World-Renowned Tenor and Andrea Bocelli Foundation Founder Andrea Bocelli Honored with 2024 Morton E. Ruderman Award in Inclusion

September 30, 2024

The Award will support the Andrea Bocelli Foundation’s (ABF) efforts in Haiti, specifically the schools throughout the country, providing safe places for children and access to education.

Boston, MA, September 30, 2024 — The Ruderman Family Foundation, a longtime trailblazer in the realm of advancing inclusion, has today announced world-renowned vocalist Andrea Bocelli as the recipient of the philanthropic organization’s 2024 Morton E. Ruderman Award in Inclusion. The Andrea Bocelli Foundation (ABF) will receive the $100,000 contribution thanks to this award, to help support ABF schools throughout Haiti, providing a safe place in which children can access quality education and develop their potential. 

Bocelli is being recognized for an esteemed career in which he has shattered boundaries, as well as for his impactful philanthropic work through the Andrea Bocelli Foundation (ABF), to empower people and communities in situations of poverty, illiteracy, and distress due to illness and social exclusion, pushing inclusion throughout all sectors of society. Bocelli will be in Boston later this year to formally receive the award from the Foundation, coinciding with the artist’s Holiday Tour for 2024. 

“Whether it be through my personal journey, musical career, or philanthropic projects, I have always prioritized giving a voice to the voiceless — to give back to the world all the good things I have received, so the less fortunate or most vulnerable members of our society get a chance to achieve a life full of opportunity and beauty,” Andrea Bocelli said. “It is therefore a tremendous honor to receive this award from the Ruderman Family Foundation, an organization that shares my worldview in both word and deed. Together, we will continue to work to build a better world than the one we have found.” 

Through his Morton E. Ruderman Award in Inclusion, Bocelli now seeks to further bolster ABF’s mission to empower people and communities in Haiti through the rebuilding of schools throughout the country. The ABF, together with the local partner Foundation St. Luc, has already helped rebuild several schools in Haiti in 5 of the most remote and poorest communities offering educational access to over 3,500 students every day. The schools are equipped with accessorized learning rooms, a library, a computer lab, a kitchen, a canteen, sanitary facilities, and a playground, as well as a water purification and distribution system. 

Bocelli, who became completely blind at age 12, has overcome significant barriers to achieve global acclaim, selling tens of millions of albums worldwide and embodying inclusiveness throughout his career. While overcoming barriers himself in such a resounding manner, his foundation has raised 70 million Euros, has funded ten schools in Haiti and Italy, and has improved water access for more than 400,000 people since its establishment in 2011. According to Bocelli, ABF’s vision is “to build a better world than the one we have found” and “to give back to the world all the good things we have received, so the less fortunate or most vulnerable members of our society get a chance to achieve a life full of opportunity and beauty.” 

In the realm of inclusion, ABF creates educational programs using art, music and digitalization as tools to offer an inclusive education. 

“Both in his musical career and his philanthropic work, Andrea Bocelli has unmistakably demonstrated that through perseverance we can achieve even the most ambitious goals and dreams,” said Jay Ruderman, President of the Ruderman Family Foundation. “He has given a voice to the voiceless, particularly through the work of the Andrea Bocelli Foundation, which strongly aligns with our own Foundation’s commitment to empowering the most vulnerable individuals in society. By embracing Andrea’s mindset, we can ensure that people with disabilities have access to the same opportunities as their peers across the population.” 

Bocelli joins a notable list of recipients of the Morton E. Ruderman Award to be honored for effectuating change on the issue of inclusion: acclaimed filmmakers Peter and Bobby Farrelly, Academy Award-winning actress Marlee Matlin, former United States Senator and driving force behind the Americans with Disability Act Tom Harkin, disability self-advocate Ari Ne’eman, and Harvard University Professor Dr. Michael Stein. Several other recipients of the award have been recognized for their efforts to reduce the stigma surrounding mental health, including award-winning actress Eva Longoria, celebrated actor and recording artist Selena Gomez, five-time NBA All-Star Kevin Love, Academy Award-nominated actor Taraji P. Henson, and decorated Olympian Michael Phelps. 

The award, now in its 10th year, was named after Morton E. Ruderman, a founder of the Ruderman Family Foundation. A successful entrepreneur, mentor, and proud family man, he saw his success as the result of help he received from others and was therefore passionate about providing opportunities for others — including assisting many people in becoming independent and successful in business. 

About the Ruderman Family Foundation: 

The Ruderman Family Foundation is an internationally recognized organization, advancing a myriad of social justice issues and modeling the practice of strategic philanthropy worldwide. The Foundation operates as a non-partisan catalyst to enact significant change in cooperation with government, private sectors, civil society, and philanthropies. 

The Ruderman Family Foundation believes that inclusion and understanding of all people is essential to a fair and flourishing community and imposes these values within its leadership and funding. For more information, please visit  www.rudermanfoundation.org