This catalytic legacy grant from Templeton World Charity Foundation (TWCF) aims to help embed the teaching of character strengths for future leaders into the curriculum of one of the world’s most prestigious universities.

The Oxford Character Project (OCP), led by Edward Brooks and program-managed by Anjali Sarker, was founded in 2014 with the support of the TWCF. Over the last decade, OCP has become a leading center for character and leadership research, and it has built education programs to foster character qualities to enable the leaders of tomorrow to build a more compassionate, just, and prosperous world.

OCP has the opportunity to establish a permanent institute for character-based leadership at the University of Oxford in the Department of Politics and International Relations. 

To establish the institute within the University, OCP's first step is to raise £10 million by the end of 2025. This grant aims to aid in that endeavor by enabling the project team to raise the profile of OCP as it presents its vision and need for funding through a 10th anniversary campaign.

This grant will provide funding to cover the costs of a campaign manager and fundraising professional for OCP, and to recruit personnel to run the anniversary campaign. 

The goals of the proposed institute will be to put character and leadership education at the heart of the Oxford University Politics curriculum, produce world-leading research in character and leadership studies, and work in partnership with institutions around the world to put virtues of character and a commitment to the flourishing of people across the world at the heart of global leadership.