 1941 Howard Heinz, son of condiment creator H.J. Heinz, founded the Howard Heinz Endowment. In 1986, his daughter-in-law, Vira I. Heinz, founded the Vira I. Heinz Endowment. In 2007, the two endowments formally merged. 1
Teresa Heinz Kerry
By 1990, the Heinz Endowments were under the control of H.J. Heinz’s great-grandson, then-U.S. Senator H. John Heinz III (R-PA). In 1991, Sen. Heinz was killed in a plane crash, and his fortune and control of the Heinz Endowments went to his widow, Teresa Heinz, who in 1995 married then-Sen. John Kerry (D-MA). In 2003, Forbes estimated Heinz Kerry’s wealth as at least $550 million, making her #391 on Forbes’s list of the 500 richest Americans at the time. 2
Several Capital Research Center reports in 2003 and 2004 discussed the Heinz Endowments. Gretchen Randall and Tom Randall noted that the Howard Heinz Endowment granted $4.3 million to the left-of-center Tides Foundation and Tides Center from 1993 through 2003 and that Tides and Heinz jointly created the Tides Center of Western Pennsylvania to support environmental projects in that region. Among the Tides Center of Western Pennsylvania’s projects were supporting the Student Environmental Action Coalition and Global Connections, which promoted a more active engagement in foreign policy with Latin America, Africa, and Asia. 3
Ron Arnold noted Teresa Heinz Kerry’s personal support and that of the Heinz Family Fund for the League of Conservation Voters, which had an affiliated PAC, the LCV Action Fund, which donated $19,000 to John Kerry’s presidential campaign in January 2004. In addition, Heinz Endowment money went to several organizations represented on the league’s board, including the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Wilderness Society. 4
Arnold noted the Heinz endowments’ grants to Environmental Defense, which had Teresa Heinz Kerry on its board. Environmental Defense received $3.4 million from the Heinz endowments from 1992 through 2003. Arnold noted that Heinz Kerry had suspended her membership on the Environmental Defense board for the duration of her husband’s presidential campaign. 5 The Boston Globe reported that Heinz Kerry was “an outspoken environment activist” and that she was on the Environmental Defense board when Sen. John Heinz “was supported by the United Mine Workers.” 6
Teresa Heinz Kerry stayed on as chairman of the Heinz Endowments and remained a trustee of the Brookings Institution. League of Conversation Voters president Deb Callahan told the Los Angeles Times that their early endorsement of John Kerry was because “he had the strongest environmental record” and not because of Heinz grants. 7 The Tides Foundation denied that Heinz money supported Peaceful Tomorrows, a group critical of the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars 8 or the Institute for Global Communications, which provided Internet services to groups supporting the regime of Fidel Castro such as the Cuban Solidarity Coalition and Defend Socialist Cuba. 9 The H.J. Heinz Company said that the company was a “non-partisan organization” and that the Heinz philanthropies and the Heinz family held less than four percent of the company’s stock. 10
In 2016, Teresa Heinz Kerry retired as chair of the Heinz Endowments, with her three sons, Andre Heinz, Christopher Heinz, and H. John Heinz IV to chair the board for four-year terms. 11 Andre Heinz was chair of the board as of May 2022. 12
Grant Oliphant
In 2014 Grant Oliphant became president of the Heinz Endowments. Oliphant had served as then-Sen. John Heinz’s press secretary and previously worked as vice-president of the Heinz Endowments and president of the Pittsburgh Foundation. In 2017, the Chronicle of Philanthropy noted that Oliphant “sent a clear message: I am part of the resistance” to President Donald Trump, that the endowments would “fight back” against Trump, and that Oliphant wanted to show nonprofits “That the foundation is committed to supporting them in the struggle for social justice.” 13 In 2021, Oliphant said the Heinz Endowments would no longer fund the Philanthropy Roundtable, saying the organization supported “the corrosive, partisan, divisive rhetoric that we now see permeating politics.” 14
Oliphant left the Heinz Endowments in 2022 to become president of the Conrad Prebys Foundation. 15
Leadership
Chris DeCardy
In January 2023, the Heinz Endowment announced it had selected nonprofit and foundation consultant Chris DeCardy as its next president, who officially began in April 2023. At the time of the announcement, DeCardy was serving as CEO of left-of-center environmentalist group ClimateWorks Foundation. Prior to this, he worked as Vice President and Director of Programs for the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, a foundation dealing with issues related to environmental causes. 16
