We Can Be podcast - The Heinz Endowments

Fearless conviction: Environmental health advocate Gillian Graber empowers communities to stand up to fossil fuel industries (SO6EP08)

Heinz Endowments President and “We Can Be” host Chris DeCardy welcomes Gillian Graber, Executive Director and Co-Founder of Protect PT. The grassroots community-based nonprofit works to protect southwestern Pennsylvania residents from the harmful health and environmental impacts of fossil fuel activity.

 

Gillian and her family settled in Penn-Trafford, an idyllic borough located along the border of Westmoreland and Allegheny counties near Pittsburgh, in part because of its promise of clean air and water.

 

Shortly after moving into their home, the oil and gas industry encroached on their neighborhood. Legal roadblocks and frustration with the ineffectiveness of government agencies spurred Gillian and her husband to found Protect PT in 2014.

 

Protect PT’s early grassroots fundraising included selling candy bars and popcorn to cover attorney fees. “I literally ran behind the school bus, handing out flyers to moms after they got their kids on the bus,” Gillian tells Chris. “I became an accidental activist.”

 

In the past decade, the organization has grown to a staff of nine and expanded its work to include policy analysis and community environmental education. This increased impact has led to international recognition through a partnership with outdoor apparel company Patagonia’s Dublin, Ireland, location.

 

“One person speaking up is not enough. Communities need to speak up,” Gillian said. “Despite the disparity, despite the amount of money that this industry has, people really have to be fearless and have a sense of conviction.”

 

“We Can Be” is hosted by Heinz Endowments President Chris DeCardy and produced by the Endowments, Josh Franzos and Tim Murray. Special commentary in this episode by Endowments Senior Director of Climate, Environment & Health Philip Johnson. Theme music by Josh Slifkin. Host and guest photos: Josh Franzos. Guest inquiries: Scott Roller at sroller@heinz.org. Subscribe, listen and share new “We Can Be” episodes every two weeks on all major podcast platforms and YouTube. Use search term “Heinz We Can Be.”

Kendra Whitlock Ingram one of nation's largest downtown cultural districts w/ vision & authenticity (S0607)

Heinz Endowments President and “We Can Be” host Chris DeCardy welcomes Kendra Whitlock Ingram, President and CEO of the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust. Kendra leads the Trust in overseeing one of the largest and most complex downtown arts and culture districts in the country.

With a dedication to inclusive and diverse programming, she began her arts management journey with a Duquesne University undergraduate internship with the Pittsburgh Opera. Kendra circled back to the city in 2023 after two decades of leadership positions at renowned arts organizations across the United States.

“We’re an economic engine that is utilizing arts and culture as the vehicle to drive excitement, community and activation in Downtown,” says Kendra. “We use data and community input to understand exactly what those who attend our performances and events want from a Downtown experience, and we work with our partners to provide it.”

In the past four decades, that approach has helped the Cultural Trust spur a dramatic transformation of Downtown Pittsburgh’s red-light district of the ‘70s and ‘80s to a vibrant, nationally recognized destination for arts and culture programming. The multitude of historic venues and outdoor public spaces managed by the Trust cover more than a million square feet of Downtown real estate across 14 blocks.

With a $600 million Downtown revitalization plan underway that includes Arts Landing, a 4.5-acre riverside park with performance spaces and public art installations, Kendra and the Trust will have even more opportunities to bring an increased range of arts and culture to residents and visitors alike.

“We work to showcase national and internationally recognized artists as well as our region’s own top-notch creatives in world-class spaces,” says Kendra. “That magic combination gives us one of the most vibrant arts ecosystems in the country.”

Learn more about that creative magic in this episode of “We Can Be.”

 

“We Can Be” is hosted by Heinz Endowments President Chris DeCardy and produced by the Endowments, Josh Franzos and Tim Murray. Special commentary in this episode by Endowments Managing Director of Arts & Culture Jasmin DeForrest. Theme music by Josh Slifkin. Host and guest photos: Josh Franzos. Guest inquiries: Scott Roller at sroller@heinz.org. Subscribe, listen and share new “We Can Be” episodes every two weeks on all major podcast platforms and YouTube. Use search term “Heinz We Can Be.”

