Parr Center for Ethics

Name

Parr Center for Ethics

Legal name

Parr Center for Ethics

Website

https://parrcenter.unc.edu

Company type

Private

Founded year

2004

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Ethics Education and Academic Outreach Programs

NAICS

Educational Services (611), Other Schools and Instruction (6116)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Code of Conduct & Business Ethics (EDABADAB)

akta.pro secondary industry

Compliance, Ethics & Regulatory Training (EDAGANAD)

Keywords

• Ethics education programs
• Philosophy outreach
• Ethics bowl competitions
• Moral reasoning training
• Civic discourse education

Headquarters

HQ city

Chapel Hill

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Grant Funding: Primary funding comes from institutional grants including the Educating for the Virtues of Attention project ($789,618 three-year grant from Wake Forest University's Educating Character Initiative with Lilly Endowment Inc. support), and John Templeton Foundation grants supporting intellectual humility research.
2. University Institutional Support: As an academic center within UNC-Chapel Hill's Department of Philosophy, the Parr Center receives ongoing institutional support from the College of Arts and Sciences.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

The Parr Center for Ethics is an academic ethics center at UNC-Chapel Hill that delivers ethics education programs including the National High School Ethics Bowl competition, undergraduate and graduate fellowship programs, K-12 classroom workshops, community outreach events, and digital educational content through the TED-Ed Ethics Studio video series. Programs foster civil discourse, ethical reasoning, and moral sensitivity across age groups and are delivered free of charge to participants.

Product overview

The Parr Center for Ethics is a university-based ethics center offering a portfolio of educational programs rather than a commercial product. Its core offerings include competitive Ethics Bowl programs (National High School Ethics Bowl, North Carolina High School Ethics Bowl, Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl), undergraduate programs (Ethics Scholar, Ethics Ambassador), a Graduate Fellowship, the TED-Ed Ethics Studio video series, and the Educating for the Virtues of Attention campus-wide initiative. Supporting programs include lecture series (Ethics Around the Table, Parr Center Presents, Parr|Bioethics Joint Lecture), K-12 outreach workshops, community outreach, and impact research studies. The center serves as a focal point for ethical reflection at UNC and beyond, integrating philosophical inquiry with practical ethics education across the lifespan.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• The Ethics Studio: A collaboration between the Parr Center for Ethics and TED-Ed that brings to life animated ethical dilemmas rooted in philosophical traditions.
• National High School Ethics Bowl
• North Carolina High School Ethics Bowl
• Parr Heels

Products and services

• National High School Ethics Bowl (NHSEB) A competitive ethics program for high school students nationwide that fosters collaborative and respectful dialogue about real-world ethical issues, culminating in an annual national championship at UNC-Chapel Hill. Directed by Alex Richardson since 2019.
• North Carolina High School Ethics Bowl (NCHSEB) The state-level Ethics Bowl competition for North Carolina high schools, serving as a feeder to the National High School Ethics Bowl championship.
• Ethics Scholar Program An undergraduate program at UNC-Chapel Hill that recognizes and supports students who demonstrate exceptional engagement with ethical reflection and moral reasoning.
• Ethics Ambassador Program An undergraduate program that trains UNC students to facilitate ethical discussions and serve as peer educators in ethics across the UNC campus.
• Graduate Fellowship Program A program supporting UNC graduate students in developing philosophical outreach skills and contributing to the Parr Center's K-12 programs and research initiatives.
• TED-Ed Ethics Studio A collaboration with TED-Ed producing an animated ethical dilemma video series rooted in philosophical traditions, designed for classroom discussion and independent exploration and distributed globally through the TED-Ed platform.
• Educating for the Virtues of Attention (EVA) A campus-wide initiative to help undergraduate students develop attentional habits that support serious inquiry and civic engagement, funded by a $789,618 three-year grant from Wake Forest University's Educating Character Initiative.
• Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl Team UNC Chapel Hill's competitive team participating in the Association for Practical and Professional Ethics Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl competition for college students.
• Ethics Around the Table A recurring speaker series featuring faculty and visiting scholars presenting ethical topics in an informal lunchtime format at UNC-Chapel Hill.
• Parr Center Presents A lecture series featuring visiting philosophers and scholars discussing contemporary ethical issues, open to UNC students, faculty, staff, and the general public.
• Parr|Bioethics Joint Lecture An annual joint lecture co-sponsored with the UNC Center for Bioethics, addressing ethical issues at the intersection of bioethics and philosophy with alternating hosting responsibilities.
• Ethical Conversations Workshops K-12 outreach workshops run by trained UNC facilitators and graduate students to engage middle and high school students in ethical deliberation and critical thinking, delivered in partner schools including Smith Middle School in Chapel Hill.
• Community Outreach Program Outreach initiatives bringing ethical deliberation and philosophy programming to schools and community organizations across North Carolina, including partnerships with the Seymour Center, Chapel Hill Public Library, and Flyleaf Books.
• Impact Research Program Research studies investigating the effectiveness of ethics education programs in cultivating intellectual humility and ethical reasoning in adolescents and young adults, supported by the John Templeton Foundation.

