Teresa heinz and john heinz

We need their grit and their gifts — their intellectual brilliance, their soaring artistry, their innovation. She founded the Heinz Awards, an annual program recognizing outstanding vision and achievement in areas including the arts, the economy and the environment. After the death of her husband, U. Senator John Heinz, in , Mrs. Heinz assumed direction of the family's extensive philanthropic operations, undertaking a major reorganization designed to sharpen the foundations' strategic focus.

Teresa heinz children

Today, the foundations she oversees are widely known for developing innovative strategies to protect the environment, improve education, enhance the lives of young children, broaden economic opportunity and promote the arts. In , Mrs. Heinz accepted the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy on behalf of the Heinz family and philanthropies. Following on the work of her late husband, Mrs.

Heinz has championed the education of women regarding the importance of pensions, savings and retirement security. In a related area, she directed the development of the Heinz Plan to Overcome Prescription Drug Expenses, a program to make prescription drugs affordable for older Americans, which has been studied or adopted in eight states including Pennsylvania, Maine and Mississippi.

Heralded by the Utne Reader in as one of American visionaries, Mrs. Heinz has long been recognized as one of the nation's premier environmental leaders. The Heinz Center brought together representatives of business, government, the scientific community and environmental groups to collaborate on the development of mutually acceptable, yet scientifically sound, environmental policies.

Heinz was one of 10 representatives from non-governmental organizations attached to the U. Conference on Environment and Development in Brazil in