Independent journalism innovator Spotlight PA CEO/Pres. Chris Baxter is holding those in power accountable (S06EP06)

Heinz Endowments President and “We Can Be” host Chris DeCardy welcomes Chris Baxter, CEO, President and Founding Editor of Spotlight PA, an independent, non-partisan and nonprofit news organization dedicated to holding those in power accountable.

 

Mr. Baxter has more than two decades of journalism experience and has built his impressive career on a commitment to challenging that status quo. He leads Spotlight PA’s partnerships with over 90 newsrooms, the largest collaborative distribution network of its kind in the United States.

 

“Spotlight PA holds our elected officials accountable because they are making decisions that affect everyone’s day-to-day life,” said Mr. Baxter. “We need trusted regional news that fights back against the noise of the national conversation, which threatens to overpower our dialogue with local, county, city and state officials.”

 

Founded in 2019 to address Pennsylvania’s declining state of local journalism, Spotlight PA has had substantial impact that has made it a model of independent journalism for other states across our nation. The organization’s investigations have saved taxpayers an estimated $20 million dollars and prompted 36 local, state and federal policy changes that enhance transparency across the commonwealth.

 

Mr. Baxter was awarded the 2025 News Media Industry Executive of the Year by the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association for his innovation, integrity and commitment to the future of local news.

 

“The Spotlight PA model is an opportunity to retake journalism and bring people back into the fold,” he said. “And with that trust comes an incredible power to help people solve the real problems in their lives.”

 

“We Can Be” is hosted by Heinz Endowments President Chris DeCardy and produced by the Endowments, Josh Franzos and Tim Murray. Special commentary in this episode by Endowments Program Director of Civic Participation Matt Barron. Theme music by Josh Slifkin. Host and guest photos: Josh Franzos. Guest inquiries: Scott Roller at sroller@heinz.org. Subscribe, listen and share new “We Can Be” episodes every two weeks on all major podcast platforms and YouTube. Use search term “Heinz We Can Be.”

 

Michelle Naccarati-Chapkis on Women for a Healthy Environment's trailblazing & transformative action (S06EP05)

Heinz Endowments President and “We Can Be” host Chris DeCardy welcomes Women for a Healthy Environment Executive Director Michelle Naccarati-Chapkis to “We Can Be.”

In 2007 a group of about 20 women attended an information-sharing conference in Pittsburgh that addressed links between environmental factors and women’s health. After the gathering, they determined that there was a need for continued questions and answers, research and community organizing. Three years later, with support from The Heinz Endowments, Women for a Healthy Environment was born.

 

“When Women for a Healthy Environment was publicly launched, we were bringing a lot of new information to communities about environmental hazards that they hadn’t heard about,” Michelle said. “Fifteen years later, I feel like our research, education and awareness-building about environmental hazards has helped drive a transformative journey to more awareness, knowledge and organizing.”

The daughter of a police chief and school superintendent, Michelle followed in her parents’ footsteps by choosing a path focused on public service to the community.

In recent years, she has guided Women for a Healthy Environment as the organization expanded its work with a significant presence in Philadelphia. That partnership with the Philadelphia Regional Center for Children’s Environmental Health and the University of Pennsylvania aligns with WHE’s data-focused approach to its work.

Michelle shares how Women for a Healthy Environment is making a national impact on lead removal in schools and homes, why significantly more women than men identify the environment as a primary concern, and how the organization’s Eco-Student Stewardship Program is inspiring the next generation of environmental leaders.

“Our work has shown us that our youngest environmentalists are informed and ready,” Michelle says. “We are in good hands.”

