WASHINGTON (AP): A foundation based in Indianapolis has committed $20 million as an endowment gift for the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum to fund work in preventing genocide.
 
The museum announced the gift Thursday from the Samerian Foundation and its founders, Cynthia Simon-Skjodt and Paul Skjodt.
 
The museum's genocide prevention center is being renamed the Simon-Skjodt Center for the Prevention of Genocide. The center works to make the genocide prevention a core priority for leaders and scholars through research, education and advocacy.
 
Museum officials say the gift will help the center develop new approaches and initiatives, including an early warning system and an initiative on dangerous speech to improve understanding of the warning signs and causes of genocide.
 
The gift is part of the museum's $540 million campaign to build a stronger endowment.