Heinz Endowments names new president after national search

The Heinz Endowments named Chris DeCardy as its president following a national search after Grant Oliphant stepped down in February 2022.

DeCardy, 56, is currently a consultant serving foundations and nonprofit organizations. He will move to Pittsburgh from Menlo Park, Calif., where he lives with his family.

The Heinz family announced the appointment after a 10-month selection process following the departure of Oliphant, who joined the Conrad Prebys Foundation in San Diego.

Mr. DeCardy will join the foundation, the second-largest grant-making organization in western Pennsylvania, in April.

“We are delighted to appoint Chris to lead the Endowments and to continue to advance our philanthropic mission at this challenging and most critical time for our community,” said André Heinz, board chairman.

“We have found a leader whose values align with our long-standing commitment to serve our region in ways that not only help sustain the invaluable work of our nonprofits, but which help them to develop, flourish and maximize their impact. The Pittsburgh community will benefit enormously from the exemplary leadership experience Chris brings to the Endowments and his work as a passionate, thoughtful and respected collaborator across the broad philanthropic sector.”

DeCardy was acting chief executive officer with the San Francisco-based ClimateWorks Foundation, an organization focused on ending the climate crisis.

Previously, he served as vice president and director of programs with the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, one of the largest U.S. grantmaking foundations.

“The Endowments and the Heinz family have a distinguished history of addressing the most important issues of the day for families and individuals with impact not only locally, but also nationally,” DeCardy said in a statement. “Continuity across the Endowments’ current grantmaking areas with a look to greater impact given present economic and social dynamics will be a top priority.

“The Endowments’ commitment to community and collaboration as the backbone for lasting change resonates deeply with me,” he said.” I look forward to learning from and working with nonprofit and civic leaders across the region.”

DeCardy has a background in strategic communications, network advocacy and program development. He helped launch, then manage, a Washington D.C.-based environmental communications nonprofit, Environmental Media Services (now called Resource Media).

He has helped to create and also serve on the boards of several nonprofit organizations working on localized climate action, media capacity building for conservation organizations and broadening the impact of climate philanthropy. As a consultant, DeCardy focuses primarily on issues related to climate change advocacy and policy at local, state, and federal levels.

DeCardy grew up in Champaign, Ill., and earned a BA in Journalism from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a master’s degree in Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School.

The Heinz Endowments awarded grants in 2022 totaling $92 million, mostly to nonprofit organizations in western Pennsylvania. It has assets of about$2.1 billion.