About Us

Founded in 2014, our team combines expertise in programme design and delivery with academic insight from across disciplines. We seek to contribute to knowledge through journal articles, books and industry reports and we deliver character and leadership development programmes at Oxford and in other universities and commercial organisations. We are currently undertaking a major (£2.6m) research project on culture, character and leadership in organisations and business sectors. We are also working with an international group of thought leaders and practitioners to explore values-based leadership development in the Global South.

Our leadership development programmes integrate proven character-based strategies to help students and professionals to navigate complexity and uncertainty, enabling them to engage challenges, lead across boundaries and contribute positively to organisations and society. Our core Oxford programmes are the Global Leadership Initiative, a seven-month extra-curricular programme for diverse cohorts of postgraduate students, the Global Leadership Summer School, and the Global Leadership Challenge, delivered in partnership with the St Gallen Symposium.

The Oxford Character Project is an interdisciplinary initiative with a team of research fellows from the humanities and social sciences focusing on character and leadership in higher education, commercial organisations, and international development. We are based at the Department of Politics and International Relations at the University of Oxford.

We work in conjunction with faculty members from the University of Oxford’s Social Sciences Division, Department for International Development, Saïd Business School, Oxford Internet Institute, and Faculty of Law. Our work is funded through the generous support of the John Templeton Foundation, the Legatum Foundation, the Templeton World Charity Foundation, and the Laidlaw Foundation.