30th Heinz Awards - Heinz Family Foundation Announces $1.5 Million in Awards

From Reducing Food Waste and Advocating for Healthy Spaces to Visualizing our Lived Stories and Breaking Barriers in Jobs and Housing — 30th Heinz Awards Recipients Are Forging an Equitable Future

PITTSBURGH, September 16, 2025 — The Heinz Family Foundation today announced the recipients of the 30th Heinz Awards, which will present unrestricted cash awards totaling $1.5 million to six Americans for outstanding contributions in the categories of the Arts, the Economy and the Environment. Two awards are given per category. As part of the accolade, each recipient receives an unrestricted cash award of $250,000.  

Created to honor the memory of the late U.S. Senator John Heinz, the Heinz Awards celebrate excellence and achievement in areas of great importance to Senator Heinz. The 30th Awards bring the total number of recipients to 186 and reflect more than $32 million in awards given since the program was launched in 1993. This year’s recipients by category are:

Arts

Jennifer Packer, New York, New York, is a figurative artist whose expressive paintings and drawings offer a powerful reimagining of American representation. Her intimate portraits, marked by tenderness and depth, allow her subjects to either emerge from or dissolve into the canvas — a deliberate act of care that provides her sitters with privacy and autonomy. Combining gestural yet precise brushwork with a vivid palette, Ms. Packer captures both the personal relationships she holds with her subjects and the social realities that inform their lives. Her work has been widely recognized, with major solo exhibitions at institutions such as the Serpentine Galleries in London, the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York and The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles.

Marie Watt, Portland, Oregon, is an interdisciplinary artist whose work weaves together printmaking, textiles and sculpture to explore cultural intersections and the rich tapestry of shared human stories. As a member of the Seneca Nation (part of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy), Ms. Watt draws upon Haudenosaunee feminist teachings and Indigenous knowledge to address themes relevant to contemporary life. Known for her collaborative approach, she often invites community members to contribute through open sewing circles and public calls for materials steeped in memory and lineage. These collective efforts become expansive, often towering monuments now found in major public art collections, including at the Seattle Art Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Economy

Byron Auguste, Ph.D., Washington, D.C., CEO and co-founder of Opportunity@Work, is leading a national movement to rewire the U.S. labor market to recognize the skills, value and potential of STARs — workers Skilled Through Alternative Routes rather than a bachelor’s degree — and to remove the barriers blocking 50% of U.S. workers from accessing opportunities for upward career mobility. Opportunity@Work helps companies modify their talent acquisition practices to tap the talent pool of 70 million STARs who have gained valuable, market-ready skills through military service, community college, training programs, partial college completion and on-the-job experience.

Sara Bronin, J.D., Washington, D.C., is a Mexican American architect, attorney, professor and policymaker whose work spotlights the power of law and policy to foster more equitable, sustainable, well-designed and connected places. Her work calls out the hidden and often-overlooked impacts of land use laws on communities, including their impacts on housing affordability and availability, access to education, economic development, job growth and transportation patterns. The author of “Key to the City: How Zoning Shapes Our World,” she is honored for founding and implementing the “National Zoning Atlas,” which aims to digitize, demystify and democratize zoning information for professionals as well as the general public.

Environment

Dana Gunders, Truckee, California, has catalyzed awareness of the scale of food waste in the U.S., elevating the issue to one of national concern. Her work is shaping policies and driving solutions to reduce the 73.9 million tons of food waste generated each year and to promote the adoption of sustainable food system practices to reduce landfill waste and greenhouse gas emissions. She is president of ReFED, a trusted national think tank that fosters data-informed action and works to inform, educate and equip food businesses, farmers, policymakers, researchers, funders and consumers to stop the systemic problem of food waste.

Sacoby Wilson, Ph.D., College Park, Maryland, is a nationally renowned thought leader and scientist in the areas of exposure science, environmental health disparities and community-engaged research to study environmental justice and health issues and translate research into action. With a commitment to science that serves, he addresses how pollution and climate change disproportionately affect people of color and those living in low-income areas and works to INpower communities to achieve justice. A professor in the Department of Global, Environmental and Occupational Health (GEOH) at the University of Maryland School of Public Health, Dr. Wilson directs The Health, Environmental and Economic Justice (T.H.E. EJ) Lab. In addition, he leads the nonprofit Center for Engagement, Environmental Justice and Health (CEEJH INC).

 “This year, we celebrate 30 years of honoring Americans who excel in the qualities that my husband, John Heinz, held in highest regard: intellectual curiosity, an informed optimism, a passion for excellence and a willingness to take risks,” said Teresa Heinz, Chairman of the Heinz Family Foundation. “From reducing food waste and advocating for healthy spaces to centering our lived stories and breaking down barriers to housing and jobs, this year’s Heinz Awards recipients are not just changemakers, but they are also architects of an equitable tomorrow. Their work doesn’t just shift systems; it stirs imagination, amplifies truth and breathes possibility into the future we all deserve. Honoring them and witnessing their impact is a privilege.”

Recipients of the 30th Heinz Awards will be honored in October in Pittsburgh. For more information on the awardees, visit www.heinzawards.org.  

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About the Heinz Awards
Established by Teresa Heinz in 1993 to honor the memory of her late husband, U.S. Senator John Heinz, the Heinz Awards celebrates the accomplishments and spirit of the Senator by recognizing the extraordinary achievements of individuals in the areas of greatest importance to him. The Awards, administered by the Heinz Family Foundation, currently recognize individuals for their contributions in the areas of the Arts, the Economy and the Environment. Nominations are submitted by invited experts, who serve anonymously, and are reviewed by jurors appointed by the Heinz Family Foundation. The jurors make recommendations to the Board of Directors, which subsequently selects the Award recipients. For more information on the Heinz Awards, visit www.heinzawards.org.  

Contact:
Abby Manishor / 917-539-3308 / amanishor@burness.com