Andrew McElwaine

Vice President for Sustainability and Senior Program Director, The Heinz Endowments

Andrew McElwaine is The Heinz Endowments’ vice president for Sustainability and senior program director. He oversees the Endowments’ Sustainability team and is responsible for building the foundation’s sustainability-related work and infusing the principles of environmental  and social sustainability across the full range of the organization’s grantmaking and other activities.

Andrew served for six years as the Endowments’ first Environment Program director, leaving in 1999 to become president and CEO of Pennsylvania Environmental Council. He later  held similar positions with the Conservancy of Southwest Florida and the American Farmland Trust, a national farmland conservation organization based in Washington, D.C. He returned to the Endowments in 2015.

While heading the American Farmland Trust, Andrew completed a  national strategic plan to implement sustainable agriculture, create local food systems and reduce the climate effects of farming. Among other past accomplishments, he helped to create Pennsylvania’s Growing Greener land and water conservation program and Growing Smarter land use  planning program. He led the Conservancy of Southwest Florida’s successful “Saving Southwest Florida” capital campaign, raising $40 million during the Great Recession. He assisted in the design of Florida’s and Pennsylvania’s climate change strategies and successfully fought to protect Florida’s last undisturbed wildlife habitat from sprawl and over-development.

From 1991 to 1993, Andrew was a staff  member for President George H.W. Bush’s Commission on Environmental Quality. He was also U.S. Senator John Heinz’ environmental policy manager for five years.

He has served on the boards of more than a  dozen organizations concerned with policy work and issues related to the environment, conservation, the safeguarding of natural resources and  the protection of public health. Andrew earned a B.A. from Duke University, a master's degree from Carnegie Mellon University and a master's degree from George Mason University.