h is printed on recycled paper using soy-based inks.h is printed on recycled paper using soy-based inks.

T H E H E I N Z E N D OW M E N T S

Howard Heinz Endowment

Vira I. Heinz Endowment

30 Dominion Tower

625 Liberty Avenue

Pittsburgh, PA 15222-3115

412.281.5777

www.heinz.org

NONPROFIT ORG

US POSTAGE

P A I D

PITTSBURGH PA

PERMIT NO 57

public (art) works p a g e 4

The Magazine of The Heinz Endowments

I N S I D E : A R T S S E E N N O N P R O F I T S U N I T E

NET GAINSmall grants

make a big impact

S U M M E R 2 0 0 6

h magazine is a publication of The Heinz Endowments. At the Endowments, we arecommitted to promoting learning in philanthropy and in the specific fields represented by our grant-making programs. As an expression of that commitment, this publication is intended to share information about significant lessons and insights we are derivingfrom our work.

Editorial Team Linda Bannon, Linda Braund, Maxwell King, Carmen Lee, Grant Oliphant, Douglas Root. Design: Landesberg Design

About the cover Small grants that fund projects such as new recreation equipmentfor the Holy Family Institute’s youth home north of Pittsburgh can help change lives.Heinz Endowments’ program staff has seen the difference such awards can make andcontinues to include them as part of the foundation’s grant making.

insideFounded more than four decades

apart, the Howard Heinz Endowment,

established in 1941, and the Vira I.

Heinz Endowment, established in 1986,

are the products of a deep family

commitment to community and the

common good that began with

H. J. Heinz and continues to this day.

The Heinz Endowments is based in

Pittsburgh, where we use our region

as a laboratory for the development

of solutions to challenges that are

national in scope. Although the majority

of our giving is concentrated within

southwestern Pennsylvania, we work

wherever necessary, including statewide

and nationally, to fulfill our mission.

That mission is to help our region thrive

as a whole community—economically,

ecologically, educationally and

culturally— while advancing the state

of knowledge and practice in the

fields in which we work.

Our fields of emphasis include

philanthropy in general and the

disciplines represented by our grant-

making programs: Arts & Culture;

Children, Youth & Families; Innovation

Economy; Education; and the

Environment. These five programs work

together on behalf of three shared

organizational goals: enabling

southwestern Pennsylvania to embrace

and realize a vision of itself as a

premier place both to live and to work;

making the region a center of quality

learning and educational opportunity;

and making diversity and inclusion

defining elements of the region’s

character.

29

H A R D H A T SWhen the expansion of the Sarah Heinz House onPittsburgh’s North Side is complete next year, thecommunity youth center will have a state-of-the-art,environmentally friendly facility. And helping to explainthe “green” building concept to visitors has been a groupof young ambassadors wearing appropriately greenconstruction hats.

These “HARDHATS,” shown below at the construc-tion site, are 16 middle school-aged students who havebeen following the expansion since last year and workingwith Dick Corp., the primary contractor, to learn how a“sustainable” building is designed and built.

Recent Heinz Endowments’ grants of about $3 millionfor the new construction are part of the more than $23 million the Endowmentshas given to the Sarah HeinzHouse in nearly three decades.Suzanne Matoney, environ-mental director at the center,says the HARDHATS programis a unique complement to theexpansion because it’s “thefirst program that we are awareof where kids have been so closely involved with greenconstruction from the outset of the project.”

The students have already put their new knowledge to work, giving tours of the site on April 22, Earth Day.Clad in safety apparel that included their signature hard-hats, the students explained how the facility is being builtin a way that limits toxins; conserves materials and energy;and creates a natural light-filled space. The children and their families also have pledged to conserve energy at home and to use nature-friendly cleaning products.

“In essence, the HARDHATS program is teachingimportant scientific concepts, but also life lessons,” Matoneysays. “Not only are the members mastering basic conceptsof sustainability, but also they are learning transcendentskills at the same time: outreach, advocacy and publicspeaking.”

The Endowments’ annual operating support to theSarah Heinz House helps fund youth activities such as the HARDHATS program and staff positions such asMatoney’s post, established last fall.

To learn more about the Sarah Heinz House or theHARDHATS program, call 412-231-2377.

Summer break can be a time of fun and excitement for many children, but it also can

contribute to hunger among those who depend on subsidized school lunches fornourishment, Chris Heinz told more than 500 diners at the Greater PittsburghCommunity Food Bank’s 25th anniversary event June 1.

“We need to redouble our efforts to support the food bank, since theunderlying safety net for our children quite literally goes on vacation for the nextthree months,” said Heinz, a member of the Endowments’ and Heinz FamilyPhilanthropies boards and honorary chair of the dinner at the Hilton Pittsburgh. “I can guarantee you, in a malnourished child, hunger works morning, noon andnight. It takes no time off.”

The event, which honors individuals and organizations that have supported the food bank’s work to stop hunger in this region, coincided with National HungerAwareness Day. A network of nearly 350 agencies in 11 counties, the food bankprovides groceries to about 120,000 people each month.

Weeks before members of City Charter High School’s first graduating class donnedtheir caps and gowns, they made it clearwhat they wanted in a graduation speaker.

No mixed metaphors—or, better yet, nometaphors at all, one group of seniors toldSuzanne Walsh, Endowments InnovationEconomy program officer, and the students’choice for guest speaker. No grandiosepronouncements of the graduates’ future.And be brief.

“ ‘You got two minutes,’” Walsh recallsone girl telling her, only half joking.

Walsh took a little more than two minutesto facetiously mix a few metaphors (“Youhave stepped up to the plate and grabbedthe bull by horns.”); accede to anotherstudent’s wishes to stay under a “bajillion”quotes; and declare that “You, City HighClass of Class of 2006, can save the worldfrom evil.”

On a more serious note, she com-mended the graduates for being pioneers inattending City Charter High School, or CityHigh, as it is called, despite teasing frompeers; for living diversity in their friendshipswith classmates and not just talking aboutit; and for achieving academic excellencewhile appreciating the value of learning,regardless of the grade or the risk of beinglabeled “nerds.”

In fact, City High students—the majorityof whom have met state and federal academicstandards for the past two years—havegrown accustomed to being a differentbreed. They go to classes in a downtownPittsburgh office building and attend schoolin trimesters, separated by one-monthbreaks. They have the same teachers forfour years and participate in part-time intern-ships. And about the only interscholasticcompetition the students enter is a robot-building contest, reflecting the school’stechnology focus.

Intrigued by City High’s unique qualitiesand committed to offering education optionsto families, the Endowments has givennearly $1.3 million in support to the schoolsince 2002. That’s the same year CityHigh’s first 156 students started as fresh-men. This year’s 95 graduates includemembers of that first class and others whoenrolled later.

“Just remember,” concluded Walsh,shown below with brother-sister grads Michaeland Jamie Niedecker, “all that you havelearned at City High will get you through therest of your life.”

CITY HIGH CLASS OF 2006

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

Jaso

n C

ohn

Volume 6 Number 3 Summer 2006

Working, page 22

4Pittsburgh Art in Public PlacesPittsburgh’s new Office of Public Art is shining a spotlight on the

city’s art in public settings.

10A Smaller Slice of the PieSome Endowments-supported projects are proving

that small grants can go a long way.

22Working as OneWestern Pennsylvania nonprofits

and foundations are aggressively

uniting their efforts to influence the

region’s future.

2 Feedback

3 Message

28 Here & There

Hillside StoryThere are many statements in Tracy Certo’s “Hill Side Story” article with whichany concerned Pittsburgher will agree:“We shouldn’t be so anxious to developeverywhere.” “The city’s slopes…are intrinsicto the identity of the city.”

Developers are concerned with Pittsburgh’sviability, and their work is key to its continuedsuccess. They provide a valuable service to the public by creating places to live and work.Done well, their developments also enhancethe value of nearby homes.

As a developer in this region, I know there are many factors that could inhibitwidespread construction on our hillsides.Slope development is very expensive and in many cases completely infeasible due tostabilization costs of roads and building pads.One also can argue that developers leftunchecked will strip the hillsides bare, andlegislation is necessary to control the amountand nature of hillside development.

But does the legislation as enacted by City Council prevent appropriate hillsidedevelopment? The regulations favor detachedsingle-family, two-story homes built on largerlots. This type of development utilizes moregreen space and requires more stabilizedroadways than multi-family buildings. Besidesusing more open space, single-familydetached homes are far less energy efficientthan townhouses or even multistory apart-ment buildings, both of which are notallowed by the legislation.

