Heinz Endowments


The Heinz Endowments is one of the largest philanthropic organizations in the United States, and was formed with the combined support from two smaller, private foundations: the Howard Heinz Endowment and the Vira I. Heinz Endowment. It awards more than $60 million annually in grants to a range of nonprofit organizations.

Mission

The Heinz Endowments "seeks to help region thrive as a whole and just community, and through that work to model solutions to major national and global challenges," and concentrates "on advancing a sustainable future for our community and planet, successful learning outcomes for young people and their families, and a culture of engaged creativity for all our citizens."

History

Based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania the Heinz Endowments consists of two private foundations: the Howard Heinz Endowment and the Vira I. Heinz Endowment. The Howard Heinz Endowment was established in 1941 via a bequeath from the residual estate of Howard Heinz, a native of Sharpsburg, Pennsylvania who had served as president of the H. J. Heinz Co. The Vira I. Heinz Endowment was formed via funding from the estate of Vira I. Heinz, the first woman to serve on the board of directors of a multinational corporation headquartered in Pittsburgh, the first woman to serve on the board of trustees of Carnegie Mellon University, and the founder of the Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera.

Leadership

In 2014, former Pittsburgh Foundation president and CEO Grant Oliphant became president of the Endowments. He had been associated with the Heinz family since joining the staff of U.S. Senator H. John Heinz III in 1988 and had served the Heinz Endowments in management roles before helming the Pittsburgh Foundation.

Grantmaking

On July 1, 2019, the organization announced the launch of its "Just Arts Initiative," a grantmaking program to support artists and art organizations responding to pressing social issues facing the Pittsburgh area. Initial plans called for the organization to award grants in the range of $1,000 to $150,000 per individual project with a total outlay for the initiative expected to reach $500,000. According to news reports, the initiative "will give funding priority to projects that focus on the voices of communities and residents most directly affected by injustice and encourages submissions from young people or that focuses on youth voices. Prior to that announcement, in June 2019, newspapers reported that fifteen artists were named as recipients of $169,000 in grant funding provided by the Heinz Endowments in collaboration with The Pittsburgh Foundation. The fifteen artists receiving support were: Cameron Barnett, Asia Bey, Children's Museum of Pittsburgh, Shikeith Cathey, Kevin Clancy, Anthony DePaolis, Phillip Andrew Lewis, Clayton Merrell, Njaimeh Njie, Mikael Owunna, Adriana Ramirez, Martha Rial, Anjali Sachdeva, Joy-Marie Thompson, and Anna Thompson and Taylor Knight.