For more than a decade, Templeton World Charity Foundation (TWCF) has been investing in the training and development of emerging leaders around the world with a focus on the character virtues needed to advance human flourishing. The Foundation’s investments have been central to the establishment of several centers for values-based (i.e. virtuous) leadership in the Global North, including the Oxford Character Project at the University of Oxford.

Recent investment in virtuous leadership in the Global South and Majority World Low- and Middle- Income Countries (LMICs) through the Foundation’s Global Innovations for Character Development funding program has supported work in countries such as Colombia, Mexico, and Kenya. Aside from this, there is limited consolidated knowledge of centers that have a key focus on virtuous leadership in the Global South. 

This project, led by Edward Brooks of the Oxford Character Project, aims to map virtuous leadership activity in LMICs with a particular focus on five major regions in the Global South: Southern and East Africa; Central and West Africa; Latin America; South and Central Asia; and China and South-East Asia. The specific character strengths and virtues the project will take into consideration as central to good leadership include: focus on values, purpose, and the "inner game"; reflection and reflective practice; and an emphasis on Servant Leadership philosophy.

For the mapping exercise, a lead researcher based at the Oxford Department for International Development will work with a global team of consultants and graduate research assistants. For each geographic region a consultant from that area with expertise in values-based leadership will be recruited to identify and systematically map the leading organizations and institutions in the field, taking note of the values, vision, strategy, and structure of the organizations; the courses they are running; the curriculums they use; their approach to impact; and their network of practitioners. The team will also seek to understand the wider context in each region by identifying trends and developments in the sector, including new approaches; assessing the state of academia on leadership development, as well as the relationship between character and leadership in the region. Main donors in the sector and what they are funding, including any collaborative philanthropy will also be taken into account. A detailed report including both summative and detailed findings for each region, as well as recommendations, will be created from this study.