André Heinz (39) is co-founder and investment director of Sustainable Technologies Fund.  Mr. Heinz has been active in the field of sustainable development since 1993, when he began working for William McDonough, the noted green architect and designer, on sustainable design issues and projects.  At the same time, Mr. Heinz joined the board of the Vira I. Heinz Endowment, where he oversaw the creation of an environmental grant-making program for both the Vira I. and Howard Heinz Endowments through a series of 14 topical environmental colloquia that convened leaders from around the world.  He continues to serve on the newly merged Heinz Endowments board, and on the Investment Committee, which oversees the management of the combined US$1.5 billion endowment. 

Following a six month urban redevelopment project for the city of Pittsburgh where he applied his knowledge together with his colleagues at Carnegie Mellon University, he began research for Paul Hawken on his latest book entitled “Natural Capitalism”, which chronicled examples of 75% or greater resource productivity at zero to negative cost, and suggested principles to help replicate those successes. 

Simultaneously, Mr. Heinz co-founded in 1995 the first U.S. office of The Natural Step: a Swedish-based non-profit organization specialized in education and consulting around sustainable development.  In 1999, after taking a Masters in Environmental Studies at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, where he specialized in Industrial Environmental Management and Industrial Ecology, Mr. Heinz accepted a job offer to run the international office of The Natural Step, out of Stockholm. 

In 2004, Mr. Heinz left The Natural Step to focus on U.S. presidential politics as a surrogate spokesperson specialized in environmental policy and candidate platform issues.  Since then, he has been focused on cleantech investing, and as the co-founder of  the Sustainable Technologies Fund I LP.