Heinz Awards to honor relief workers, others

Days after an earthquake rocked Haiti in January 2010, William McNulty logged on to his Facebook account in Washington, D.C., and read a posting from his friend, Jacob Wood of Los Angeles, who was seeking volunteers to travel immediately to the devastated Caribbean country to provide medical aid and assistance.

Both men, former U.S. Marines, tapped their experience serving in Iraq and Afghanistan to recruit and direct a 60-member emergency response team — comprised mainly of veterans — which quickly established a base in Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, and provided disaster relief for 18 days.

Throughout their time in Haiti, Mr. Wood maintained an online blog about their experiences. It generated $150,000 in donations for their relief efforts.

Before they returned to the U.S.,

the pair realized their operation could serve as a model for veterans interested in emergency response work. They decided to launch a nonprofit, Team Rubicon, to carry out that mission.

“We were a fleet-footed, nimble response team that was bridging the gap between the big aid bureaucracies and the earthquake,” Mr. McNulty said.

Since the Haiti trip, Team Rubicon has responded to disasters in Chile, Pakistan and throughout the U.S. — and its volunteer membership has swelled to 25,000, of which 80 percent are veterans, said Mr. McNulty.

Based in El Segundo, Calif., the agency had nearly $4 million in assets in 2013. It has attracted grants from Google, Goldman Sachs, The Home Depot Foundation and other large funders.

For their success in reengaging veterans in meaningful service, Team Rubicon’s founders are among six recipients of the 20th Heinz Awards. The awards, sponsored by the Pittsburgh-based Heinz Family Foundation, recognize Americans in five categories who have made an impact on global social issues. Mr. McNulty, 38, and Mr. Wood, 32, both of Los Angeles, are co-recipients in the human condition category.

The winners, announced today, will share a total $1.25 million in cash. Teresa Heinz Kerry, who chairs the Downtown foundation, created the awards in memory of her late husband, U.S. Sen. H. John Heinz III, who died in 1991.

“These remarkable men and women come from different fields and diverse backgrounds, but they share a bedrock conviction in their ability and responsibility as individuals to make a transformative impact on the world and the lives of others,” Mrs. Heinz Kerry said in a statement.

Besides Mr. McNulty and Mr. Wood, this year’s honorees are:

• Arts and Humanities: Roz Chast, a Ridgefield, Conn.-based author and cartoonist whose memoir, “Can’t We Talk about Something More Pleasant?”, is an account of caring for her aging parents.

• Environment: Frederica Perera, founder and director of the Columbia University Center for Children’s Environmental Health. Her research focuses on how exposure to hazardous chemicals affects children.

• Public Policy: Aaron Wolf, a geoscientist and professor at Oregon State University, for his accomplishments in negotiating disputes over shared bodies of water in the U.S., Asia and Africa.

• Technology, the Economy and Employment: Sangeeta Bhatia, a scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She developed “microlivers” used to screen drugs for toxicity and is developing cancerscreening tools. She also promotes programs aimed at attracting girls to science and engineering.

The winners will be honored at a ceremony in Pittsburgh on May 13.

“These remarkable men and women come from different fields and diverse backgrounds, but they share a bedrock conviction in their ability and responsibility as individuals to make a transformative impact on the world and the lives of others.”

— Teresa Heinz Kerry