 

“We Can Be” is hosted by Heinz Endowments President Chris DeCardy and produced by the Endowments, Josh Franzos and Tim Murray. Special commentary in this episode by Endowments Senior Director of Climate, Environment & Health Philip Johnson. Theme music by Josh Slifkin. Host and guest photos: Josh Franzos. Guest inquiries: Scott Roller at sroller@heinz.org. Subscribe, listen and share new “We Can Be” episodes every two weeks on all major podcast platforms and YouTube. Use search term “Heinz We Can Be.”

Riverlife's Matt Galluzzo raises the bar for riverfront preservation & community connection (S06EP04)

Heinz Endowments President and “We Can Be” host Chris DeCardy welcomes Matt Galluzzo, the president and CEO of Riverlife, which serves as the north star for the redevelopment of Pittsburgh’s riverfronts with high-quality design, accessibility and environmental integrity.

 

From ancient Greek philosophy to our country’s own Native American history, cultures around the world have embraced variations of the phrase “water is life.” Millions will see the life that the Pittsburgh region has built along its rivers when the NFL draft comes to Pittsburgh in April of 2026.

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Much of the beauty, public green space and vibrant activity along Pittsburgh’s Monongahela, Allegheny and Ohio rivers can be traced to Riverlife. The organization was established in 1999 with key support from the Endowments and Heinz family members who recognized the enormous potential of visually and environmentally sound riverfronts.

 

“For me, the real beauty of what we’ve accomplished is that generations from now, people we will never meet are going to benefit from our work,” Matt says. “It is with this longitudinal view that we have developed our community-informed plans to ensure that folks in 30 or 40 years are going to have a healthy, high-quality experience on our riverfronts.”

 

Prior to joining Riverlife in 2019, Matt led the creation and implementation of the first Community Land Trust in western Pennsylvania and oversaw $200 million in public and private investment for the thriving riverfront neighborhood of Lawrenceville.

 

Immerse yourself in Riverlife’s successes, challenges and the high bar it has set as a national leader in riverfront preservation and sustainable development on this episode of “We Can Be.”

 

“We Can Be” is hosted by Heinz Endowments President Chris DeCardy and produced by the Endowments, Josh Franzos and Tim Murray. Special commentary in this episode by Endowments Managing Director of Arts & Culture Jasmin DeForrest. Theme music by Josh Slifkin. Host and guest photos: Josh Franzos. Guest inquiries: Scott Roller at sroller@heinz.org. Subscribe, listen and share new “We Can Be” episodes every two weeks on all major podcast platforms and YouTube. Use search term “Heinz We Can Be.”

Breathe Project's Matt Mehalik leads clean air advocacy w/ tech, tenacity & community (S06EP03)

“Together, a network of public health professionals, air quality scientists, advocates and community groups can move the needle on air pollution,” Breathe Project Executive Director Matt Melahik tells host Chris DeCardy, president of The Heinz Endowments.

 

Founded with support from The Heinz Endowments in 2011 and now an independent organization, the Breathe Collaborative and its communications platform Breathe Project have set a national standard for community-centered, data-informed environmental groups.

 

Two of their innovative tracking systems have gained national attention. Their Breathe Cam project is a 24/7 live video feed showing visual components of air quality in multiple locations. Their Smell PGH app, developed in partnership with Carnegie Mellon University's CREATE Lab (Community, Robotics, Education and Technology Empowerment), gives citizens an easy way to report their air quality experiences.  

 

With a doctorate in systems engineering and as a professor teaching sustainability and environment policy at Heinz College at Carnegie Mellon University, Matt has helped guide a new generation of young people to environmental action.

 

Matt is co-author of “Ethical and Environmental Challenges to Engineering,” and is smart, caring and deeply dedicated to improving the air we share. Listen, learn and be inspired to act with this episode of “We Can Be.”

