What’s New at the ECI
- 📄 Letters of Inquiry for the 2027 Institutional Impact Grants may now be submitted through the grants portal. The deadline for submission is 11/16/2026.
- 🗓️ Registration is open for our Building Communities of Character Conference, Dec. 3-5 in Winston-Salem, N.C.
- 💸 Our 2027 Institutional Impact and Capacity-Building Grant RFP is now available.
- 💰 Learn about our new funding initiative, Communities of Impact Grants. The RFP is now available and the application portal is open.
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 Engagement
Join our community, engage with other educators, explore Communities of Impact, connect with our staff, and learn about Character Commons.
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.
“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.