Houston Republic

The Greater Houston Partnership showed its appreciation to one of the state's most successful business leaders with the 2021 Robert C. McNair Civic Leadership Award.

The economic development organization recognized philanthropist and businessman Rich Kinder. It was presented by Houston Texans President and Partnership Board member Jamey Rootes during a virtual event. The award is named after the founding owner of the Houston Texans, Houston businessman Bob McNair. 

"It is the most prestigious award bestowed by the partnership and honors a highly successful business leader who has also made outstanding civic and philanthropic contributions – advancing Houston as a leading global city with a great quality of life and opportunity for all," the partnership said in a news release. 

Kinder is the executive chairman and co-founder of Kinder Morgan, one of the nation's largest energy infrastructure companies. Through his leadership, Kinder Morgan grew from a small company with 175 employees to a corporation with approximately 11,000 employees and an enterprise value of $325 million. He owns 11% of Kinder Morgan. 

“Perhaps no other individual in recent memory has transformed the face of Houston like Rich Kinder,” Rootes said. “Rich and his wife Nancy have invested in some of the most notable, game-changing projects that have improved the quality of life for all Houstonians, leaving an indelible mark for generations.”

In 1997, Rich and his wife, Nancy, established the Kinder Foundation to "provide major gifts to public causes with the intention of helping people realize healthy and rewarding lives," according to the foundation's website. 

The foundation provides transformational grants on programs and projects that help enhance education, green space and the quality of life.

“From the time we formed our foundation almost a quarter-century ago, we had some clear objectives,” Kinder said. “First, we decided to concentrate our efforts on the Houston metropolitan area. Second, we wanted to make it a rifle shot formation—in the sense that we would make gifts of a transformational nature in the areas of urban green space, education and quality of life. In doing that we were trying to realize our objective of making Houston a better place for all of its citizens to work and live.”

Kinder is a past recipient of Morningstar's CEO of the Year Award.