The Heinz Family Foundation in Pittsburgh has announced the winners of the twenty-sixth annual Heinz Awards.

Established in 1993 to honor the memory of Sen. John Heinz (R-PA), who was killed in a plane crash in 1991, the awards recognize extraordinary individuals for their achievement in finding solutions to critical issues in areas that were important to Heinz: the arts and humanities; the environment; the human condition; public policy; and technology, the economy, and employment. The award includes an unrestricted cash prize of $250,000.

This year’s winners in the arts category are Tanya A. Aguiñiga, a Los Angeles-based visual artist whose works blend contemporary craft, sculpture, and performance to address issues of migration, gender, and identity, and Sanford L. Biggers, an artist based in Sag Harbor, New York, whose work encompassing painting, sculpture, film, textiles, installation, and performance grapples with the interplay of culture and history in modern society. In the environment category, the recipients are Gabe Brown in Bismarck, North Dakota, a pioneer in regenerative agriculture and soil health who is catalyzing the movement to change land use practices, and Jacqueline C. Patterson, founder and executive director of the Chisholm Legacy Project in Maryland, a resource hub for Black frontline climate justice leadership.

And in the economics category, the winners are Dina J. Bakst and Sherry J. Leiwant, who will share an award as co-founders of A Better Balance, a New York City-based nonprofit that works to advance policies that promote fairness in the workplace, including paid family and medical leave, paid sick time, fairness for pregnant workers, fair and flexible scheduling, child care and elder care, and equal pay and attendance policies; and William J. Bynum, founder and CEO of HOPE, a Jackson, Mississippi-based community development financial institution that comprises Hope Credit Union, Hope Enterprise Corporation, and the Hope Policy Institute.

“This year’s recipients of the Heinz Awards are not only calling attention to challenges impacting our communities, our country, and our environment, they are doing the hard work of re-creating a country of possibility for everyone, where everyone can make a difference,” said Heinz Family Foundation chair Teresa Heinz. “Through their art, their advocacy, and their leadership, they cause us to reflect and to learn, and in the true spirit of the Heinz Awards, they direct us to better care for and understand our neighbors and the planet that we share.”