In an interview with the Pittsburgh Business Times, DeCardy claimed that philanthropy, “has a really important role to play to help get all of us through to a future where everyone can see themselves and be able to contribute. 17 He also claims that the Heinz Endowment can help people, “come together in community again,” while specifically noting issues of crime increase and lack of business returning to areas such as downtown Pittsburgh. He also believes that the Endowment can use philanthropy as well as pilots and programs to improve downtown spaces such as Pittsburgh’s to improve the community. 17
Grant Issue Areas
Environmental Grantmaking
In 2017 Grant Oliphant, Teresa Heinz Kerry, and former Vice President Al Gore appeared on a panel sporting the Climate Reality Project, an environmentalist activist organization created by Gore and supported by the Heinz Endowments. “No city in America has staked its future on remaking its relationship with the environment as clearly as Pittsburgh has,” Oliphant said. 18
A 2019 Capital Research Center report detailed that Heinz Endowments spent $12 million on environmental grants to “political groups that aim to wipe out coal production, ‘clean air’ groups that support stricter emission regulations, and ‘environmental justice’ advocates,” including the Group Against Smog and Pollution, the Keystone Research Center, and Planned Parenthood of Western Pennsylvania. 19
Grants to Black Community Organizations
In November 2020, the Heinz Endowments announced a $12 million program to aid the Black community in Pittsburgh. The Endowments’ chief equity officer, Carmen Anderson, said the grants were part of an effort “to support the Black community and other marginalized citizens.” 20 In 2021, the Endowments matched a $5 million grant from the Ford Foundation for grants to Black cultural organizations in Pittsburgh. 21
All-time grants received statistics from Candid dataset:
Total Grant Value:$181,694
Number of Grants:3
Number of Funders:3
All-time grants given statistics from Candid dataset:
Total Grant Value:$1,349,899,354
Number of Grants:9,039
Number of Recipients:1,492
Selection of highest value grants given from the last seven years:
Amount
Year
Funder
Subject
$30,000,000
2020
Carnegie Mellon University
To launch The Center for Shared Prosperity at Carnegie Mellon University: (the Center), a university-community partnership to address barriers to equality in Pittsburgh
$20,000,000
2022
Pittsburgh Cultural Trust
At the last two board meetings, we have discussed the Endowments’ appropriate response to the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust’s capital campaign. The most important factors that we have discussed include the following: • The Heinz Endowments’ central role in the creation of the District and the organization; • The age of the Cultural District’s theaters, public spaces and other amenities, and the critical need for maintenance and repair; • The effect of the pandemic on the District and on Pittsburgh’s downtown; • The impending leadership changes at both the Trust and the Endowments. There are competing tensions among these factors. The campaign needs an endorsement from the Trust’s founder (the Endowments) in order to encourage other donors. There is also urgency with regard to maintenance and repair in the District, in particular, the Allegheny Riverfront Park, Katz Plaza, and the Benedum Center. There is also, however, the knowledge that it is likely that one year from now, there will be new leadership at the Trust and the Endowments who might bring fresh thinking to the mutual priorities of the organizations. In February, staff presented the outlines of an approach to the campaign which the board agreed to in principle. The approach centers on making a $20 million pledge to the campaign, specifying the use of a part of it, but leaving a substantial part to be worked out with future leadership. This approach will allow us to signal long-term belief in the Trust and the District, while leaving flexibility to direct substantial future funds in new directions. Staff has discussed this approach with the Trust, and in response, they have created a short list of what they consider to be the top short-term priorities in the District. These include: Katz Plaza restoration: $3.5 million; Allegheny Riverfront Park: $3.5 million; Byham Theater: $2 million; Benedum marquee, sidewalk and façade restoration, and repairs to 937 Liberty: $1 million. These are estimates based on a preliminary study of the capital needs of each of these projects, and amounts may change as the projects progress. Depending on evolving costs and additional fundraising, funding may be shifted between and among these categories. Staff recommends the approval of a pledge of $20 million for the campaign, with $10 million allocated to these priorities over the next two years, and the remainder to be allocated in 2023 and beyond by future leadership. The payment schedule for this pledge is set at $5 million over four years, which will accommodate this approach.