 

“We Can Be” is hosted by Heinz Endowments President Chris DeCardy and produced by the Endowments, Josh Franzos and Tim Murray. Special commentary in this episode by Endowments Climate, Environment & Health Senior Director Philip Johnson. Theme music by Josh Slifkin. Host and guest photos: Josh Franzos. Guest inquiries: Scott Roller at sroller@heinz.org. Subscribe, listen and share new “We Can Be” episodes every two weeks on all major podcast platforms and YouTube. Use search term “Heinz We Can Be.”

 

 

125 years of groundbreaking, life-changing work of Sarah Heinz House w/ CEO Demeshia Seals (S06EP02)

“My dream for every child is that they understand that there are no limits,” Demeshia Seals tells Heinz Endowments President and “We Can Be” host Chris DeCardy.

 

Demeshia is chief executive officer of the Sarah Heinz House, established by food entrepreneur H.J. Heinz’s son Howard Heinz on Pittsburgh’s North Side in 1901 as a resource for boys from immigrant families.

 

Two years later the Sarah Heinz House had the distinction of being the first organization of its kind in the country to serve both boys and girls at a time when doing so was unprecedented. It has given youth community-building experiences in sports, nature, well-being and life skills ever since. Its accomplishments gained national attention once again when the organization became a charter member of the national Boys and Girls Clubs of America in 1930.

 

Demeshia joined the Sarah Heinz House in 2023, bringing decades of experience with companies including Massaro Construction and Nike Inc., where she led its skills development programs.

 

She now leads the Sarah Heinz House in serving more than 1,000 youth annually and in recent years has expanded its programs to include adults over age 60 and to focus on STEM, robotics and workforce development.

 

“It’s important that we change the manner in which we speak about what opportunity looks like and what success truly is for our young people,” Demeshia says. “Let's not shackle them with our limited understanding of what their opportunities could be. Let’s give them space to dream and become who they are meant to be.”

 

“We Can Be” is hosted by Heinz Endowments President Chris DeCardy, and produced by the Endowments, Josh Franzos and Tim Murray. Special commentary in this episode by Endowments Vice President Carmen Anderson. Theme music by Josh Slifkin. Host and guest photos: Josh Franzos. Guest inquiries: Scott Roller at sroller@heinz.org. Subscribe, listen and share new “We Can Be” episodes every two weeks on all major podcast platforms. Use search term “Heinz We Can Be.”

 

Tim Kaulen brings our industrial past into the future in a bold, beautiful & meaningful way (S06EP01)

“The value of public art is the space to ask questions and to imagine answers,” Tim Kaulen, founder and executive director of Industrial Arts Workshop, tells host and Endowments President Chris DeCardy in this episode of “We Can Be.”

 

A successful working artist and educator, Tim is also a thoughtful community advocate committed to public art, creative spaces and workforce development. Under his leadership, Industrial Arts Workshop began a decade ago as a mobile sculpture program that brought together high school students to learn safe welding and metal fabrication techniques, as well as artistic process, community engagement and team building.

 

Now with a permanent home in Pittsburgh’s Hazelwood community, a neighborhood with a deep history in the region’s steel industry, Industrial Arts Workshop has served more than 600 students, with many going on to careers in both the arts and the welding industry.

 

The large-scale welded steel sculptures Tim and his students and have created in prominent locations across Pittsburgh are bringing the region’s industrial past into the future in a bold, beautiful and meaningful way.

 

Early in his career, Tim’s creation of a 25-foot inflatable figure made from recycled billboard segments was featured at the Burning Man Festival and exhibited in Brooklyn and Pittsburgh. His “dino-geese” painting on the 10^th Street bridge on Pittsburgh’s South Side has gained mythological status, inspiring joy – and the occasional tattoo – among fans over the years.

 

“What's great for me is to see young people engage with public art and to see their curiosity and their imaginations change in the moment,” Tim says. “That is what public art is about: curiosity, questions, imagination and wonder.” 

 

“We Can Be” is hosted by Heinz Endowments President Chris DeCardy, and produced by the Endowments, Josh Franzos and Tim Murray. Special commentary in this episode by Endowments Senior Program Officer for Arts & Culture Mac Howison. Theme music by Josh Slifkin. Host and guest photos: Josh Franzos. Guest inquiries: Scott Roller at sroller@heinz.org. New episode every two weeks. 