So how does this legislation affect the taxbase of a cash-strapped city? Will it preventdevelopments that would be assets toPittsburgh? These are some of the questionsthat must be considered in public forumsrequired by the hillside legislation for any proposed developments in the future.Let’s hope they get a fair hearing.

Ernie SotaPresidentSota Construction Services Inc.Pittsburgh

2

feedback

we really do not. We pretend to believe thatthe playing field is level for all students of thedistrict when some of us know better.

For a while, Roosevelt will have to continueto explain why he did, what he did, the wayhe did. He will have to deal in a meaningfulway with perceptions that are real, whetherthey are true or not. For example, there arethose who believe that there was racialinequity in Roosevelt’s school-closing plan.They feel the burden was placed on the backof the black community.

There are those who say that African-American administrators are disappearing.If African-American students look aroundtheir schools, some of which are predomi-nantly African American, and see few or noAfrican-American administrators, teachers or counselors, then they begin to believe whatthey have heard all their lives, that AfricanAmericans are underachievers. That is not the message this district wants to send. Thesuperintendent and school board must makea concerted effort to ensure that African-American students see African Americans intheir schools performing meaningful tasks,setting healthy examples in a healthy learningenvironment.

Roosevelt and his proposals for improvingthe district are going to be scrutinized andtested. I trust the board will let him do thejob he was brought here to do. I trust thecommunity will support him when he is rightand tell him when he is wrong. I trust that hewill face the tough issues and build bridges of goodwill and partnership with all sectorsof the community.

All of us must work together for the success of the most important commoditythat we have—our children.

Dr. Johnnie Monroe Senior PastorGrace Memorial Presbyterian ChurchPittsburgh

Class ActFor me, as a pastor and education advocate inPittsburgh’s African-American community,Carole Smith’s profile of SuperintendentMark Roosevelt, “Class Act,” highlighted the many questions that were raised whenRoosevelt was appointed to lead thePittsburgh Public Schools.

Among them: How does a person with nopublic school administrative background takeon the position of school superintendent?Without that background, how is he going toclose the ever-widening racial achievementgap? How will Roosevelt be received by mem-bers of the African-American communitywho supported former Superintendent JohnThompson and felt Thompson was given araw deal? How will he be received by thefoundation community that at one pointwithheld financial support from the districtbecause of the schism between Thompsonand the board?

While some of the questions remainunanswered, Roosevelt has set as his No. 1priority closing the academic achievementgap between white and African-Americanstudents. He says this is the No. 1 civil rightsissue of the day. He has made changes that he says will make positive things happen over time. That remains to be seen. He andeveryone else know that time is of theessence. We can no longer be satisfied with a school district in which a large percentageof African-American students are notlearning and not graduating.

If the Pittsburgh schools are going to turn around and be the best for all children,Roosevelt must build consensus amongboard members, administrators, teachers,parents and community residents. He mustbe a good listener.

Then the superintendent must be willingto meet the race issue head-on if the achieve-ment gap is going to be eradicated. No onewants to deal with race in Pittsburgh. Wepretend to live in a color-blind society when

Our Spring annual report issue examined new Pittsburgh SuperintendentMark Roosevelt’s vision for the school district and education improvementefforts by local foundations that led to his arrival. We also looked at how two community groups, with foundation support, developed strategies topreserve Pittsburgh’s hillsides.

imagine Pittsburgh, a place that time and again has turned to

its nonprofit community for leadership and support, without

that vibrant assembly.

I am often asked how much money it takes to make a

genuine difference in philanthropy, as though there is some

magic number that tips us into efficacy. Implicit in the question

is what seems to be an increasingly common assumption that

only big deeds count, and that big deeds require big money.

But you don’t need to be a Warren Buffett to have a material

impact on the world. Even his unprecedented gift to the Gates

Foundation illustrates the point. He knew his genius lay in

making money, not giving it away, and so he entrusted it to an

organization expert in dividing a massive fortune into smaller

pieces that could be focused more effectively on the work of

local and global community—and thereby create a whole

greater than the sum of the parts.

Every large mosaic is fashioned from small chips, and what-

ever the scale, there is value in focusing on the chips. That’s

the point of our cover story, “A Smaller Slice of the Pie,” which

looks at how smaller grants can be effective, even for a relatively

large foundation such as ours. In our work at the Endowments,

we are always mindful of the systems we need to affect in order

to produce lasting change, but we also know that large systems

are made up of small parts — and the parts matter.

Mother Teresa once commented, “We can do no great

things, only small things with great love.” Far less important

than the size of our resources — or even the size of the task

we are taking on— is the personal investment we are willing

to make of the best we have to give, including our passion,

our intellect and whatever wisdom life has given us.

I believe Mother Teresa’s point was that, when we do

things in that way, even things we consider small, they aren’t

small anymore. They contribute to a larger whole, which by

definition makes them great. I can think of no better work. h

3

message

By Teresa HeinzChairman, Howard Heinz Endowment

In reading our stories for this issue, I was reminded of a

saying from the Chinese Taoist philosopher Lao Tzu that

“great acts are made up of small deeds.”

The power of “small deeds” is evident everywhere in these

pages. Take, for example, our story on public art, which notes

the impressive collection of artwork to be found in Pittsburgh’s

public spaces.

Individually, much of this artwork is diminutive relative to

the scale of the city surrounding it. Each piece offers a small

and isolated moment for reflection amid the hurly-burly on

busy streets —cars honking, buses wheezing past, passersby

focused on their next appointment.

Together, however, those small moments add up to a wholly

different experience of urban life, and a different perspective

on the city itself. They give it flavor and texture, seasoning it

with a splash of color, a whisper of beauty, a hint of difference,

a touch of whimsy, a taste of human experience and potential.

They interrupt the glass-and-granite sameness, the onslaught

of asphalt, chrome and steel, and remind us why we value

cities— as centers not just of business but also of creativity,

expression and aspiration.

Thus do small deeds of public art join together to become

one great act of urban vitality.

A similar dynamic can be found in “Working as One,” our

story on a new alliance of the region’s nonprofit organizations.

While Pittsburgh is home to a number of sizable nonprofits

that have become major contributors to regional economic

growth, most of the area’s thousands of social-sector

organizations are relatively small—and therefore relatively

easy to take for granted.

That would be a tragic mistake. The not-so-small deeds

performed each day by these organizations, large and small,

add up to a great and irreplaceable mosaic of educational,

cultural, economic and human services. It is impossible to

Bar

ry L

aver

y

“To do a common thing uncommonlywell brings success.” Henry John Heinz

Artist Jenny Holzer’s “For Pittsburgh,” her largest LED project in the United States, serves as the signature artwork for thecover of “Pittsburgh Art in Public Places,” a walking tour bookletpublished this year by the city’s Office of Public Art. The pieceincludes quotations from novels by Pittsburgh authors that areilluminated and scroll across the roofline of the David L. LawrenceConvention Center, downtown.

he day begins with coffee and conversation on the South Side. Then, it’s off

to the studio—the cavernous shell of Bar Mill 9, one of the few surviving

structures on the grounds of the former LTV Steel Hazelwood mill. Here

Tim Kaulen and a band of fellow artists known as the Industrial Arts Co-op

spend the rest of the day working I-beams, heavy scrap and other mill

artifacts into a public art tribute to the steel industry, one rivet at a time.

They clearly enjoy the work. They just never imagined this Sunday ritual

would last so long. Or involve so many setbacks.

The sculpture is imposing: a salvaged hot metal ladle weighing five tons

and two 18-foot representations of steelworkers built from the steel trusses

of the original Hot Metal Bridge that joined the Hazelwood mill with its

sister plant across the Monongahela River. It should have been completed

years ago. But on this June morning, Kaulen cannot pin down the finish

line. Already seven years in the making, it might take another two, he says,

depending on the hours the artists are able to donate. None of them are

drawing a paycheck from the project.

The budget set in 1999 by the City of Pittsburgh, which had commis-

sioned the work, was exhausted long ago. To make ends meet, Kaulen has

elevated scavenging into an art form itself, securing additional funds, steep

discounts, and donations of materials and equipment ranging from angle

iron to a used forklift.

But even if they were to finish the sculpture today, it has no place to go.

The city has yet to find a home for it.

“We didn’t know what we were doing,” says Jeremy Smith, the city

Planning Department’s zoning administrator. “We funded a project at

$25,000 that realistically required about $140,000 to implement. The artist

was overly optimistic about what he could achieve, and we didn’t have the

foresight to say, ‘You’re getting in over your head.’ We should’ve had a site

for the piece before entering into an agreement. The result has been this

cascade of additional funding requests, leases that expired, work progress

being stopped and sites being lost.”