$6,043,000
2024
Pittsburgh Cultural Trust
TO SUPPORT RENOVATIONS TO THE ALLEGHENY RIVERFRONT PARK, KATZ PLAZA AND BYHAM THEATER AND OTHER PROPERTIES AS NEEDED
$5,000,000
2024
Pittsburgh Cultural Trust
TO SUPPORT RENOVATIONS TO THE ALLEGHENY RIVERFRONT PARK, KATZ PLAZA AND BYHAM THEATER AND OTHER PROPERTIES AS NEEDED
$5,000,000
2023
Carnegie Mellon University
TO LAUNCH THE CENTER FOR SHARED PROSPERITY AT CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY: (THE "CENTER"), A UNIVERSITY-COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP TO ADDRESS BARRIERS TO EQUALITY IN PITTSBURGH
$5,000,000
2022
Almono LP
$4,875,000
2021
Poise Foundation
To support the Pittsburgh Cultural Treasures Initiative, in partnership with the Ford Foundation and the POISE Foundation
$4,271,200
2021
Almono LP
For operating expenses-P32 loan payoff
$3,500,000
2024
Pittsburgh Cultural Trust
TO SUPPORT RENOVATIONS TO THE ALLEGHENY RIVERFRONT PARK, KATZ PLAZA AND BYHAM THEATER AND OTHER PROPERTIES AS NEEDED
$3,000,000
2020
RTH Investment, LLC
To purchase, improve and manage a portfolio of rental housing units in the Hazelwood neighborhood for long-tenured, low-income families, otherwise vulnerable to displacement pressures
$3,000,000
2020
RTH Investment, LLC
To purchase, improve and manage a portfolio of rental housing units in the Hazelwood neighborhood for long-tenured, low-income families, otherwise vulnerable to displacement pressures
Historically, key entities across Allegheny County supporting the early childhood sector have functioned independently of each other. This approach to goal setting, planning, grantmaking, and service delivery impacts community accessibility, outcomes, and maximization of private and public resources. In particular, cross-sector collaboration among larger public and private organizations has been limited due to a lack of resources (both time and money). Early childhood education intersects with every social determinant of health, because of the intersectional relationship between children, families, and the communities where they live, and every child’s start in life has a lifelong impact. Therefore, increasing coordination across the public health, housing, education, economic, and local government systems will better meet the needs of young children and their families. The current climate and progress at the local level offer the local foundation community an opportunity to leverage the public momentum and establish a unified plan to support local efforts. The Early Childhood Funders Alliance (ECFA) is not intended to be the only vehicle for foundations to make early childhood investments, but its creation will enable funders to align resources and incorporate individual commitments toward a collective mission and goals.
$2,070,509
2020
Almono LP
To cover various planning, consulting and capital costs of the Hazelwood Green development project
$2,000,000
2022
Pittsburgh, City of
This grant will support the City of Pittsburgh’s Department of Public Works in their efforts to expand and redevelop a public park in Homewood. The $15 million project includes comprehensive demolition, regrading and redevelopment of an existing park and adjacent vacated school grounds. The plan calls for a new playground, and multi-use recreational courts, plus an updated pool, amphitheater, athletic and recreational pavilion, and athletic field., Underground cisterns for stormwater capture will be added, as well as shade and street trees, and gardens containing native plants. Renovations to the pedestrian bridge linking Homewood to North Point Breeze over the East Busway and Railroad, and updates and redesign of pedestrian access to transit are scheduled. This project supports Sustainability’s equitable development goal as this effort has been designed and led locally and supports local culture.
