The Oxford Character Project
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2014
- HeadquartersOxford, United Kingdom
- Headcount—
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
The Oxford Character Project firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- The Oxford Character Project
- Legal name
- The Oxford Character Project
- Website
- https://oxfordcharacter.org
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2014
- Operating status
- Operating
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
The Oxford Character Project industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Executive Leadership Education and Research
- NAICS
- Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities (541720), Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, Professional, and Similar Organizations (813), Marketing Research and Public Opinion Polling (541910)
- SIC
- Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Leadership, Character Education & Values Development (EDAMAIAG)
Keywords
Where The Oxford Character Project is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Oxford
- HQ country
- United Kingdom
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices1 record
Markets served
The Oxford Character Project business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others
Revenue model
- Foundation and Charity Grants: Primary funding from foundations including John Templeton Foundation (£2.6m research project), Templeton World Charity Foundation, Legatum Foundation, and Laidlaw Foundation. Near USD 90 billion spent on leadership development annually with minimal investment in character-based approaches represents the funding opportunity.
- Leadership Development Programmes: Award-winning education programmes for students including Global Leadership Initiative, Oxford Future Leaders Programme, and Global Leadership Challenge. Programs integrate character-based strategies to develop responsible leaders.
- Research and Consulting Services: Industry research partnerships with businesses, providing research-informed insights on character, culture, and leadership for organizational development. Collaborated with 20+ industry partners including financial services, law, and technology firms.
- Free Online Course (Leading with Character): Free 30-day online course on leadingwithcharacter.com developed in partnership with Harvard Human Flourishing Program, providing accessible character leadership education to global audience.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Pay-as-you-go | Leading with Character - Free 30-day online course |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels5 records
Marketing channels8 records
The Oxford Character Project product offering
Product offeringCore offering
The Oxford Character Project delivers character-based leadership development programmes and academic research for students, business leaders, political leaders, and sport leaders. Its offerings include in-person Oxford-based programmes (Global Leadership Initiative, Global Leadership Challenge, Oxford Future Leaders, Oxford Leadership and Character Programme), an online "Leading with Character" course, the Laidlaw Scholars Leadership Programme, and corporate research partnerships such as the Character in Business research with FTSE 350 companies.
Product overview
The Oxford Character Project offers a portfolio of character-based leadership development programmes centred on cultivating wise thinkers and ethical leaders. The core offerings include the Global Leadership Initiative (GLI) for Oxford students, the Global Leadership Challenge (GLC) conducted jointly with St. Gallen Symposium, the Oxford Future Leaders Programme, and the Laidlaw Scholars Leadership Programme. The organisation also delivers Leading with Character, a free 30-day online course developed with the Legatum Foundation and Harvard Human Flourishing Program. Research collaborations with universities and industry partners complement the programmatic offerings, including a new K-Culture Character-based Leadership Programme rooted in Korean cultural forms.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Leading with Character: A free 30-day online course designed to help individuals clarify what it means to lead in their context, based on cutting-edge research into character, leadership and human flourishing.
Products and services
- Global Leadership Initiative (GLI)
Quantifiable outcome
- 52% of leadership features identified by 1,100+ professionals relate to character virtues, 35% to interpersonal skills, 13% to professional competence
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use The Oxford Character Project
Customer profileNamed customers4 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
The Oxford Character Project technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature3 records
The Oxford Character Project partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
16 partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and supporting.
- St. Gallen SymposiumcoreJoint initiative delivering Global Leadership Challenge - annual week-long challenge convening 100 young leaders from 50+ countries. GLC 2024 focused on SDGs 3, 4, and 13 (Health, Education, Climate Action). Winners attend St. Gallen Symposium as Leaders of Tomorrow.
- Harvard Human Flourishing ProgramcoreFive-year collaboration to develop understanding and measurement of hope and optimism. Created Leading with Character online course. Partnership on university character rankings with Wall Street Journal.
- Forward InstitutecoreProduced UK Business Values Survey 2022 - most comprehensive study in 7 years analyzing values across 221 companies (majority FTSE 350). Also partnered on £2.6m character/culture/leadership research project.
- Laidlaw FoundationcoreDelivers annual leadership programme to 400 Laidlaw Scholars from 20 leading global universities, guiding them through structured character development process for ethical leadership.
- Jubilee Centre for Character and Virtues (University of Birmingham)majorJointly developed university-focused framework for character education, adopted globally and translated into Spanish for Spain and Latin America.
- Better Politics FoundationcorePart of Leadership Excellence in Politics (LEiP) Initiative bringing together leadership experts, educators, and political leaders to identify patterns of good leadership and translate into education programmes.
- Geneva Centre for Security PolicymajorCo-founder of LEiP Initiative alongside Better Politics Foundation, Kofi Annan Foundation, and Nexus Vesting to advance leadership education for political leaders globally.
- Kofi Annan FoundationmajorCo-founder of LEiP Initiative to identify and promote good leadership practices in politics worldwide.
- Universidad Francisco de VitoriacoreResearch collaboration on leadership education titled 'Leadership Education: Identification, Validation, and Evaluation of Pedagogical Strategies in RIU Universities.' Funded by UFV, focuses initially on Red Internacional de Universidades del Regnum Christi (RIU) network.