The consequences run even deeper. Not knowing where the sculpture

would be placed altered the artists’ creative approach. “It’s hard to design

something of this scale without knowing where it’s going to live,” says

Kaulen, whose local work includes a series of inflatable creatures for the

Jeff Fraser is a Pittsburgh-based freelance writer and a frequent contributor to h. His last story ran in the Spring annual report issue and reported on the merger of the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts and Pittsburgh Filmmakers.

5

PITTSBURGH’S ARTISTIC

LEGACY IS GETTING

A MUCH-NEEDED BOOST

FROM ITS NEW OFFICE

OF PUBLIC ART. WITH

SUPPORT FROM THE

HEINZ ENDOWMENTS,

THE OFFICE IS PROVIDING

RESOURCES TO PRESERVE

AND EXPAND THE

CITY’S ARTWORK IN THE

PUBLIC REALM.

BY JEFFERY FRASER

PHOTOGRAPHY BY

JOSHUA FRANZOS

6

John

San

ders

on

Jack

Wol

f

Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh.

“We finally had to let go of the notion

that it needs to have a direct relationship

with its surroundings.”

Yet, as he works in the light-deprived

Bar Mill 9, Kaulen sees a brighter future

for public art in Pittsburgh. And Smith,

in his paper-choked Ross Street office,

concurs. “I’m confident we’re on the

right track.”

Much of their confidence is grounded

in the potential of the year-old Office

of Public Art to help the city avoid the

missteps of the past and enable Pittsburgh

to build upon its long tradition of

supporting public art.

The office, a partnership between

the city Planning Department and the

Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council, was

started as a pilot project last year with

a $50,000 grant from The Heinz

Endowments. It already has begun to

bring stability to the field as both an

advocate and a resource with the time

and expertise to lend technical support to

government officials, artists, developers,

business owners and others interested in

promoting art in the public realm.

Some early indications of its potential

can be seen in the solar-powered music

transmissions and incandescent images

of human and animal eyes that for more

than a year have enlivened a downtown

pedestrian throughway known as

Strawberry Way.

The multi-phase, $250,000 public

art project was conceived in 2002, and

illuminated street signs and colored

panels were set up in 2004. Last year,

Renee Piechocki, director of the Office

of Public Art, was on hand to assist with

the next phase of installations for the

project, which received $75,000 in support

from the Endowments. She helped with

writing the call for artists, selecting those

who would participate and developing

the contracts. She also sat on the review

panel for the design development.

Jonathan Cox, vice president of

operations for the Pittsburgh Downtown

Partnership, which commissioned the

Strawberry Way project, says Piechocki

later pulled together panel discussions

about the installation and about how

architects and artists can work together

to enhance Pittsburgh’s image. “She has

convened meetings of people interested

in promoting public art in the city,

providing an opportunity to share ideas.”

A group from the Grantmakers of Western Pennsylvania gets

a lesson on downtown public art as it follows the map in the

“Pittsburgh Art in Public Places” guide on the opposite page.

Included in the booklet are photographs and descriptions of

artwork such as Louise Bourgeois’ bronze fountain and eyeball-

shaped benches at the Agnes R. Katz Plaza, opposite page.

Another stop during the June 6 walking tour: artist Penelope

Jencks’ “Pittsburgh People,” above left, a series of figures in the

Dominion Tower plaza designed to reflect the city’s relationship

with business and the arts. In the Strawberry Way pedestrian

throughway, above right, Renee Piechocki, director of the Office

of Public Art, explains the art installed along the four-block alley.

7

7

Noting Piechocki’s guidance with the

Strawberry Way installations, Cox pre-

dicts that “the Office of Public Art will

contribute to the vitality of Pittsburgh,

in general, and downtown, in particular.”

Kaulen agrees, though the benefit

may come a bit late for the steel industry

tribute. “Ours suffered by not having

direct contact with the city to keep it

moving,” he says. “I think that oversight

will be really important and will be

very instrumental for future projects by

artists in the city.”

Their expectations are fueled by

Piechocki’s long experience as a public

art professional. An artist herself, she has

spent more than a decade commissioning

and implementing public art in several

cities and served as the Public Art

Network manager for Americans for

the Arts from until 2004.

begun last year is being expanded. A

public art component is being added

to the Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council

online artists registry. Artists who

work in the public realm will be able to

upload images and information about

their work to be included in the registry,

which is intended to help developers

and others looking to commission public

art find local artists. An assessment of

the condition of existing works of public

art to identify those in need of mainte-

nance also is planned.

Financial support for such projects

increased significantly this year with the

office receiving a $33,000 grant from

the National Endowment for the Arts

and an additional $120,000 grant from

the Endowments for second-year funding.

From the Endowments’ perspective,

a finely tuned mechanism for promoting

Under Piechocki’s direction, the Office

of Public Art is making its presence felt

with projects such as the publication

earlier this year of “Pittsburgh Art In

Public Places,” a self-guided walking tour

of public art in downtown Pittsburgh.

It is part of an effort to raise awareness

of the breadth and quality of work

commissioned by public and private

benefactors as far back as 1865, when

stone reliefs of Abraham Lincoln,

George Washington and others were

sculpted into the side of the Arbuckle

Coffee Building off Sixth Avenue. In

May, the office launched its Web site,

www.publicartpittsburgh.org, to anchor

news and services related to public art.

Several other initiatives are also in

development. A successful lecture series

8

“These can be very tricky projects

and people tend to underestimate the

technical skill you need to do them.”

In 1998, the Endowments joined

several other local foundations to lend

private support to one of the largest

public projects in the region involving

public art and civic design principles—

the wholesale renovation of the David L.

Lawrence Convention Center. The

Endowments was among the sponsors of

the competition that led to the selection

of architect Rafael Viñoly’s design with

its distinctive swooping, cable-suspended

roof inspired by the city’s bridges.

The foundation also contributed to a

public-private fund used to commission

art for inside and outside the convention

center. Some two dozen works were

commissioned, including Jenny Holzer’s

“For Pittsburgh,” an LED—light-emitting

diodes—display that streams text from

the works of Pittsburgh literary luminaries

along the edge of the center’s cantilevered

roof and across the night sky.

“Public art is a way to express the

unique character of our community,”

says Piechocki. “We aren’t buying art

from a catalog. We’re asking people to

make something specifically for us.”

Kenneth Snelson’s “Forest Devil” in

Mellon Square, for example, was the

result of the Three Rivers Arts Festival’s

1977 Sculpturescape project, which

paired local companies with artists to

create works for the city. Snelson created

the freestanding structure of 16 cable-

linked stainless steel tubes that reflects

his interest in the patterns of physical

and supporting public art would help

advance Pittsburgh as a cultural center,

which is one of the goals of its Arts &

Culture Program. Public art also is part

of the foundation’s cross-disciplinary

focus on civic design.

“Although there had been a lot of

public art activity and money spent in

Pittsburgh, we hadn’t created a body of

knowledge that could be accessed and

that we could grow and learn from as

projects were done,” says Mary Navarro,

Arts & Culture senior program officer.

“Without a system or a repository of

knowledge, every time someone wanted

to undertake a project we had to start

anew. How do you issue a contract?

How do you issue an RFP [request for

proposals]? Who are the advisors?

9

In the Wood Street T station, opposite page, the Grantmakers

tour group passes Sol LeWitt’s “Thirteen Geometric Figures,” a

series of simple, abstract shapes along the transit station’s wall.

Above left, the aluminum bird sculptures in Mary Callery’s “Three

Birds in Flight” appear to soar overhead within the Sixth Avenue

entrance to the Regional Enterprise Tower. People enjoying a

sunny afternoon in the One Oliver Plaza courtyard, above right,

are reflected in a window of the building’s rear lobby where the

tour group examines the colorful shapes and patterns of Virgil

Cantini’s “Aerial Scape, Skyscape.”

Jack Wolf, a freelance photographer for 26 years,used his expertise in capturing Pittsburgh imagesto photograph public art for “Pittsburgh Art inPublic Places.” Examples from the booklet helpedillustrate this story.

Grant Street. “It’s a wonderful piece,

and I had no idea it existed,” says Taylor,

who is now program director for

national initiatives at Arts Midwest in

Minneapolis, Minn.

