# Heinz Family Foundation Heinz Family Foundation is an Endowment / Foundation based in Pittsburgh, United States. ## Overview - **Organization type:** Endowment / Foundation - **Headquarters:** Pittsburgh, United States - **Region:** North America - **Address:** Pittsburgh, PA, United States - **Founded:** 1984 - **Assets under management:** $100M - $250M (Altss estimate) - **Website:** www.heinzawards.net - **LinkedIn:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/heinz-awards ## Regulatory record - **Reports private funds:** No ## About The Heinz Family Foundation was established in 1984 by H. John Heinz III, the Republican U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania and heir to the H.J. Heinz Company, alongside his wife Teresa. Following Senator Heinz's death in a 1991 plane crash, Teresa Heinz Kerry assumed leadership as Chair and CEO, steering the foundation for over three decades. The institution is part of a broader constellation of Heinz-linked philanthropic vehicles, including The Heinz Endowments — a separate, larger foundation that reports its financials independently — and the H. John Heinz III Foundation. The foundation's investment strategy, overseen by Chief Investment Officer McCall Cravens, reflects a hybrid approach that blends traditional endowment management with direct exposure to alternative assets. Public records confirm that the foundation commits to private-equity secondary funds — a strategy that purchases existing LP interests — and maintains a notable allocation to fine art, a category rarely held at scale within similarly sized foundations. The Heinz Family Art Collection, assembled over decades, sits alongside more conventional assets like a Gulfstream G-IV aircraft, a residential portfolio spanning Fox Chapel, Nantucket, Sun Valley, and Georgetown, and the mixed-use Hazelwood Green development in Pittsburgh. The foundation operates with a lean core team anchored by Teresa Heinz Kerry and her sons Christopher and André Heinz, who serve as directors. Christopher Heinz co-founded Rosemont Capital, an investment firm that expands the family's capital deployment beyond the foundation's direct purview. McCall Cravens functions as CIO for both the Heinz Family Office and the Foundation, a dual-hat structure that centralizes investment decision-making. In 2025, the foundation announced that its signature Heinz Awards program — which has honored figures such as surgeon Atul Gawande and composer Philip Glass — would conclude in December 2025, marking a strategic pivot away from its highest-visibility public program. The Heinz Family Foundation differs structurally from most peer foundations in its close integration with an active family office and a constellation of related entities. Rather than a standalone grant-making institution, it functions as the philanthropic hub of a multi-generational enterprise that blends ERISA-governed operating businesses, a private investment office, and multiple foundations under coordinated family governance — a model that Teresa Heinz Kerry has maintained through marriage to former Secretary of State John Kerry, whose own public-service obligations have occasionally intersected with the family's policy-oriented grantmaking. ## Sectors - Secondaries & Special Situations ## Offices - Washington, D.C. ## People - Teresa Heinz Kerry — Chair and CEO - Christopher Heinz — Director - André Heinz — Director - McCall Cravens — Chief Investment Officer ## Questions ### How is the Heinz Family Foundation different from The Heinz Endowments? The Heinz Family Foundation is a smaller entity founded in 1984 by Senator John Heinz III and Teresa Heinz Kerry; it operates the Heinz Awards and maintains its own investment portfolio. The Heinz Endowments is a separate, significantly larger foundation formed from the Howard Heinz Endowment and the Vira I. Heinz Endowment, reporting over $1.5 billion in assets. While both are headquartered in Pittsburgh and share family ties, they are legally distinct organizations with separate boards, investment committees, and grant-making strategies. ### Who makes investment decisions for the foundation? McCall Cravens serves as Chief Investment Officer for both the Heinz Family Office and the Heinz Family Foundation, centralizing portfolio management across family entities. Cravens reports to Chair and CEO Teresa Heinz Kerry, with directors Christopher and André Heinz also involved in strategic oversight. The foundation's lean governance structure means investment decisions flow through a tight circle of principals rather than a large investment committee. ### Does the foundation invest in venture capital or direct deals? Public records indicate the foundation allocates to secondary-market commitments, purchasing existing limited-partner interests rather than making primary fund commitments or direct venture investments. The foundation also holds a substantial fine-art allocation — an unusual asset class for foundations of its size — assembled over decades. Direct operating-company investments appear to flow through related vehicles like Rosemont Capital rather than through the foundation itself. ## Related profiles - [Ford Motor Company Fund](https://altss.com/profile/ford-motor-company-fund) - [Lincoln Center Theater](https://altss.com/profile/lincoln-center-theater) --- Last updated: 2026-06-03T20:00:00.000Z Canonical page: https://altss.com/profile/heinz-family-foundation Maintained by Altss — https://altss.com — methodology: https://altss.com/methodology