The Heinz Endowments (HE) are linked to the Heinz Family Philanthropies, whose chairman is Teresa Heinz Kerry, the wife of John Kerry.

HE’s philanthropy is directed toward five main program areas:

Arts and Culture: This program “works to promote the overall vitality of Pittsburgh’s cultural sector and its relevance to civic life.” Its specific goals are to expand opportunities for arts learning and participation; build creative capital; and advance Pittsburgh as a cultural center.
Children, Youth & Families: This program “seeks to ensure that the region’s young children and adolescents are given the educational preparation and support they need to succeed in school and in life.”

Economic Opportunity: This program aims to bring new jobs to the Pittsburgh area, with particular emphasis on racial and ethnic preferences, or affirmative action, which HHE characterizes as policies that bring about “equitable prosperity” and “improved demographic balance.”

Education: This program “seeks to improve educational outcomes for the region’s children by working with schools and communities that face significant learning challenges and demonstrate a commitment to overcoming them.” The focus is predominantly on African American children.

Environment: This program “seeks to counter the trend toward uncontrolled, environmentally-degrading urban decentralization”; “encourages greater private sector involvement in environmental protection and restoration”; and “works to protect the integrity of critical ecosystems and watersheds as complex, integrated systems.” The recipients of HHE support through this program are generally opposed to the use of land for such endeavors as logging, mining, and oil exploration; many are hostile to a capitalist economic model as well.

HE opposes “suburban sprawl,” a term that refers to people relocating en masse from urban to suburban or rural areas. According to Heinz, such migrations have a negative impact on natural ecosystems. “The revitalization of existing urban areas,” adds Heinz, is “as important as controlling growth in rural and suburban communities.”

HE’s funding of radical environmentalist groups increased markedly during the 1990s. In 1994 HE formally established an Environment program, focusing on ecological restoration and urban design. In 1995 HE launched a Green Neighborhood Initiative to “help revitalize the region’s urban fabric.” Two years later it created the Green Building Alliance, which promotes the construction of what it calls “buildings that are environmentally responsible, profitable and healthy places to live and work.” In 1998 it created Penn Future, for the stated purpose of “building a future that nourishes environmental and economic resources.” A year later HE formed the Riverlife Task Force to “guide the development of a ‘master plan’ for the region’s three rivers.”

Today the majority of HE’s philanthropy is concentrated within southwestern Pennsylvania, though its funding does extend to groups in other states and other regions of the United States. Some of the notable recipients of HE support are: the Brookings Institution, Cornell University (environmentalism), Council on Foundations, EarthJustice, Jewish Funds for Justice, National Urban League, Pennsylvania State University (environmentalism), Pew Research Center, State Voices, and the Urban Institute.

To view a list of additional noteworthy grantees of the Heinz Endowments, click here.

(Information on grantees and monetary amounts courtesy of The Foundation Center, GuideStar, ActivistCash, the Capital Research Center and Undue Influence)