Harriet Heyman: From Journalism to Art and Major Giving

Introduction

Harriet Heyman has taken an unusual career path.

She worked in journalism. She wrote books. Later, she trained in trapeze and moved into figurative sculpture.

Then there is philanthropy.

Alongside her husband, Sir Michael Moritz, Heyman has supported education, scientific research, arts organisations and other public causes through Crankstart.

Her story does not fit one job title. That is what makes it interesting.

Quick Facts

Fact	Detail
Full Name	Harriet Heyman
Nationality	American
Grew Up In	South Shore, Chicago, Illinois
Education	Master’s degree from the University of Chicago, AM’72
Known For	Writing, journalism, sculpture and philanthropy
Former Work	The New York Times and Life
Books	Between Two Rains and Private Acts: The Acrobat Sublime
Art Form	Figurative sculpture
Main Sculpture Medium	Bronze
Spouse	Sir Michael Moritz
Children	Two sons
Public Base	San Francisco, California
Foundation	Crankstart
Latest Listed Solo Show	Figuratively Speaking, 2025

Harriet Heyman’s Early Life in Chicago

Heyman grew up in Chicago.

More specifically, she spent her early years in the South Shore area on the city’s South Side. She attended Chicago public schools.

Education mattered in her family.

Heyman has spoken publicly about her parents growing up during the Depression. They did not attend college, but they worked to give their daughter educational chances they had not had themselves.

That experience stayed with her.

Years later, education became one of the main areas supported by Heyman and Moritz through their charitable work.

Education at the University of Chicago

Heyman studied at the University of Chicago.

She earned a master’s degree through the university’s Division of the Humanities and is listed as AM’72.

That Chicago connection later became important again.

In 2016, she and Moritz backed a large education initiative at the University of Chicago aimed at helping students from lower-income families.

Her own background gave that project a personal link.

Career in Journalism

Before sculpture became a big part of her life, Heyman worked with words.

She built experience as a journalist, editor and writer.

She worked on staff at The New York Times and Life.

Her writing also appeared in publications including the Los Angeles Times, Sports Illustrated and the Financial Times.

That gave her a broad writing career.

She covered different subjects and worked across newspapers and magazines before turning more attention toward books and art.

Harriet Heyman’s Books

Heyman is also a published author.

Two books stand out.

Between Two Rains

Her novel Between Two Rains was published by Atheneum Books in 1989.

The story follows wildlife photographer Mirie Keane as she travels in Africa.

Her journey starts around photography, but the story moves through relationships, danger, wildlife and personal change.

The novel runs for 281 pages.

It came during the period when Heyman was still strongly connected to writing and journalism.

Private Acts: The Acrobat Sublime

Heyman later wrote Private Acts: The Acrobat Sublime.

Rizzoli published the book in 2011.

Photographer Acey Harper supplied the images.

The subject was acrobatics, but the book also looked at work, practice, skill, physical limits and performance.

This project came from real experience.

Heyman had spent years training in circus arts herself.

Why Harriet Heyman Started Trapeze Training

This part of her story is quite unexpected.

Heyman originally took her two young sons to an acrobatics class at a San Francisco circus school.

The boys later moved on.

She did not.

Heyman kept training.

By 2012, she had been involved in trapeze for more than 15 years, including both static and flying trapeze work.

She watched performers closely.

She attended circus events, read about the history and mechanics of acrobatics, and studied how skilled performers moved their bodies.

Basically, she became deeply interested in motion.

That interest would later push her toward sculpture.

From Acrobatics to Sculpture

Heyman started making figurative sculpture after years of studying movement.

Human bodies fascinated her.

Balance did too.

She wanted to catch the split second when a figure looked ready to move.

That idea became central to her art.

She later studied with teachers linked to the Royal Drawing School in London.

Her sculpture often focuses on people and animals.

The work can feel physical and slightly unsettled. A person may lean. A horse may rise. A dog may pull forward.

Nothing feels totally frozen.

How Harriet Heyman Makes Her Sculptures

Heyman works with materials such as clay, wax and plastilina.

Then many finished pieces are cast in bronze.

She has spoken about liking textured surfaces rather than making every area perfectly smooth.

There is a practical reason.

Texture changes as light moves over bronze.

So the surface keeps doing something.

She also uses the traditional lost-wax casting process for bronze works.

Her ideas often start with quick drawings.

Then she moves into physical material.

That is where much of the work takes shape.

Notable Sculptures

Heyman has produced many human and animal figures.

Her listed works include:

Neo-Etruscans, The Whisperers, Dog Tracking, Tall Caryatid on Break, Woman of the Garden, Tug of War, There Is Only Now, Wrestlers, Galloping Horse, Roman Horse, Rearing Colt, Dancer, Mother Holding Baby Aloft, Snake Woman, Leaping Dog, Skaters, Arched Cat, Young Man Sleeping, The Cellist and Rush-Hour Commuters.

Many have been made as limited-edition bronzes.

Animals appear often.

So do bodies under tension.

Harriet Heyman Exhibitions

Heyman has shown her sculpture in both the United States and Britain.

Her listed exhibitions include a group appearance at Fort Mason in San Francisco in 2018.

Solo shows followed.

She exhibited at Hulburd Design in San Francisco in 2020 and SFArtsED in 2021.

In September 2022, the Royal Drawing School in London hosted her exhibition The Quickening: Figure on the Verge.

That show centred on figures caught near movement or imbalance.

She later exhibited at Bolinas Museum in 2023.

