On Thursday, April 24, 2025, over 550 guests gathered at The Glasshouse in Manhattan for the Children’s Museum of Manhattan’s (CMOM) 2025 Annual Gala, Giant Steps—an evening of celebration and purpose, spotlighting CMOM’s unwavering commitment to early learning, arts access, and family enrichment to children across all five boroughs. The event raised a record-breaking $5M advancing their mission and in honor of CMOM’s Founding Board Chair, Laurie M. Tisch, providing more than 42 years of visionary leadership. 
 
Guests marked CMOM’s citywide impact and the extraordinary leadership of its Founding Board Chair Laurie M. Tisch. Her commitment to access and opportunity has transformed CMOM into one of New York’s most vital institutions for families, reaching hundreds of thousands of children from all backgrounds both on-site at the museum and off-site through programs with schools, shelters, and in the family, visitation centers on Rikers Island. 
 
“This event was not just a celebration—it was a declaration,” said Dava Schub, CMOM CEO and Museum Director. “CMOM matters deeply to the future of New York City and it’s one million children under 10 who call it home. To witness such overwhelming support was deeply affirming.” 
 
Those lending their own voices in support of the Museum’s impact included Mike Bezos, Co-Founder & Chair of the Board of Directors Bezos Family Foundation, Michael Bloomberg, Founder of Bloomberg Philanthropies and three-term mayor of New York City; Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey; Governor Wes Moore of Maryland; Darren Walker, President of the Ford Foundation; Eli Manning, two-time Super Bowl champion with the New York Giants, Dr. Ruth Gottesman, philanthropist and Chair of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine Board; Alice Walton, philanthropist and founder of the Alice L. Walton Foundation; Laurie Cumbo, Commissioner of Cultural Affairs for the City of New York; Leornard Lauder, Chairman Emeritus of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc; Frank Bennack, Executive Vice Chairman & Former CEO Hearst; and many extended members of the Tisch Family.