The Educating Character Initiative
What’s New at the ECI
- 🤝 The ECI will be able to offer a new round of grants in 2027 for U.S higher education institutions thanks to support from a nearly $44 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc.
- 💸 Read about the 60 2026 Capacity-Building Grants awarded by the ECI.
- 🗓️ Mark your calendar for our Building Communities of Character Conference, Dec. 3-5 in Winston-Salem, N.C.
- 🔑 Read the ECI 2025 Project Brief, a snapshot of our shared work and its direction, reflecting our community’s collective efforts and commitment to forming students, institutions, and cultures shaped by character for the common good.
The Educating Character Initiative equips institutions of higher education with the resources, funding, and support necessary to integrate character education into their distinctive institutional contexts, curricula, and cultures. We foster a robust network that recognizes the value of educating character within higher education.
Learn, share, and engage with us.
Learn about Our Programs
Community Building
Join our community, learn from other educators, and engage with us about your resources and your ideas.
Grantmaking
Learn about our grantmaking, which supports institutions engaged in efforts to strengthen the understanding, integration, and education of character at U.S. colleges and universities.
Collective Learning
Join our webinars, book club, and trainings to learn how to integrate character education into your unique academic contexts and curricula.
Work with Our ECI Team
Connect with our Educating Character Initiative staff for individualized support.
“We are grateful for the opportunity to help others plant the seeds of character education, and we all benefit as those efforts continue to grow.”
Jennifer Rothschild, Executive Director of the Educating Character Initiative
A project of the Program for Leadership and Character at Wake Forest University, the ECI was founded in 2023 through the generous support of Lilly Endowment Inc.