Piechocki says she has seen enough

encouraging developments in her

short tenure as director of the Office of

Public Art to believe the region will be

able to sustain its tradition of enriching

public spaces with quality artwork. She

testified as an advocate of public art

during hearings last year that resulted

in Allegheny County adopting its first

public art ordinance. The legislation

creates a funding mechanism for public

art by setting aside 2 percent of the cost

of county-financed building and park

projects—up to $100,000. The new law

also establishes an appointed art board

to advise officials on the acquisition and

placement of public artwork.

In the city, the Planning Department

is now encouraging developers to include

art in their Pittsburgh projects as a

matter of policy. And officials are poised

to begin overhauling the city’s century-

old ordinance that sets guidelines for

art on public property.

“If it does nothing else,” says Smith,

“the Office of Public Art has been a

great forum for us to engage the issues,

think about what we want to achieve and

the best ways to achieve it. And that’s

important. It’s hard to sell the value of

public art—to make that pitch—when

you are fumbling.” h

forces with materials and labor donated

by Allegheny Ludlum Steel and two local

fabrication plants.

Pittsburgh has acquired a broad

collection of public art, much of it com-

missioned by the arts festival, corpora-

tions, developers and other private

interests. The breadth and quality of the

work detailed in the Office of Public

Art’s downtown walking tour booklet

has even surprised city arts professionals.

For example, Christine Taylor, former

director of arts services at the Greater

Pittsburgh Arts Council, discovered

“Fortune On Her Wheel,” John La Farge’s

1902 opalescent glass illustration of the

Roman goddess in the Frick Building on

SMALL GRANTS CAN YIELD

LARGE RETURNS, AND SOME

ENDOWMENTS-SUPPORTED PROGRAMS

ARE DEMONSTRATING HOW GOOD

INVESTMENTS COME IN ALL SIZES.

BY CHRIS FLETCHER

PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOSHUA FRANZOS

John

San

ders

on

11

Chris Fletcher is a Pittsburgh-based freelance writer and the former publisher and editor of Pittsburgh Magazine. This is his first story for h.

The jackpot. The motherlode. The bonanza. Thegold. We’re taught to thinkbig, the bigger the better.And so it is in the realm of foun-dation donations where mega-grantsoften garner the attention—both ofthe public and of the organizationsseeking to raise money. In 2003, TheHeinz Endowments committed about $1million over three years for the Small ArtsInitiative. This year, the Riverlife Task Forcereceived $500,000 from the Endowments tosupport development of design plans to renovatePoint State Park. These grants grab headlines.But many foundation program officers working insouthwestern Pennsylvania believe it’s often thesmaller, under-the-radar grants that stimulate programgrowth. “They have huge value,” says Janet Sarbaugh,senior program director for Arts & Culture at the

Endowments. “These grants are the seed corn that helpsfledgling projects get started. If you plant a lot of seed, some of

it takes root. And the size of the grants forces organizations to think creatively, to find partnerships to stretch those dollars

further and to make sure that programs reflect more directly ontheir missions.”

In sports terminology, it’s eschewing the home run for the single.String a few hits together and you score.That strategy is important in the foundation world, says Sarbaugh.

Not-for-profits can leverage smaller hits for larger results. For example,funding from the Endowments or some of the region’s other foundations

brings a “stamp of approval” that can be used in attracting additional grants.But even when judged on its own, a grant’s size isn’t necessarily directly

proportional to impact, as the following stories about awards ranging from

$10,000 to $58,000 point out.

ASMALLER

SLICEOF THE

PIE

Most people my age don’t

realize what the philan-

thropic world does,” says

20-year-old Carson Bruno. “They tend

to see it as rich people writing checks.

However, the research, cooperation and

time spent on each grant are amazing.

It’s not just giving money away; it’s find-

ing a purpose for it.”

Thanks to the Endowments’ Summer Youth

Internship — Youth Philanthropy Program,

Bruno now has a first-hand appreciation of how

money moves from a foundation to a grantee.

During the eight-week program last year, Bruno

and two other high school graduates, Addriene

Atterberry and Kathryn McCaffrey, served as grant

officers with a single purpose: Fund youth groups

that create programs to benefit other youth.

Their work had a domino effect, sparking opportu-

nities for other young people in communities north of

Pittsburgh to learn about grant making. Before making

any funding decisions, however, the Endowments interns

got a crash course in philanthropy.

“It’s an intense program,” says Children, Youth & Families

Program Officer Wayne Jones. “The students learn a lot about

the Endowments’ approach to philanthropy, network with

other youth philanthropy programs and examine community

issues.”

Armed with that training, the students reviewed 32 submis-

sions before making their recommendations to Endowments’

President Maxwell King and program staff. One project that made

the cut was a proposal from North Hills Community Outreach, Inc.,

a human services organization with a strong history of youth-focused

volunteer programs. The Endowments interns awarded the group

$16,000, which enabled it to hire high school students for the first

time to serve as trainers for volunteers. The foundation

then gave the organization an additional $13,000 to pro-

vide the students with an opportunity to award grants.

“The youth philanthropy program at The Heinz

Endowments dovetailed nicely into our youth leadership

strategic initiative to teach children how to share and

care through volunteering,” says Community Outreach

Executive Director Fay Morgan.

Four high school students from northern Allegheny

County were hired and charged with using the $13,000 to

provide funding to other groups that would perform proj-

ects benefiting youth in the area. But before Community

Outreach student leaders received any proposals, they

led a project of their own—rehabbing a cottage for the

social services agency Glade Run Lutheran Services—so

they could better understand what it takes to deliver.

Then the students identified seven projects, ranging

from buying recreation equipment to refurbishing a com-

munity kitchen at the Calvert Memorial Presbyterian Church

to sending a group from the New Community Youth group

to Biloxi, Miss., to perform hurricane relief work.

One of the projects looks to be self-sustaining. Deer Lakes

High School senior Maria Mercuri oversaw the grant given to

her school’s National Honor Society, which established the

Deer Lakes Community Foundation. The fledgling organiza-

tion held a banquet in April, raising $4,000 for scholarships.

“The scholarships went to 11 students who exemplify

excellence inside and outside the classroom,” explains Mercuri,

adding that the experience will have a lasting effect on her as

she heads off to George Washington University in the fall. “I

was able to learn a lot about myself and my community. If you

give of your time and solidly commit to a worthy cause, those

around you will benefit and your community will improve.”

“

The St. John Neumann youth group in Franklin Park, north ofPittsburgh, is scoring more than points with a grant through theEndowments-supported youth philanthropy program at the North Hills Community Outreach. Alex Oltman, 17, top center, is the youthleadership coordinator for the St. John Neumann’s group, which used its $1,250 award to provide recreation equipment and sportsinstruction to the Holy Family Institute residential program in Emsworth,north of Pittsburgh. Youngsters who live at the home include, fromleft, Derrick Brice, 11; Brandon Satolli, 12; Zachary Chapman, 11.

12

north hillscommunit y outreachset ting a legacy for giv ing

1313

komen pit tsburgh race for the cureembarking on a new course

1515

For example, research is showing that higher estrogen levels

increase breast cancer risks, raising the possibility that house-

hold products containing chemicals that act like estrogen might

be linked to escalating cancer rates. In the United States, one

of every seven women will get breast cancer in her lifetime;

50 years ago, that number was 1 in 22. With some 85,000 syn-

thetic chemicals in commercial use and an additional 2,000

introduced annually—most without undergoing testing for

their effects on human health—Meier fears the number of

women who develop cancer will continue to increase

unless risk factors are identified.

“The grant has enabled us to hold forums as we enter

a whole new area of programming,” she says. Komen

volunteers are trained to lead community meetings that

present risk factors and alternatives.

Meier pulls out her lunch, some pasta from the night

before, neatly packaged in a glass container rather than

a plastic one (as an example of the practical informa-

tion the educational outreach covers). “Microwave

safe just means the plastic won’t melt,” she says.

“But the heat could release harmful substances

from the container into your food.”

In addition to moving the local Komen founda-

tion into new areas programmatically, the out-

reach is pushing the organization into new

geographic territories. Meetings in Elk, Venango

and other outlying western Pennsylvania

counties have connected rural communities

to the foundation, expanding its base in

terms of awareness and fundraising.

Most important, “women are staying

around after the presentation and asking

a lot of questions,” Meier says.

Similar questions also are being asked

elsewhere around the country. For the

first time, the national Komen office

commissioned a white paper on the

effects of environment on breast can-

cer. “It’s an exciting territory that fits

into our mission that we were able

to pursue. And it can be explored

nationally,” says Meier.

Ninety-one-year-old Irene Braddock, seated center, has reason to cheer. A breast cancer survivor for 37 years, Braddock, of Pittsburgh’s Oakland neighborhood, celebrated that milestone at thisyear’s Race for the Cure in May.