$2,000,000
2022
The Pittsburgh Promise
The Pittsburgh Promise was based on an audacious vision for a future where all Pittsburgh's urban youth are equipped to reach post-secondary success; its public schools are serving all children substantively and equitably; the city is flourishing in all its neighborhoods; its workforce is widely diverse and highly skilled to advance a region that is good and just for all. Likewise, the Promise's investments in K-12 education, especially at the secondary level, would serve as a crucial building block for thousands of youth across the city, and fill a pipeline of well-prepared and diverse young leaders ready to enter the region’s workforce. Thirteen years later, more than 10,100 students have received $154 million in Promise scholarships with 97 percent of those scholars coming from very low to moderate income families, and 51 percent being students of color. Requested funds will further assist the Pittsburgh Promise in reaching even more of the city's students in the coming years and providing additional supports for those who may need further assistance in joining the ranks of Promise Scholars. Investment in the Promise Ambassadors, Senior Signing Day, Compassion Appeals, Promise Coaches, Preferred College Partners, Dual Enrollment and Career Launch initiatives will further add to the successful programming many have come to know through the Promise.
$2,000,000
2022
The Rand Corporation
RAND has a seven decade track record of strengthening public policy and decision making through research and analysis. This grant provides programmatic support to its Epstein Family Veterans Policy Research Institute to analyze the federal veterans policy landscape to identify windows of opportunity. After selecting items to pursue, they will then develop a targeted research agenda and communications strategy to advance data-driven policy recommendations. They will also conduct an evaluation of the federal investment in veterans’ transition to civilian life and build a veterans research collaborative to share research findings, identify shared policy priorities, pursue collaborations, and co-author commentaries and perspectives on high priority policy topics.
$2,000,000
2020
Carlow University
To support The Western Pennsylvania Early Childhood Apprenticeship Hub (HUB)
$1,800,000
2024
Sarah Heinz House Association
TO SUPPORT CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS FOR THE NORTHSIDE FACILITY
$1,800,000
2020
Community Foundation of Greater Johnstown dba Community Foundation for the Alleghenies
To support sustainable economic initiatives in the Ohio River Valley region
$1,750,000
2021
Hill Community Development Corporation
To support the redevelopment of the New Granada Theater to spur the revitalization of Centre Avenue and rebuild the commercial corridor and cultural vitality in the Hill District
$1,703,131
2021
Almono LP
For Program Related Investment support for 2021 planning and capital expenses related to the continued redevelopment of Almono’s Hazelwood Green site in the Pittsburgh neighborhood of Hazelwood
$1,600,000
2022
Community Foundation of Greater Johnstown dba Community Foundation for the Alleghenies
The grant will provide support to continue operations of the Ohio River Valley Institute (ORVI) and Reimagine Appalachia, launched two years ago by the Endowments, as well as additional projects to advance sustainable economic development in the region. This aligns with the Climate, Environment and Health Initiative’s strategy to transition away from an extractive, carbon-polluting economy to a climate-friendly region and economy.
$1,600,000
2020
Sarah Heinz House Association
For the launch of a comprehensive, multi-year Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiative that will serve as a lens through which the organization can develop and grow, impacting the lives of the youth that it serves for many years to come
$1,500,000
2022
Sarah Heinz House Association
We are seeking a $1.5million request, an increase over the past few years to support the plan for the licensed child care program and to support on-going operations of SHH.
$1,361,978
2020
YMCA of Greater Pittsburgh
To secure the continuity of the Homewood-brushton YMCA and the financial viability of the YMCA of Greater Pittsburgh
20.[1] Joyce Gannon, “Heinz Endowments Puts $12M Into Black Causes,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, November 6, 2020.
21. Natasha Lindstrom, “Pittsburrgh Is Among Seven U.S. Metropolitan Areas To Get a Multimillion-Dollar Infusion to Support Arts and cultural Groups That Respect People of Color,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, July 8, 2021.