 

Uplifting voices of those facing health effects of fracking w/ environmental health advocate Tammy Murphy

For nearly a decade, Tammy Murphy has been on the front lines of the fight to protect families from the adverse environmental and health effects of fossil fuel extraction.

Tammy is the public policy and advocacy manager for Make the Road Pennsylvania, a nonprofit that builds power for justice in Latinx, immigrant, and working-class communities of color, with a key focus on climate and environmental justice.

Host and Endowments President Chris DeCardy met Tammy at a convening of environmental funders last year when she was the advocacy director at Physicians for a Social Responsibility Pennsylvania. She spoke movingly about her personal experience in helping amplify the voices of those experiencing serious health issues related to fracking.

“It’s hard to talk about families who are losing their children, their spouses, or who have kids doing homework in hospitals because their parent is dying,” Tammy said.

Tammy is fearless in speaking truth in corridors of power – evident when she led a demonstration inside the state capitol building with parents whose children had been impacted by fracking-induced health issues. Two days later, then-Governor Wolf announced Pennsylvania fracking health dangers would be investigated and funded.

“Fossil fuel extraction companies find the product that they want to go after, and then they find the path of least resistance,” Tammy tells Chris. “They go into the communities that they find the most vulnerable and try to extract from there in a way that doesn't disturb the people with the most power. Because they know those with power would resist.”

Be inspired by Tammy and the stories of the communities and families she had helped uplift in this episode of “We Can Be.”

 

“We Can Be” is hosted by Heinz Endowments President Chris DeCardy, and produced by the Endowments, Josh Franzos and Tim Murray. Theme music by Josh Slifkin. Chris DeCardy photo: Josh Franzos. Guest inquiries: Scott Roller at sroller@heinz.org.

 

Rainbow Serpent co-founder Marques Redd is reviving ancient traditions to create the future of art

Marques Redd, acclaimed artist and co-founder of multidisciplinary art collective Rainbow Serpent, is helping create the future of art by reviving ancient – and often erased – traditions.

By uplifting Black LGBTQ creativity and culture through the exploration of emerging technologies, innovative healing protocols, African cosmologies, and multimedia art, he is sparking important dialogue and reconsideration of the Western artistic canon.

He shares with Endowments President and podcast host Chris DeCardy why this dialogue is important, and how art creates a bridge for empathy and understanding.

“Public artwork does have a psychic impact and can have a subtle kind of influence over people that might see it.” Marques says. “Ideas that may otherwise be passed over can be sparked into thoughtfulness and conversation when people engage with art.”

A celebrated multimedia artist, independent scholar and traditional African cosmologist, Marques has had an impressive impact across the United States and in cities around the globe in the past several years.

From the film “Obi MBu (The Primodial House)” to the groundbreaking glass sculptures and virtual reality of “Myth-Science of the Gatekeepers” to large-scale mural installations featuring effervescent, shining Black bodies that merge with a universe of stars, Marques and Rainbow Serpent’s art have been front and center in cities including Atlanta, Boston, Pittsburgh, Denver, Raleigh and Tampa, to name but a few.

“The work is so political in the way in which it is raising questions around gender, sexuality, race and Blackness,” Marques says.  “I do think that through our art there is continued space for us to contribute to these issues, both here and around the world.”

Listen to this episode of “We Can Be” to launch into Marques’ beautiful, fascinating and moving vision of the world.

 

“We Can Be” is hosted by Heinz Endowments President Chris DeCardy, and produced by the Endowments, Josh Franzos and Tim Murray. This episode presentation is a partnership between The Heinz Endowments and the  Heinz Family Foundation. Theme music by Josh Slifkin. Guest and host photos: Josh Franzos. Guest inquiries: Scott Roller at sroller@heinz.org.