Honoring America’s Heroes

To pay tribute to the nation's most distinguished military heroes—and to unite our country around the values their stories represent—Griffin Catalyst is supporting the National Medal of Honor Museum Foundation with a $30 million gift. The National Medal of Honor Griffin Institute is a key component of a three-pronged, $300 million effort that also includes a new museum in Arlington, Texas, and a new monument in Washington, D.C.
To be housed within the National Medal of Honor Museum, a 100,000-square-foot facility in Arlington, TX, the National Medal of Honor Griffin Institute offers programming for hundreds of leaders annually through highly interactive sessions and activities guided by the Medal of Honor values and facilitated by Medal of Honor recipients.

Established by President Abraham Lincoln in 1861 and awarded by the President in the name of Congress, the Medal of Honor is the country’s highest decoration for valor in combat. Of the more than 40 million Americans who have served in the U.S. Armed Forces, only 3,515 people have been awarded the medal, including 61 living recipients. The National Medal of Honor Museum Foundation will share the stories of these heroes and celebrate the values they exemplify—such as duty, honor, courage—to educate future leaders and inspire service to their communities and the country.

WHO WE’RE SUPPORTING

Griffin Catalyst’s gift supported the creation of the National Medal of Honor Griffin Institute, a leadership institute dedicated to inspiring, equipping, and connecting people to live the values of the Medal of Honor. The Institute includes the Center for Character Excellence, to educate K-12 students and educators in the medal’s values; the Center for Leadership in Action, to inspire today’s leaders in business and across industries to embrace the lessons of the medal; and the Center for the Elevation of Honor, to connect educators, thought-leaders, and practitioners to enable Americans to live and lead with honor.

The Griffin Institute will complement the National Medal of Honor Museum in Arlington, Texas, which will present the engaging narrative journeys of ordinary people who made extraordinary sacrifices, above and beyond the call of duty. A National Medal of Honor Monument in Washington, D.C., meanwhile, will honor Medal of Honor recipients in our nation’s capital as an enduring tribute to their service and sacrifice.

The importance of the foundation and its efforts is demonstrated by the remarkable breadth of support it receives, including from former Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and Jimmy Carter, as well as former cabinet members, distinguished military and intelligence leaders, and, of course, the recipients themselves.

WHY IT MATTERS

There is a lack of trust in our institutions and a decline of patriotism in the United States today. While more unites us than divides us as Americans, this reality is often lost in today’s rhetoric and political climate. The values of the Medal of Honor and the leadership lessons of the heroic recipients provide a much-needed waypoint to instill Americans will a sense of service and civic duty.

“We do not go to war for gain or for territory; we go to war for principles, and we produce young men like these,” President Harry S. Truman once declared. “I think I told every one of them that I would rather have that medal than be President of the United States.”

Perhaps no aspect of the American experience holds greater opportunity to bring all its citizens together than the stories of those prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice to preserve and defend their country. “We need to equip the future leaders of America with the tools they need to ensure our country remains the world’s leading power and a beacon of hope globally,” said Ken Griffin, Founder of Griffin Catalyst, at a National Football League “Salute to Service” event commemorating the institute’s launch in November 2023. “There is no better place to start than with the Medal of Honor values: integrity, courage, commitment, sacrifice, citizenship, and patriotism.” The special place that Medal of Honor recipients hold in the hearts of Americans—and the significance of the lessons their lives and actions represent—will serve to connect the country through their example of leadership and character.

WHAT’S THE IMPACT?

Integrity, courage, commitment, sacrifice, citizenship, and patriotism. These are the enduring values that the Medal of Honor represents, and the Griffin Institute will be the preeminent institution to advance these values so that everyone can live a life of success and purpose and our nation can realize its full potential.

The museum and institute will be located in Arlington, Texas, creating a destination for visitors from across the United States and the world to learn about the Medal of Honor recipients’ stories.

With its extensive new facilities and programs, the institute will educate hundreds of thousands of people—of all backgrounds and ages, but especially the next generation of Americans—on the stories of these heroes.

For K-12 students, the institute provides dynamic curriculum and immersive experiences to support team building and leadership development. Peer leaders learn how to lead in the moment, and the foundation has partnered with the NFL Foundation’s Character Playbook to extend its reach to 29,000 schools nationwide, free of charge to students. Finally, the institute functions as  a convener of thought-leaders, including the Medal of Honor recipients, to become a key repository of insights, strategies, and methods to expand the impact of the medal itself.

With the mission to preserve America’s great experiment in democracy and to tackle the most challenging problems of our time, the National Medal of Honor Griffin Institute is an important institution equipping the future leaders of America.

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