Quantifiable outcome

• Three-time winner of APA/Philosophy Documentation Center Award for Excellence and Innovations in Philosophy Programs (2008, 2014, 2021)
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

13 partnerships are on record, tiered flagship, core and minor.

• IZEW (International Center for Ethics), University of TübingenflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint workshop on AI, Ethics, and Education scheduled for March 3-4, 2026, at Wilson Library. A joint production of the Parr Center and IZEW ethics center at the University of Tübingen, generously supported by UNC Global Affairs.
• UNC Global AffairscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerProvided support for the Parr Center/IZEW Tübingen Workshop on AI, Ethics, and Education.
• Ackland Art MuseumminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCampus partner for EVA (Educating for the Virtues of Attention) project, collaborating on co-curricular activities.
• Morehead Planetarium and Science CenterminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCampus partner for EVA project, collaborating on co-curricular activities.
• Carolina Performing ArtsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCampus partner for EVA project, collaborating on co-curricular activities.
• Carolina HousingminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCampus partner for EVA project, collaborating on co-curricular activities.
• Honors CarolinaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCampus partner for EVA project, collaborating on co-curricular activities.
• Wilson Special Collections LibraryminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCampus partner for EVA project, collaborating on co-curricular activities.
• Association for Practical and Professional Ethics (APPE)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration on the first-ever study on the impact of the Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl. APPE provided financial support for the study along with the John Templeton Foundation and Center for Practical Ethics at University of Mississippi.
• Intellectual Humility Science project at Georgia State UniversityminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch collaboration partner for intellectual humility studies, acknowledged for generous support.
• Smith Middle School (Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership began in 2021 as pilot project for K-12 ethics outreach. Teacher Tina Atack's classroom hosts regular ethics workshops led by Parr Center Outreach Director and graduate students. Partnership focuses on promoting critical thinking and civil discourse.
• TED-EdflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration on The Ethics Studio, producing animated ethical dilemma videos rooted in philosophical traditions. Videos include teaching resources and are distributed globally through TED-Ed platform. Four new videos released June 2025.
• UNC Center for BioethicscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAnnual co-sponsorship of the Parr|Bioethics Joint Lecture, with both centers alternating hosting responsibilities.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Kennedy Institute of Ethics at Georgetown University: A long-established academic ethics institute with national profile in bioethics and policy ethics — comparable academic ethics institution, though with a heavier bioethics focus and broader research footprint than the Parr Center.
• McCoy Family Center for Ethics and Culture at Stanford: A larger, more established university ethics center with broader funding, a faculty network, and wider programming — overlapping mission in ethics education and research but with greater scale and resources than the Parr Center.
• Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics at Harvard University: A major university ethics center with substantial funding and a broad portfolio of ethics research, teaching, and programming — operates in the same academic ethics space but at much larger scale and scope than the Parr Center.

Direct peers

• Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University: A university-based ethics center focused on applied ethics education, ethics across the curriculum, K-12 programs, and partnerships with technology and business communities — directly comparable in mission and programming to the Parr Center's applied ethics focus.
• UNC Center for Bioethics: A sibling academic center at UNC-Chapel Hill that co-sponsors the annual Parr|Bioethics Joint Lecture — directly comparable as a university-based ethics center operating within the same institutional ecosystem and with overlapping programming.
• Association for Practical and Professional Ethics (APPE): Operates the Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl (a sibling competition to the NHSEB) and co-publishes ethics education research with the Parr Center — a direct programmatic peer in ethics competition infrastructure.
• Prindle Institute for Ethics at DePauw University: An academic ethics center at a U.S. university that runs ethics education programs across age groups (K-12, undergraduate, adult), publishes research on character/ethics education, and operates K-12 outreach — closely mirroring the Parr Center's structure, mission, and program mix.
• Center for Practical Ethics at University of Mississippi: An academic ethics center that is a direct co-funding partner on the Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl impact study and runs comparable ethics education programming — a similar-sized, similar-mission peer in academic ethics.
• Rock Ethics Institute at Penn State: A university ethics institute conducting ethics education, outreach, and research across disciplines, with programming aimed at students and the broader community — a comparable academic ethics center with similar portfolio breadth.

Regional players

• International Center for Ethics in the Sciences and Humanities (IZEW), University of Tübingen: A European university ethics center co-hosting the March 2026 AI, Ethics, and Education workshop with the Parr Center — directly comparable as a university-based ethics research and education center, but operating in Germany rather than the U.S.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/parr-center-for-ethics

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Parr Center for Ethics