- Prof Kim Hyung-suk (K-Culture Partnership)coreSix-year collaboration with world-renowned K-pop composer to develop character and leadership education programmes rooted in K-culture. Engages Korean International School of Arts and Sciences, using music, drama, and creative expression to cultivate empathy, courage, creativity, and resilience. Prof Hyung-suk granted Oxford access to 1,400 songs for language/cultural education.
- ResPublicasupportingCo-hosted panel discussion on open-mindedness and intellectual humility in leadership, exploring character formation in politics, business, and civil society.
- The Wall Street JournalmajorPartnership to incorporate character development into US university rankings for first time in 2025, bringing visibility to character education in higher education.
- University of Navarra (Civic Humanism Center)majorHosting virtual panel discussion on 'The Arts of Leading' book and co-organizing events exploring humanities perspectives on leadership and character.
- Korea International School of Arts and SciencescorePartner school for K-Culture Character-based Leadership Programme, implementing curricula using Korean cultural forms for character development.
- EDGE StrategysupportingSupporting Global Leadership Challenge with focus on leadership excellence and development.
- EWOR EducationsupportingProvides entrepreneurship mentoring track for GLC participants to develop skills towards building ventures after the leadership challenge.
Scale indicators7 records
Recent moves8 records
Expansion highlights6 records
The Oxford Character Project competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Kofi Annan Foundation: Foundation advancing good governance and political leadership globally. Co-founder with OCP of the LEiP Initiative for political leadership education — directly comparable in mission on ethical political leadership formation.
- St. Gallen Symposium: Annual international gathering of 600+ leaders from 100+ countries. Direct OCP partner co-hosting the Global Leadership Challenge, sharing a mission of intergenerational leadership formation with university-affiliated programming.
- Character.org: US non-profit dedicated to character education across schools, workplaces, and communities. Operates in the same character-development category as OCP, with parallel emphasis on framework development, recognition programmes, and applied research.
- Jubilee Centre for Character and Virtues (University of Birmingham): A UK academic centre also focused on character and virtues research and education. Direct collaborator with OCP on a jointly developed university-focused framework for character education now translated into Spanish — they are the closest methodological peer.
- Kenan Institute for Ethics at Duke University: University-based ethics and character centre with focus on business, policy, and civic leadership. Comparable as an academic ethics/character centre producing research, frameworks, and convening activities.
- Aspen Institute: US-based leadership and civic character organisation convening leaders across sectors. Comparable as a values-driven leadership development institution combining convening, research, and fellowship-style programmes for emerging leaders.
- Forward Institute: An organisation advancing purpose-led business leadership in the UK. Direct OCP partner on the UK Business Values Survey 2022 covering 221 companies and on the £2.6m character research project — comparable in mission and corporate audience.
- Harvard Human Flourishing Program: Harvard initiative studying human flourishing, character, and leadership. Five-year partner of OCP on the Leading with Character online course and the WSJ university rankings, sharing a similar academic-research-to-applied-programme model.
Broad incumbents
- Center for Creative Leadership: Long-established global leadership development provider offering assessments, training, and research. A broader incumbent in the same leadership development market with overlapping research-to-practice methodology.
- International Leadership Association: Global membership organisation convening leadership scholars and practitioners across sectors. A broader incumbent in the leadership development space offering research, conferences, and community for practitioners working on leadership formation.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
The Oxford Character Project social profiles
Digital presenceThe Oxford Character Project financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
The Oxford Character Project leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles9 records
The Oxford Character Project funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
The Oxford Character Project M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about The Oxford Character Project
What does The Oxford Character Project do?
The Oxford Character Project delivers character-based leadership development programmes and academic research for students, business leaders, political leaders, and sport leaders. Its offerings include in-person Oxford-based programmes (Global Leadership Initiative, Global Leadership Challenge, Oxford Future Leaders, Oxford Leadership and Character Programme), an online "Leading with Character" course, the Laidlaw Scholars Leadership Programme, and corporate research partnerships such as the Character in Business research with FTSE 350 companies.
Is The Oxford Character Project a public or private company?
The Oxford Character Project is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was The Oxford Character Project founded?
The Oxford Character Project was founded in 2014.
Where is The Oxford Character Project based?
The Oxford Character Project is headquartered in Oxford, United Kingdom, in the Europe region.
How does The Oxford Character Project make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. Foundation and Charity Grants are the primary driver. The others are leadership Development Programmes, research and Consulting Services and free Online Course (Leading with Character).
Who are The Oxford Character Project's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Kofi Annan Foundation, St. Gallen Symposium, Character.org, Jubilee Centre for Character and Virtues (University of Birmingham), Kenan Institute for Ethics at Duke University, Aspen Institute, Forward Institute and Harvard Human Flourishing Program. Broad incumbents are Center for Creative Leadership and International Leadership Association.
Does The Oxford Character Project have an API?
No public API is recorded for The Oxford Character Project.
What industry is The Oxford Character Project in?
The Oxford Character Project's product category is Executive Leadership Education and Research. Its primary akta.pro industry code is EDAMAIAG, Leadership, Character Education & Values Development. Its NAICS code is 541720 and its SIC code is 8742.