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Capacity-Building Grants

Faculty, staff, and administrators often struggle to initiate character development across their institution’s curriculum and culture because they don’t have sufficient resources to implement their plans.

To address this challenge, the Educating Character Initiative — with support from Lilly Endowment Inc. — awards Capacity-Building Grants of up to $50,000 to institutions that wish to strengthen their ability to educate and embed character in their distinctive contexts. These grants may be especially useful for institutions that are just beginning to explore how to educate character, envisioning discrete projects that do not require substantial funding, and/or need support to plan for a larger grant application to the Educating Character Initiative or another funding organization in a future year.

Educating Character Initiative announces 2026 Capacity-Building Grant recipients

Current Grantees

Amherst College
Cultivating Character in a Residential Liberal Arts Education
Kiara Vigil, Leah Schmalzbauer

Arkansas State University, Newport
ASUN Character and Leadership Initiative (ACLI)
Joseph Campbell, Anna Westman

Beloit College
Educating for Character: A Virtue Framework for Beloit College
Matt Tedesco, Ron Watson

Benedictine University
Intentional “Conversatio”: Deepening Benedictine Character Formation for a New Era
Peter A. Huff, Nancy E. Sayer

Bennett College
Educating the Conscience: Character and Leadership Development in the Civil Rights Movement
Anne C. Hayes, Gwendolyn M. Bookman

Berry College
Building Character: Strengthening Coherence, Shared Language, and Evidence in Undergraduate Character Formation
Bob Reimer, Calli O’Neal

Brookdale Community College
Illuminating the Way Forward: Constellating Character Education through Compassion, Creativity, Collaboration, and Courage
Angela Kariotis

Butler University
Cultivating Community through Undergraduate Character Formation
Nii Kpakpo Abrahams, Chad Bauman, Kerri Cissna

Cedar Crest College
We Belong Here: A Character-Centered Framework for Campus Belonging
Leon John, Jr.

College of the Holy Cross
Breaking Bread: Cultivating Character through Cura Personalis et Communitas
Kyle Woolley, Michelle Bata, Lindsey Caola, and Christopher Staysniak

College Unbound
Character Education in Justice-Impacted Serving Institutions (JISIs)
Abby Crew, Jose Rodriguez

Delta State University, in collaboration with Mississippi Delta Community College
The Delta Character Collaborative
Don Allan Mitchell, Nicole Andrews

Eastern Arizona College
Monsters for Life
Travis Catt, Rachel Curtis, Charmaine Chidester

Emerson College
Becoming Virtuous Creatives: Embedding Character Development in Creative Literacy Education
Thomas Vogel, Carol Ferrara

Forsyth Technical Community College
The Trailblazers Way: Connect at the Core
Julian Jackson and Tony McKinnon

Greenfield Community College
A Community College Framework for Character: Strengthening Relationships and Cultivating Citizenship
Judy Raper, Angela Campbell

Hampden-Sydney College
Practicing the Good: F.U.E.L. and the Formation of Character Through Entrepreneurial Practice
Michele R. King

Heritage University, in collaboration with Tougaloo College
Project VIRTUE—Valor, Integrity, Respect, Truth, Understanding, Empathy
Latara Lampkin, D’Ante R. Benford, and Gloria Jones-Dance

High Point University
Educating Character in the Honors Scholar Program at High Point University
Pamela M. Lundin, Amy L. MacArthur

Lawrence Technological University
Epistemic Humility and Inclusive Leadership: Building Institutional Capacity for Character Education through Neurodiversity at a STEM University
Julia E. Kiernan

Lewis University
Reparative Justice and Lasallian Character: Building Institutional Capacity for Moral, Civic, and Intellectual Formation
Shireen Roshanravan

Lincoln University
I am Because We Are: A Black Cartography of Character
Larycia A. Hawkins

Longwood University
Intellectual Character and Work-Based Learning
Sarai Blincoe, Adam Blincoe

Manhattanville University
Becoming a Valiant: Building a Culture of Character, Dialogue, and Ethical Citizenship
Lisa M. Rafanelli, Susan Boyd

Middle Tennessee State
The True Blue Character Blueprint: Building Character Education At MTSU
Leah Tolbert Lyons, Rehab “Rubie” Ghazal, Meredith Dye, Jeff Gibson

Middlesex Community College
Building Dialogue, Character, and Community
Matt Hurwitz, Maria McDuffie Clark

Montana State University
CIRCLE STEM: Character Integration & Relational Curricula for Land Grant Education in STEM
Paul Gannon and Sweeney Windchief

Mount Holyoke College
Courage and Care in Community
Elizabeth K. Markovits

North Carolina Central University
Eagles Ascend: Character & Leadership Initiative (EACLI)
Dekendrick Murray, Simone Spencer