It’s Pittsburgh’s sign of

spring. Pink is everywhere—

on T-shirts, on ribbons, on

baseball caps — as more than

33,000 cancer survivors and their

supporters run, jog, walk and

roll through Schenley Park for

the Komen Pittsburgh Race for

the Cure.

It’s a Mother’s Day tradition.

Many of those who gather on

a crisp spring morning, in pink

to honor those who have had

breast cancer, are following a

familiar course: For 14 years the

race has been run to raise aware-

ness of the disease diagnosed

in more than 210,000 people

each year in the United States.

“The focus of the event is to

remind people how breast can-

cer has affected their families

and friends,” says Jo Ann Meier,

executive director of the Pitts-

burgh affiliate of the Komen

Foundation.

However, the organization

is leading its supporters on a

new pathway, with help from a $58,000 Endowments grant. The

money has allowed the Komen Foundation’s Pittsburgh affiliate to

expand its focus to include breast cancer prevention. The Komen

Foundation has partnered with The Collaborative on Health and the

Environment–Pennsylvania, the Center for Environmental Oncology

of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute and the Endowments

to alert women to possible environmental causes of cancer

through seminars, brochures and a Web site, www.reducingrisk.org.

“We’ve created a grassroots program, something designed not

to be too forceful, but rather to present information to women

about household products we use, foods we eat and how chemi-

cals in our environment may have links to causing cancer,” says

Meier, herself a cancer survivor.

16

Toi Derricotte thinks back to a defining moment in

her life. A young poet enrolled in graduate school

at New York University in 1984—the only African

American in the poetry program at the time—she recalls

asking her professor in the hallway why the class wasn’t

reading any works by black poets.

“And I got this answer, ‘We never go down that low,’ ”

she recalls. The remark fueled an ambition that began

burning deep within her to create a forum where African-

American poets could fully explore their craft. For the next

12 years, Derricotte sought funding for such a program. She

linked up with Cornelius Eady, a fellow college instructor and

African-American poet, and the pair succeeded in making the

workshop a reality in 1996.

The name for the program was inspired by a chance obser-

vation during a joint vacation in Italy with their respective

families. Visiting Pompeii and the ruins caused by the erup-

tion of Mount Vesuvius, the two came to the House of the

Tragic Poet. On tile Derricotte saw CAVE CANEM—Latin for

beware of the dog—along with a mosaic of a large black dog

breaking free from its chains.

“I started yelling, ‘Cornelius, I found it!’ ” Derricotte remem-

bers.“The image was perfect.Our poets would be freed to express

themselves and their inner feelings. They would no longer feel

isolated by being the only African Americans in the room.”

Cave Canem was originally a summer workshop based in

upstate New York, on the shores of the Hudson River. Organizers

were looking for a new home when a $10,000 grant from the

Endowments enabled them to move the program to the Univer-

sity of Pittsburgh’s Greensburg campus and cover the cost of

scholarships for those who otherwise couldn’t attend.

The grant money also allowed Cave

Canem to increase its fundraising efforts,

says Director Carolyn Micklem. “Because

of the Endowments, we were also able to

get support from the Grable Foundation

and the Multicultural Arts Initiative. It also

allows us to provide the workshop for free to

the poets. They only need to pay for the room

and board for the week [about $500].”

Since its inception, more than 215 fellows

have enrolled in Cave Canem, with participants

allowed to attend the program three times within

five years. Each year, more than 150 applicants vie

for the 10 to 15 spots that open up.

The workshop calls on participants to write a

poem each day and to share it with the others in an

atmosphere where risk is supported and nurtured,

says Reginald Flood, a third-year fellow and professor

at Eastern Connecticut State University. “It allows you to

be daring and try new things… lyrical poems, sonnets,

free verse,” he says, “but most importantly, it allows voices

that might not otherwise be heard to come together.”

The workshop concludes every year with readings open

to the general public. In mid-June, a packed house at the

Mattress Factory on Pittsburgh’s North Side listened to a

collection of poetry that was honest, sometimes combative

and always gripping.

For Derricotte, now a professor of English and poetry at

the University of Pittsburgh’s main campus in the city’s Oakland

section, it’s a source of great pride that Cave Canem’s workshops

are being held in this region. “For black poets, it’s the most

important program of its kind. And it’s here.”

Lucille Clifton shares her work at the Cave Canem poetry reading inJune. Clifton, who has been nominated twice for the Pulitzer Prize forPoetry and served as Poet Laureate of Maryland, was the featuredguest poet for the event at the Mattress Factory on Pittsburgh’s North Side. She currently is a distinguished professor of humanities at St. Mary’s College of Maryland.

cave canembringing a p owerful voice to a region

homeless children’s education fundfinding new fo cus–and new stakeholders

Joseph Lagana had been

struggling with the mission

of the organization he helped

found. A lifelong educator and

former executive director of the

Allegheny Intermediate Unit—a

regional educational agency that

provides teacher training and

curricular support to Allegheny

County school districts—Lagana

launched the Homeless Children’s

Education Fund in Pittsburgh’s

Strip District in 1999 to supple-

ment federal funding and provide

educational services to home-

less children.

But what exactly did that

mean? And drawing from his

experience at the intermediate

unit, he wondered if there was a

way to replicate services across

the region. In 2001, bolstered by

a $30,000 grant from the Endow-

ments, Lagana discovered the

answer.

Initially, the grant was to

support computer-learning cen-

ters in four housing shelters in

Allegheny County. These com-

puter labs would provide Internet

access to a transient population

of nearly 3,000 homeless children for whom establishing a connec-

tion to schools was a difficult proposition. But even when such link-

ages could be made, the children would have limited access to the

computers in their temporary “home” environment. And while the

need for computer services crossed many of the county’s 17 shelters,

it became apparent that exact replication wasn’t the solution.

For example, the downtown Pittsburgh Salvation Army Shelter,

one of the fund’s installations, focuses on educating 6- to 16-year-

olds using computer study aids and games. “There is homework and

basic study help along with ways for kids to explore their creative

side—designing their own amusement park on the computer,”

says Program Manager Judy Jackson. She adds with a smile, “They

just don’t realize they’re learning.”

Across town in the Strip District, Myra Powell, program

supervisor for Three Rivers Youth, The Hub, needs online GED

—General Educational Development—degree-prep and job-

readiness programs since most of her constituents are 18 to

21. “We provide safe Internet and e-mail access and resume

writing, which are essential for people looking for a job,”

she explains.

Lagana credits the Endowments grant with enabling

the Homeless Children’s Education Fund and its board to

rethink how the computer labs were created. “We dis-

covered that all shelters aren’t the same,” he says.

“They have different resources, different staffs and

different needs by their occupants.”

In response, the fund has set up a central com-

puter to deliver program options that range from

educational-readiness seminars to local library

access to conflict-resolution training. The net-

work reaches into the shelters, which then pick

and choose the modules to use. “We’ve created

a menu of educational services,” Lagana says,

“where the staff of the shelters can best deter-

mine the mix of programs they need.”

The fund received an additional grant

from the Endowments in 2003 — $50,000

spread across two years—and now serves

nine shelters in Allegheny County. Lagana,

however, stresses the importance of that

initial investment.

“First, it helped focus us,” he says.

“Second it allowed us—in fact forced

us—to leverage that money by going

to other foundations. Because Heinz

believed in us, Eden Hall [Foundation]

and Grable [Foundation] came on

board, and we were also able to

get some government grants from

The [Pennsylvania] Department

of Education.”

1919

Fourteen-year-old Tyler Ketter dances in his chair to musiche’s listening to from an Internet site. The HomelessChildren’s Education Fund provided the computers to a Salvation Army shelter in Pittsburgh, where Tyler andHeather Deshantz, 15, seated at a computer, live.

20

Seismic shifts shook the Community College of Allegheny

County in 2002. That year, the Allegheny Conference on

Community Development called for the community college

system to play a greater role in workforce training. At the same

time, state and county funding eroded sharply. Oh, and CCAC

needed a new president when Roy Flores announced that he would

be leaving to take the lead position at Pima County Community

College in Tucson, Ariz.

The college’s trustees knew that its new top official would need

some nontraditional skills to deal with increased demands as

resources dwindled. “We could no longer point to someone from

academia,” recalls board Chair Paul Whitehead. “We needed some-

one who would be outward-bound and have a strong financial

background, a best-in-class leader.”