Another 2023 show, Bronze and Silk, took place at Kenlynn in San Francisco.

Her listed 2025 solo exhibition was Figuratively Speaking at SFArtsED.

The show ran in November 2025 and included human and animal forms.

Proceeds supported arts and music programmes for San Francisco schoolchildren.

Marriage to Sir Michael Moritz

Harriet Heyman is married to Sir Michael Moritz.

Moritz became widely known through venture capital, particularly his long association with Sequoia Capital.

He also worked as a journalist earlier in his career.

The couple have two sons.

They have long been based in San Francisco.

Their shared interests later grew into large-scale charitable work.

Harriet Heyman and Crankstart

Heyman and Moritz are closely connected with Crankstart, their family philanthropic foundation.

The organisation supports work across several areas, including education, science, housing, economic opportunity, civil rights, arts and culture.

Public tax filings show the foundation operates at very large scale.

In its FY2024 filing, Heyman was listed as Chief Financial Officer and Secretary.

She has also been publicly identified as a director.

Much of Crankstart’s giving has focused on the San Francisco Bay Area, though its support reaches institutions elsewhere too.

University of Oxford Support

One major education project came through Oxford University.

In 2012, Heyman and Moritz committed £75 million to support students from lower-income backgrounds.

The programme was first known as the Moritz-Heyman Scholarship Programme.

It later became the Crankstart Scholarship.

Oxford says the programme has supported thousands of students.

Help extends beyond basic bursary funding and includes access to internships, volunteering and other opportunities.

The scheme remained active years after its launch, with Oxford announcing wider Crankstart support in 2024.

University of Chicago Giving

Chicago stayed important to Heyman.

In 2016, she and Moritz committed $50 million as part of an initiative intended to generate $100 million for educational access at the University of Chicago.

The funding supported the Odyssey Scholarship programme and related work with Chicago public-school students.

There is a clear personal link here.

Heyman herself came through Chicago public schools.

Support for UCSF

Heyman also developed a link with biomedical science.

She volunteered in a laboratory at the University of California, San Francisco.

In 2013, she and Moritz committed $30 million toward graduate biomedical education at UCSF.

That support helped establish the Discovery Fellows Program.

The programme supports PhD students working in basic and biomedical sciences.

The Giving Pledge

Heyman and Moritz joined The Giving Pledge in 2012.

The project asks wealthy individuals and families to commit most of their wealth to charitable causes.

Their public pledge discussed the idea that large fortunes are rarely created by one person working alone.

They linked their giving to the work, skills and contributions of many people around them.

That view fits the pattern of their later charitable projects.

Support for the Booker Prize Foundation

Crankstart has funded the Booker Prize Foundation since 2019.

The support covers work connected with both the Booker Prize and International Booker Prize.

This also has a personal connection.

Heyman and Moritz both have backgrounds in writing and publishing.

National Gallery Support

Crankstart became part of another major cultural project in 2025.

London’s National Gallery announced a £750 million redevelopment programme called Project Domani.

Crankstart pledged £150 million toward the project.

The plan includes a new wing and wider changes to the gallery.

It marked one of the foundation’s largest publicly announced cultural commitments.

Boundless San Francisco

Crankstart launched another large initiative in August 2026.

Called Boundless San Francisco, the programme is designed to fund ideas aimed at improving life in San Francisco.

Up to $150 million is available through the programme.

Individual winning projects may receive as much as $50 million.

The project reflects the couple’s long connection with the Bay Area.

It is also one of the clearest signs that Heyman’s philanthropic work remains active in 2026.

Harriet Heyman’s Net Worth

A separate personal net worth figure for Harriet Heyman has not been independently established by a strong public source.

That distinction matters.

Her husband has appeared on billionaire wealth lists, and publications have sometimes reported the couple’s combined wealth.

Those figures should not be presented as Heyman’s individual net worth.

So a precise personal figure would be misleading.

What Makes Harriet Heyman’s Career Different?

Her career changed direction several times.

First came writing.

Then circus training.

Then sculpture.

Alongside all of that came philanthropy.

Still, there is a common thread.

She seems drawn to practice, movement, learning and education.

Her writing studied people.

Her acrobatics work studied bodies.

Her sculpture captures bodies in motion.

Her charitable work often backs people trying to learn, study or create.

That pattern is clear.

Final Thought

Harriet Heyman is difficult to describe with one label.

She has worked as a journalist, editor, novelist, acrobatics writer and sculptor.

Her public life later grew to include large charitable projects through Crankstart.

What stands out most is the range.

She moved from newspapers to books, from trapeze training to bronze, and from personal creative work to funding education, science and culture.

The path is unusual.

And very much her own.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is Harriet Heyman?

Harriet Heyman is an American writer, former journalist, figurative sculptor and philanthropist.

Where did Harriet Heyman grow up?

She grew up in the South Shore area of Chicago.

Where did Harriet Heyman study?

She earned a master’s degree from the University of Chicago’s Division of the Humanities.

Did Harriet Heyman work for The New York Times?

Yes. Public institutional sources identify her as a former New York Times editor and staff member.

What books has Harriet Heyman written?

Her published books include Between Two Rains and Private Acts: The Acrobat Sublime.

Is Harriet Heyman an artist?

Yes. She creates figurative sculpture, including limited-edition bronze works.

Who is Harriet Heyman married to?

She is married to investor and philanthropist Sir Michael Moritz.

What is Crankstart?

Crankstart is the philanthropic foundation associated with Harriet Heyman and Michael Moritz.

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