Northeastern University
Embodied Ethics: Somatic Education for Moral Imagination
Ilya Vidrin

Occidental College
Building Faculty, Staff, and Alumni Capacity to Integrate Character Education into Students’ Career Preparation at Occidental College
Clair Morrissey

Ohio Northern University
Cultivating Character for Engineers: Building Capacity to Integrate Moral and Civic Virtue Education at Ohio Northern University
John-David Yoder, Benjamin D. McPheron, Robert Hartman, Todd France, John K. Estell, Seyed Mohammad Seyed Ardakani

Ramapo College of New Jersey
Walking around Our World: Exploring an Indigenous-Inspired Model of Place-Based, Relational Character-Building
Sarah Koenig, Carol Bowman, Satarupa Dasgupta

Regis University
Companions in Mission: Renewing our Capacity for Integrative Education at Regis University
Jason Taylor

Rice University, in collaboration with Spelman College and Harvard Divinity School
Developing Character through Religious Literacy and Intercultural Engagement
Elaine Ecklund, Maria Frederick, Cynthia Spence

Rowan-Cabarrus Community College
Educating Character at the Intersection of Education and Workforce Readiness
Faith Jelley, Zhiviaga Williams, and Jaworski Sartin

Seton Hall University
Building Capacity for Character: A Character Across the Curriculum Fellows Program
Fanli Jia

Stonehill College
Compassion and Justice for the Common Good: Character Formation and Service in the Holy Cross Tradition
Karen L. Anderson, George Piggford

Truman State University
“Educated Citizens Needed”: Character Education in the Undergraduate Experience
Hyun-Joo Kim, Amy Norgard

Union College
Wisdom, Empathy, and Courage: Exploring Character Education at Union College
Maité Cruz, Stephen Schmidt

University of Arizona
From Implicit to Explicit: Developing a Character-Based Pedagogical Framework
Nadia Alvarez Mexia, Karna Walter

University of California, Los Angeles
UCLA Defining Character Building Project
Monroe Gorden, kc Bui, Amanda Finzi Smith

University of California, Merced
Student-Faculty/Staff Partnerships for Character Development in Respect, Open-Mindedness, and Courage
Adriana Signorini, Amy Bergerson, James Zimmerman

The University of Central Oklahoma, in collaboration with Oklahoma City Community College, Rose State College, and Southwestern Oklahoma State University
The Oklahoma Institute for Civic Character (Pilot Phase)
Jan Hardt, Emily Stacey, David Searcy, Laura Halstied, Crystal Mohamed

University of Denver
The 4D Experience Compassion Lab: How DU We Educate Compassionate Citizens for the Public Good?
Erin K. Anderson-Camenzind, Laura Perille

University of Georgia
Exploring the Reasoning Behind Ethical Decisions: Character Education as Integral to UGA’s New Core Ethics Requirement
Sarah Wright, Ruth Harman

University of Kansas
Character is Credibility: A Character-Focused Approach to Elevating and Informing Indigenous Media Representation for Collegiate/Early-Career Journalists
Melissa Greene-Blye

The University of Mississippi
Building a Character-Centered Onboarding System for Ole Miss Athletics
Hunter A. Taylor

University of North Georgia
Building CARE: Advancing Character in the College of Arts and Letters
Doris Wesley, Laura Ng

University of Pittsburgh
Learners of Character: Character Formation through Experiential Learning in the Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences
Abdesalam Soudi

University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez
Technomoral Character Initiative: Emerging Leadership in Transcultural Education
Jeffrey Herlihy-Mera, Iliaris Avilés-Ortiz

Vanderbilt University
Dare to Grow: Character Development through a Capstone Experience
Heather Lefkowitz, Sarah Suiter, Kristen Tompkins

Vassar College
Going to the Source: An Exploration of Institutional and Individual Character
Wendy Maragh Taylor, Leora Gansworth 

Victoria College
Pioneering Victoria College’s Character Education Framework through Core Courses
Michelle Paulsen, Nacona Nix

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Ut Prosim in Action
Jennifer Gallagher, Thomas Archibald, Theresa Johansson, Meghan Madel

Washington and Lee University
Cultivating Character in a Culture of Honor: Integrating Character Education at Washington and Lee
Leah Beard, Tammy Futrell, and Wendy Lovell

Wenatchee Valley College
Indigenizing Leadership and Character Education at Wenatchee Valley College
Maria Isabel Morales-Sanchez

William & Mary
William & Mary Character and Community Leadership Collaborative
Roxane O. Adler Hickey

William Woods University
The Character Playbook: Cultivating the Good through Sport
Travis Tamerius

Yavapai College
Scaling SOL at Yavapai College
Janice Soutee