But given the organization’s budget, it would be difficult to con-

duct a national search to find such a candidate. Whitehead

approached the Endowments to serve as the lead foundation in

putting together a consortium for the recruiting effort. The

Endowments pledged $25,000 and was instrumental in getting

other stakeholders on board, says Whitehead. The Pittsburgh

Foundation and The Richard King Mellon Foundation each matched

the Endowments’ investment.

The search identified Stewart Sutin, who certainly fit the bill as

a nontraditional leader for the school. Although he did have some

background in education—lecturing at the University of Texas, the

University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University, and hold-

ing college advisory board positions—Sutin was a businessman.

A senior vice president and international department head for

Mellon Financial Corp., his appointment was seen as possibly the

beginning of a national trend for community colleges. It was even

the focus of an article in the respected Chronicle of Higher Education.

Going outside the safer universe of academia has had its trade-

offs, however. Sutin has been enveloped in controversies that

threaten to overshadow his accomplishments.

Critics say the corporate world didn’t prepare him for the public

sector. Three-fourths of the faculty signed a letter to the new

president, noting their lack of involvement in changes made at the

college and criticizing raises given to administrative staff when

faculty were being let go. Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato

and County Council members were angered by $48,000 spent on

relocating two newly hired executives at CCAC. The college’s deci-

sion not to release its budget to the public added to the outrage.

Revelations about unexplained, albeit modest, travel expenses

increased the reproaches. In the private sector, these actions

might have caused ripples, but at CCAC, they set off a political storm.

Sutin says he has

learned more about pub-

lic perceptions because

of these disputes. What

he already knew were prin-

ciples of financial manage-

ment. And his skills have

helped right an organization

that was barely teetering on

the edge of survival, let alone

meeting the requirements of

an expanded mission. From the

start, Sutin had to rely on what

he learned in 29 years of banking.

“Our needs were more serious than I

realized,” he recalls. “We did a pro

forma that showed that unless we

changed our ways, there was going to be

a major deficit at the college.”

Part of the solution was to increase

the organization’s fund-raising efforts.

Sutin also revamped the CCAC leadership and

reorganized it to operate as a single college

rather than as four branch colleges.

Then Sutin visited many of the region’s

employers to get their ideas on improving

CCAC’s workforce development offerings. Out of

those meetings came a number of initiatives: The

school’s Center for Health Careers addresses the

region’s nursing shortage. A Center for Professional

Development strives to offer regional companies

cost-effective training. And a new program geared

toward African Americans is looking to encourage more

of the region’s minority population to pursue higher

education.

But given the swirling controversies, are these accom-

plishments enough to secure Sutin’s position? He acknowl-

edges the problems. “I came in with strengths in putting

together strategies, managing change and putting in performance

drivers,” he says. “I didn’t come in with skills in public informa-

tion and politics. I’ve been getting some coaching on matters of

transparency, and we’re establishing rules for disclosure.”

And the region and the community college system will be

watching to see how this all plays out.

Stewart Sutin, Community College of Allegheny County president, mingles with students at the Allegheny campus on Pittsburgh’s North Side.

communit y college of allegheny count ya new leader’s grow ing pains

oneworking as

WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA’S 2,700 NONPROFITS ARE KNOWN FOR BEING WELL PREPARED TOADDRESS THE CHALLENGES IN THEIR COMMUNITIES. NOW, THESE ORGANIZATIONS ARE JOININGFORCES TO LEVERAGE THEIR NUMBERS AND EXPERTISE TO TAKE A LEADING ROLE IN THE REGION’S DEVELOPMENT. BY CHRISTINE H. O’TOOLE PHOTOGRAPHY BY ANNIE O’NEILL

T he massive projection screen, the glowing laptopdisplays, the handheld electronic voting pads and the expectant buzz of a well-dressed crowd at

Pittsburgh’s David L. Lawrence Convention Center lastspring suggested a battle brewing: a proxy fight, or perhapsa party endorsement.

In fact, the March 7 meeting debated neithercorporate nor political power. It convened a group that is just beginning to step up to the regional leadershipplate. The 1,000 guests gathered around 100 color-codedtables for a day to answer a single question: “What are the next big steps the nonprofit sector can take?”

The group at Table 79 waded into a rapid-fire exchange.

Jumping professional boundaries, a historic preservationist,

a theater director, a radio producer, a consultant, a neigh-

borhood activist, a conservationist and three human services

managers brainstormed ideas to benefit all of the region’s

2,700 local nonprofits.

“Avoid duplication of services with asset mapping,”

suggested Cynthia Bradley-Pugh, director of the Homewood-

Brushton YWCA.

“Measure the gross domestic product for our nonprofit

sector,” recommended radio producer Larry Berger.

“Change school and transit funding,” said Lee Haller, a

nonprofit consultant.

Within minutes, suggestions were fed into laptop computers

at each table, synthesized by a team of editors and presented to

the full room. The onscreen recommendations were ranked in

importance, using the electronic keypads. Winning strategies

advanced fiber-optically from priorities to collective strategies

to alignment with other sectors’ agendas and, finally, to specific

steps for action. Emerging as the favorite was one ambitious

idea: “Collaborate with business and government to get a place

at the table to impact public policy.”

With its gee-whiz town meeting technology, the conference

sponsored by Grantmakers of Western Pennsylvania

“At the nonprofit summit, wefinally had the right people sittingat the table. For a stronger voicein regional planning, we all needeach other now more than ever.”Fred Just Executive Director, Society of St. Vincent de Paul

2323

Chris O’Toole is a Pittsburgh-based freelance writer. Her last story for h was about how the Endowments-supported Pittsburgh Civic Design Coalition is getting tips from officials in Chattanooga, Tenn., on how to revive Pittsburgh’s downtown.

demonstrated local nonprofits’ ambition to grab some of the

spotlight. Armed with strategic plans, Web sites, crack staffs

and now, a rough agenda for a brand-new advocacy group,

Pittsburgh-area agencies and funders are demanding credit for

the leadership and services they provide and for their influence

on the region’s future.

The attention is overdue, says noted researcher Paul Light,

a New York University professor who has written extensively

about nonprofit management.

“Everywhere I go, I look for evidence that funders and

nonprofits are pulling together,” he says. “They’re doing it in

Pittsburgh. It’s the only major city I’ve been to where everyone

seems to be cooperating and addressing questions systemati-

cally. The sector here understands the issues it faces.”

Grant Oliphant, vice president of programs and planning

for The Heinz Endowments, attributes the region’s progress to

its strong history of public-private partnerships. “There is also

a tradition here of working at the intersections of organizations

and disciplines. That reflects a collaborative regional atmosphere.

Interesting things happen when we get together.”

The Greater Pittsburgh Nonprofit Partnership is the latest and

largest example for that collaboration. Established last summer

as an alliance of western Pennsylvania’s diverse nonprofits,

the partnership asks the various social service agencies, youth

organizations, arts groups, education associations and founda-

tions to develop and support a regional agenda for the sector.

The March 7 summit was the first step toward creating that

consensus. Skeptics might say that organizing thousands of

“As a membership organization,the partnership will provide anopportunity to advocate collectivelyon big issues facing us like statebudgets and charity regulation. It can also educate the communitybroadly about the importance ofcharity in our lives, both givingand volunteering.”Gregg Behr President, Forbes Funds

25

nonprofits, already grouped into dozens of alliances and

coalitions, might be similar to herding cats. In fact, says Gregg

Behr, president of the Forbes Funds, which oversees the

Partnership, the summit “nailed down obvious places to work

together as a community. It was an affirmation of 1,000 voices.”

Local nonprofits have already done some successful cat-

lassoing. Arts groups have scored a win in collaborating on

benefits and an agile marketing database (see h, Spring 2004).

Other nonprofits are learning that sharing resources makes

good business sense and reduces duplicated efforts.

Eighteen months ago, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul

on Pittsburgh’s North Side formed a coalition with eight other

nonprofit stores that also sell used clothes and household

goods. Members of the group share information on the best

resale prices per pound, marketing techniques and delivery

systems. Recently, they expanded the collaboration to include

the used cars they receive.

“We get $50,000 a year from car donations, and the

other groups do, too,” explains Fred Just, St. Vincent de Paul’s

executive director. “Meanwhile, a local volunteer group,

Community Auto, is looking for cars to put back in the hands

of low-income workers. So now the alliance is working

together to supply Community Auto with rehabbed vehicles.”

Just also has partnered with six other organizations in a

first-ever attempt to strategize fund raising by sharing a

marketing pitch to those best able to direct bequests: 500 local

CPAs and estate planners. “Even if people don’t choose one of

us, people will get to know us. We got the idea from a similar

project in Wisconsin a few years back.”

