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 Boston Children’s Museum Receives Lilly Endowment Grant to Foster Character Development

BOSTON, MA – December 19, 2024 – Boston Children’s Museum has received a grant of $2,499,243 from Lilly Endowment Inc. to establish Empathy at the Heart, a five-year initiative designed to foster empathy in young children and empower the adults in their lives to support this vital character development.

Empathy at the Heart is being funded by Lilly Endowment’s Fostering Character Through Children’s Museums initiative, which is designed to help children’s museums develop new or expand existing efforts that explore and encourage the development of positive character traits among children and youth. Boston Children’s Museum is one of 15 children’s museums around the nation being funded through the initiative. 

“Children’s museums are places where children of all ages can learn informally, discovering new ideas through play, multi-sensory experiences and self-expression,” said Ted Maple, Lilly Endowment’s vice president for education and youth programs. “We are excited to see how the museums funded through this initiative will help children and their families to explore various character traits and reflect together on ways these traits can be practiced and strengthened.”

Boston Children’s Museum’s mission is to engage children and families in joyful discovery experiences that instill an appreciation of our world, develop foundational skills, and spark a lifelong love of learning. The Empathy at the Heart initiative furthers this mission by exploring the foundational skills that contribute to empathy development, such as kindness, perspective taking, and respecting oneself and others. Through this program, Boston Children’s Museum will develop empathy-centered programs, experiences, and resources to benefit children and families across a variety of settings (in the Museum, in the home, in schools, and in the community). 

“We are honored to be part of Lilly Endowment’s visionary and imaginative initiative to encourage positive character development in young children. At Boston Children’s Museum, we are already focused on offering playful learning experiences that invite visitors to engage with each other, share their differences and similarities and contribute to an atmosphere that fosters empathy, kindness, and respect,” said Carole Charnow, President & CEO. “This generous grant will allow us to expand and deepen our work on empathy development, which is critical not only to child development but to building healthy and compassionate communities. We are deeply grateful to Lilly Endowment for this valuable opportunity.”