Educating character. Building community.

Character Commons helps character educators find each other, share knowledge, and demonstrate their collective impact. Over time, our goal is to inspire collaborations, generate new research, empower thoughtful funders, and help the character education movement become a defining force in American higher education. Character Commons is built on the belief that we're stronger together.

Watercolour illustration of people gathered in a circle in conversation, surrounded by flowing abstract shapes

See our community on the character map

Real tools for finding, claiming, and showcasing the work of character education.

Visualizingthe community

Browse the character education ecosystem by institutional identity: public, private, research, liberal arts, community college, religious, and more.

Understandingthe context

Understand character organizations, programs, projects, collaborations, and geographic reach at a glance.

Making Connections

Discover patterns across regions and topics to spark new partnerships, friendships, and collaborations.

Explore resources

Dive into the community's growing library of tools, research, and curricula designed to support character education initiatives.

Browse all character resources

Search by

Organization Type

Choose to only include colleges and universities, or expand your search to associations, funders, educational organizations, and nonprofits.

Search by

Institutional Type

Browse the character education ecosystem by school identity: public, private, research, liberal arts, community college, religious, and more.

Search by

Focus Area

Find character programs, projects, resources, and collaborations by the focus of the intervention: athletics, curriculum, faculty & staff development and more.

Search by

Theme

Explore solutions through the lens of the communities they aim to strengthen — whether in the arts and media, civic and public life, the business world, or beyond.

Search by

Anchor

Connect with a shared approach to character education sourced from a particular framework, tradition, or theory.

Search by

Discipline

Connect with other character educators working within a particular disciplinary area or field.

Launch your profile

Share the expertise of your institution, program, or project. Upload resources, data, and research, and connect with fellow character educators across disciplines, roles, interest areas, and institutional types.

Character education is strongest when it grows together. Be a part of this collective movement toward wholeness that no single institution could achieve alone.

Get started

Powered by the Educating Character Initiative

The Educating Character Initiative (ECI), a project of the Program for Leadership and Character at Wake Forest University, is building a movement for character-centered institutional and cultural transformation in higher education. The initiative supports U.S. colleges and universities as they grow into communities of character for the common good. Through grant making and collective learning initiatives, the ECI equips a wide range of schools to integrate character education into their distinctive institutional contexts, curricula, and cultures, forming faculty, staff, students, and institutions oriented toward wholeness and wise contribution to society.

Join the ECI Community

Learn about our funders

We are deeply grateful to the philanthropic partners and foundations whose generous support makes Character Commons possible.

Lilly Endowment Inc. — A Private Philanthropic Foundation
John Templeton Foundation