Across town, three organizations that support homeless and

struggling women recognized that they spent too much time

wrestling with human resource issues. So Bethlehem Haven,

the Center for Victims of Violent Crime and the Pennsylvania

Organization for Women in Early Recovery decided to share

a human resources manager.

As a former Catholic Charities executive, Just has been a

longtime local champion of collaborative efforts. “In the past

we’ve tried to organize leadership within human services

agencies or other areas, like the arts. The problem is, those

groups are only a fraction of all nonprofits,” he says. “At the

summit, we finally had the right people sitting at the table.

For a stronger voice in regional planning, we all need each

other now, more than ever.”

Also encouraging those partnerships has been The Forbes

Funds, a 24-year-old institution founded to strengthen

nonprofits through research and technical assistance. The

Endowments has supported Forbes with $4.65 million since

its inception in the Reagan era, when Forbes created a loan

guarantee fund for hard-pressed community agencies.

Since then, “The Forbes Funds has evolved to do something

much more proactive, to help the foundation community and

the agency community anticipate trends in the field,” says

33-year-old Behr, who will be leaving Forbes this fall to head

the Grable Foundation in Pittsburgh.

Using small planning and management improvement

grants, Forbes has encouraged nonprofit efficiency. “Nonprofit

businesses are often starved for resources,” says Timothy Snyder

of the Parental Stress Center. “Research, staff development,

public policy—these are things that people don’t pay you to do.”

And through a series of research reports on the demographics

of the sector, Forbes has provided up-to-date data, instead of

anecdotal information.

For example, it has compared nonprofit CEOs’ credentials

in western Pennsylvania with other similar regions. Locally,

more than 60 percent of nonprofit executives have worked in

the sector for more than 15 years, compared to 46 percent

elsewhere. They direct larger-than-average staffs. They’re also

better educated: Seventy percent have master’s or doctoral

degrees, the highest proportion of any region surveyed.

Nonprofits spend $12 million annually on the region and hold

$23 billion in assets, though two out of five in Allegheny

County operated at a deficit in 2001.

“With 2,700 organizations, we’ve got 11.1 nonprofits per

10,000 residents. That’s in the exact same range as Baltimore,

Indianapolis, Cleveland or Philadelphia. And now, I have the

data to prove it to you,” says Behr, laughing.

However, the emerging facts and figures also have informed

his Rodney Dangerfield-style complaint: In an aging region

with a slow-growing economy, nonprofits are serving more

people than ever, but get no respect.

Everyone at Table 70 is engrossed in the discussion duringthe Grantmakers of Western Pennsylvania’s 2006 Nonprofit

Summit in March. Group members representing different nonprofits, businesses and government agencies sharedideas that would be entered into a laptop computer and

later projected on a large screen in the David L. LawrenceConvention Center in downtown Pittsburgh.

Cou

rtes

y of

the

Trib

une-

Rev

iew

26

That lack of appreciation was evident last year when

government officials gave voice to the vague public perception

of featherbedding nonprofits and called for the city’s non-

profits to pay property taxes during a severe budget crisis.

Through the Pittsburgh Public Service Fund, charities and

foundations donated $12.1 million to city government last

December. But the public finger-pointing took Pittsburgh’s

nonprofit leadership by surprise.

“It made us realize that some people, including some of our

leaders, don’t really understand the value that nonprofits bring

to the community,” says the Endowments’ Oliphant. “If you

just view nonprofits as taking up real estate, you miss their true

value as providers of essential services that government would

be hard-pressed to replace.

“And Pittsburgh’s nonprofits are some of our best and

most valuable engines of creativity, innovation and growth in

a region that sorely needs those things. Just try to imagine

downtown without its cultural district, or our technology and

health care sectors without our universities and medical

research centers. The reason that nonprofits don’t pay taxes is

that they deliver value that is often intangible. So the attacks

leveled against the nonprofit community were a wake-up call.

Our sector needs to raise its profile and make sure its value is

acknowledged.”

Seeing that need, Heinz and other core donors, among

them the Pittsburgh, Grable and Jewish Healthcare foundations

and the Post-Gazette Charitable Trust, have recently backed

the Greater Pittsburgh Nonprofit Partnership. Revenues for the

first-year operating budget of $40,000 came from minimum

dues of $100 per member, matched by Forbes, and some larger

foundation grants. The group has garnered 252 members in

its first year, with plans to triple membership by 2009.

“As a membership organization, the partnership will

provide an opportunity to advocate collectively on big issues

facing us all, like state budgets and charity regulation,” says

Behr. “It can also educate the community broadly about the

importance of charity in our lives, both giving and volunteering.”

The Nonprofit Partnership is borrowing ideas from other

statewide advocacy groups and national associations to find the

best practices in the country. This fall, partnership members

will launch a voter registration drive modeled on the Minnesota

Nonprofit Council’s sign-up campaign. The Forbes Funds’ DC

Days in Washington have allowed local nonprofit leaders to

learn from national and international experts.

Also helping with the partnership’s development will be

the annual nonprofit summits sponsored by Grantmakers of

Western Pennsylvania, which offer a smorgasbord of professional

development workshops and networking opportunities. This

year a $20,000 grant from the Endowments allowed the summit

to include an electronic town meeting to begin debate on the

sectoral agenda.

The idea grew from a presentation by Carolyn Lukensmeyer,

founder of AmericaSpeaks. When she addressed Pittsburghers

in Washington last fall, she offered examples of how the large-

scale discussions facilitated by her firm advanced debate on

civic issues in Cleveland, New Orleans and other U.S. cities.

Her audience immediately saw the implications for the nonprofit

community here.

“I believe in cross-sectoral accountability and collaboration,”

says Lukensmeyer. Her Washington-based firm has helped

New Yorkers debate the redesign of the World Trade Center,

hurricane victims strategize post-hurricane development in

Louisiana, Britons improve health care and world leaders

prioritize World Economic Forum issues in Davos, Switzerland.

“We do see, in pretty much every project we work in, that tough

issues absolutely require participation of business, government,

the nonprofit sector and citizens themselves. Civic problems

like education can’t be solved only by government. We’ve got

to do this in a cross-sector way.”

AmericaSpeaks framed the March 7 discussion of common

priorities. Agreement on the need for nonprofit cooperation

and increased visibility for the sector came quickly, as did a

commitment to education and retaining young workers.

“Based on the feedback I received, people were inspired to

move to action,” says Judith Donaldson, executive director of

Grantmakers of Western Pennsylvania. “We’re now moving

forward to encourage nonprofit leaders to think about how

they can work together more effectively to take a leadership

role in the region’s next renaissance. In addition, we are

beginning to work on a 2007 conference that will build on the

momentum of the 2006 summit.”

Creating the strategies to meet those priorities and

evaluating their implications, however, have proved daunting.

Grantmakers is still analyzing the database of suggestions

from summit participants.

Lukensmeyer acknowledges the difficulty of creating a group

agenda in six hours. “Doing everything in one day is tough,”

she says. “The next step, analysis of the raw data, is as important

to collaboration as the issue area.”

Behr is determined to keep a sense of urgency on the

Nonprofit Partnership’s agenda. “I worry a lot about our social

service agencies, whose support from government continues to

dwindle,” he says. “They’re being forced to find different manage-

ment approaches or consider fees for services.” He worries, too,

about meeting the basic human needs of the community.

“Of the 120,000 people that the Greater Pittsburgh

Community Food Bank serves each month,” he reminded the

summit in a closing address, “approximately 40,000 are kids —

more than PNC Park could hold. Nearly 50,000 children under

the age of five live in low-income families.

“No longer can we look to such larger-than-life characters

as [Mayor David] Lawrence or [Richard K.] Mellon to lead us

forward…And the status quo has yielded blah, blah and more

blah. Instead, we must look next door, across the pew and

down the hallway.” h

“Based on the feedback I received,people were inspired to move toaction. We’re now moving forwardto encourage nonprofit leaders tothink about how they can worktogether more effectively to take a leadership role in the region’snext renaissance.”Judith E. Donaldson

Executive Director, Grantmakers of Western Pennsylvania

28 28

Schenley Plaza’s makeoverwas unveiled officially in June with a four-day party,complete with a stilt walker,human statues, circus per-formers, a caricature artistand a marching band. The$10 million transformation of the 240-space parking lotinto a park-like plaza tookabout a year to accomplish.

