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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

BOSTON, Dec. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- 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."

Examples of projects supported through this grant include:

•     Lullaby Project at BCM: The Lullaby Project is an initiative started by Carnegie Hall's Weill Music Institute that pairs new and expecting parents and caregivers with professional artists to write and sing personal lullabies for their babies, with the goals of supporting parental emotional health and aiding childhood development. The Museum will implement a version of the Lullaby Project specifically focused on investigating the opportunity for lullaby creation to increase the empathy bond between caregivers and their new baby and will particularly focus on working with caregivers who face significant stressors in their lives.
•     Empathy Design Challenges: Applying empathy when creating something for another person often leads to a more successful result, as the design will be tailored to meet that individual's specific needs. The Museum will create Empathy Design Challenges that will invite visitors to create something for a person or animal whose needs are different from their own.
•     Big & Little Podcast Series: Funding from Lilly Endowment will support a series of episodes themed around character development, with a particular focus on empathy. Guests may include academic experts, children or teens, and other community members with relevant perspectives to share.

Additionally, the Museum will develop scalable resources and models for supporting empathy development that can be shared with other museums and family-serving organizations, strengthening the early childhood ecosystem as a whole.

About Lilly Endowment Inc
is an Indianapolis-based, private foundation created in 1937 by J.K. Lilly and his sons, Eli and J.K. Jr., through gifts of stock in their pharmaceutical business, Eli Lilly and Company. Although gifts of stock remain the financial bedrock of the Endowment, the Endowment is a separate entity from the company, with a distinct governing board, staff and location. The Endowment supports the causes of community development, education and religion.

About Boston Children's Museum
Boston Children's Museum engages children and families in joyful discovery experiences that instill an appreciation of our world, develop foundational skills, and spark a lifelong love of learning. More information about Boston Children's Museum can be found at Become a fan of the Museum on and follow us on

Hours and Admission
The Museum is open Wednesday–Sunday from 9:00am–4:00pm. Advance tickets/reservations are highly recommended, especially during weekends, holidays, and school vacation weeks. Adults, $22, children (1–15) and senior citizens, $22; children under 12 months and Museum members are always free.

Media Contact

Jo-Anne Baxter, Boston Children's Museum, 617-986-3702, [email protected],

SOURCE Boston Children's Museum