Gone are the rows of driverless vehicles and thelines of idling ones, spewingexhaust fumes between the University of Pittsburghand Carnegie libraries inPittsburgh’s Oakland neigh-borhood. In their place are aone-acre “Emerald Lawn,” small gardens, food kiosks,movable table and chairs, a big tent for shelter, wirelessInternet access and a Victorian-style carousel that’s theplaza’s centerpiece.

On hand at the June 8 grand opening ceremony wereseveral local officials and dignitaries including Mayor BobO’Connor, Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato,Endowments President Maxwell King and philanthropist Elsie Hillman.

State officials awarded a $5 million grant for the plazaproject. The Endowments contributed $835,000 as part of the Allegheny Conference on Community Development’sOakland Investment Committee that raised $3.1 million forthe renovation. Other member organizations included theRichard King Mellon Foundation, Carnegie Mellon University,Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh, Kennametal Inc., Universityof Pittsburgh Medical Center and the University of Pittsburgh.Additional support came from the Buhl Foundation, CarnegieLibrary of Pittsburgh, Dominion, Duquesne Light Co., Eden

Hall Foundation, Hillman Foundation, PNC Financial ServicesGroup, the Oakland Task Force and the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development. The Pittsburgh ParksConservancy also raised $2 million for construction andoperations.

Sasaki Associates’ Boston office redesigned SchenleyPlaza, modeling it after Bryant Park in New York. The plaza’snew look comes after decades of vacillation by city officialstorn between trying to develop an impressive entrance toSchenley Park and attempting to accommodate the ever-growing need for parking in a densely populated neighborhoodthat includes colleges, hospitals, museums and churches.

Parking appeared to have won out in 1990 when the city removed an oval island in the center of the plaza tocreate more parking spaces. Then in 2003, the PittsburghParks Conservancy and the Oakland Investment Committeeput forth the Sasaki redesign and began raising the money to bring it to fruition.

PARKLOT

Sue

llen

Fitz

sim

mon

s

h magazine is a publication of The Heinz Endowments. At the Endowments, we arecommitted to promoting learning in philanthropy and in the specific fields represented by our grant-making programs. As an expression of that commitment, this publication is intended to share information about significant lessons and insights we are derivingfrom our work.

Editorial Team Linda Bannon, Linda Braund, Maxwell King, Carmen Lee, Grant Oliphant, Douglas Root. Design: Landesberg Design

About the cover Small grants that fund projects such as new recreation equipmentfor the Holy Family Institute’s youth home north of Pittsburgh can help change lives.Heinz Endowments’ program staff has seen the difference such awards can make andcontinues to include them as part of the foundation’s grant making.

insideFounded more than four decades

apart, the Howard Heinz Endowment,

established in 1941, and the Vira I.

Heinz Endowment, established in 1986,

are the products of a deep family

commitment to community and the

common good that began with

H. J. Heinz and continues to this day.

The Heinz Endowments is based in

Pittsburgh, where we use our region

as a laboratory for the development

of solutions to challenges that are

national in scope. Although the majority

of our giving is concentrated within

southwestern Pennsylvania, we work

wherever necessary, including statewide

and nationally, to fulfill our mission.

That mission is to help our region thrive

as a whole community—economically,

ecologically, educationally and

culturally— while advancing the state

of knowledge and practice in the

fields in which we work.

Our fields of emphasis include

philanthropy in general and the

disciplines represented by our grant-

making programs: Arts & Culture;

Children, Youth & Families; Innovation

Economy; Education; and the

Environment. These five programs work

together on behalf of three shared

organizational goals: enabling

southwestern Pennsylvania to embrace

and realize a vision of itself as a

premier place both to live and to work;

making the region a center of quality

learning and educational opportunity;

and making diversity and inclusion

defining elements of the region’s

character.

29

H A R D H A T SWhen the expansion of the Sarah Heinz House onPittsburgh’s North Side is complete next year, thecommunity youth center will have a state-of-the-art,environmentally friendly facility. And helping to explainthe “green” building concept to visitors has been a groupof young ambassadors wearing appropriately greenconstruction hats.

These “HARDHATS,” shown below at the construc-tion site, are 16 middle school-aged students who havebeen following the expansion since last year and workingwith Dick Corp., the primary contractor, to learn how a“sustainable” building is designed and built.

Recent Heinz Endowments’ grants of about $3 millionfor the new construction are part of the more than $23 million the Endowmentshas given to the Sarah HeinzHouse in nearly three decades.Suzanne Matoney, environ-mental director at the center,says the HARDHATS programis a unique complement to theexpansion because it’s “thefirst program that we are awareof where kids have been so closely involved with greenconstruction from the outset of the project.”

The students have already put their new knowledge to work, giving tours of the site on April 22, Earth Day.Clad in safety apparel that included their signature hard-hats, the students explained how the facility is being builtin a way that limits toxins; conserves materials and energy;and creates a natural light-filled space. The children and their families also have pledged to conserve energy at home and to use nature-friendly cleaning products.

“In essence, the HARDHATS program is teachingimportant scientific concepts, but also life lessons,” Matoneysays. “Not only are the members mastering basic conceptsof sustainability, but also they are learning transcendentskills at the same time: outreach, advocacy and publicspeaking.”

The Endowments’ annual operating support to theSarah Heinz House helps fund youth activities such as the HARDHATS program and staff positions such asMatoney’s post, established last fall.

To learn more about the Sarah Heinz House or theHARDHATS program, call 412-231-2377.

Summer break can be a time of fun and excitement for many children, but it also can

contribute to hunger among those who depend on subsidized school lunches fornourishment, Chris Heinz told more than 500 diners at the Greater PittsburghCommunity Food Bank’s 25th anniversary event June 1.

“We need to redouble our efforts to support the food bank, since theunderlying safety net for our children quite literally goes on vacation for the nextthree months,” said Heinz, a member of the Endowments’ and Heinz FamilyPhilanthropies boards and honorary chair of the dinner at the Hilton Pittsburgh. “I can guarantee you, in a malnourished child, hunger works morning, noon andnight. It takes no time off.”

The event, which honors individuals and organizations that have supported the food bank’s work to stop hunger in this region, coincided with National HungerAwareness Day. A network of nearly 350 agencies in 11 counties, the food bankprovides groceries to about 120,000 people each month.

Weeks before members of City Charter High School’s first graduating class donnedtheir caps and gowns, they made it clearwhat they wanted in a graduation speaker.

No mixed metaphors—or, better yet, nometaphors at all, one group of seniors toldSuzanne Walsh, Endowments InnovationEconomy program officer, and the students’choice for guest speaker. No grandiosepronouncements of the graduates’ future.And be brief.

“ ‘You got two minutes,’” Walsh recallsone girl telling her, only half joking.

Walsh took a little more than two minutesto facetiously mix a few metaphors (“Youhave stepped up to the plate and grabbedthe bull by horns.”); accede to anotherstudent’s wishes to stay under a “bajillion”quotes; and declare that “You, City HighClass of Class of 2006, can save the worldfrom evil.”

On a more serious note, she com-mended the graduates for being pioneers inattending City Charter High School, or CityHigh, as it is called, despite teasing frompeers; for living diversity in their friendshipswith classmates and not just talking aboutit; and for achieving academic excellencewhile appreciating the value of learning,regardless of the grade or the risk of beinglabeled “nerds.”

In fact, City High students—the majorityof whom have met state and federal academicstandards for the past two years—havegrown accustomed to being a differentbreed. They go to classes in a downtownPittsburgh office building and attend schoolin trimesters, separated by one-monthbreaks. They have the same teachers forfour years and participate in part-time intern-ships. And about the only interscholasticcompetition the students enter is a robot-building contest, reflecting the school’stechnology focus.

Intrigued by City High’s unique qualitiesand committed to offering education optionsto families, the Endowments has givennearly $1.3 million in support to the schoolsince 2002. That’s the same year CityHigh’s first 156 students started as fresh-men. This year’s 95 graduates includemembers of that first class and others whoenrolled later.

“Just remember,” concluded Walsh,shown below with brother-sister grads Michaeland Jamie Niedecker, “all that you havelearned at City High will get you through therest of your life.”

CITY HIGH CLASS OF 2006

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

Jaso

n C

ohn

h is printed on recycled paper using soy-based inks.h is printed on recycled paper using soy-based inks.

T H E H E I N Z E N D OW M E N T S

Howard Heinz Endowment

Vira I. Heinz Endowment

30 Dominion Tower

625 Liberty Avenue

Pittsburgh, PA 15222-3115

412.281.5777

www.heinz.org

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I N S I D E : A R T S S E E N N O N P R O F I T S U N I T E

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