Character is Destiny

Character is Destiny is a values-based curriculum for school children designed to promote a value for integrity among young people as a foundation for flourishing communities and strong, healthy, prosperous nations.

Cultures of integrity are ultimately derived from the beliefs people hold. While laws and institutions set essential guardrails, the decisions people make within those boundaries – whether to lie, cheat, and take advantage of others, or tell the truth, serve others, and act with honor – are products of their values. Beliefs drive behaviors.

Character is Destiny is built on the principle that the values people see modeled as children stay with them for life. By teaching young people in highly practical ways about the importance of a strong character, we can build self-reinforcing cultures of integrity that ripple through society.

Character is Destiny is built around a seven-module, interactive program focusing on the values of integrity, honesty, trust, honor, servanthood, courage, and accountability. We have identified these as at the heart of strong, high-trust communities.

Each module uses role models such as Mahatma Gandhi and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf who have lived out these beliefs and allegories to bring them to life for children.

Our goal is that by the end of the training, participants will be able to define and articulate the core concepts of integrity, analyse the consequences of ethical and unethical actions, develop the courage to stand up against injustice, and apply the principles of integrity in their daily lives.

The Chandler Foundation works closely with governments to curate the Character is Destiny curriculum for local contexts and role models and advise on how best to deliver it.

The Chandler Foundation works in-country with teachers, youth leaders, and other program facilitators to equip them with the skills to deliver Character is Destiny through existing institutions such as schools and community groups.

As the program progresses, we provide ongoing support for educators while continuing to work closely with education ministries and other high-level stakeholders to adapt and refine the content and delivery.

Character is Destiny launched in 2025, with pilot programs in Zambia and Malawi undertaken alongside anti-corruption institutions, ministries of education, and other local organizations.

Since then, it has reached more than 7,000 students. Nearly 90% of teachers involved reported an improvement in integrity-related behavior among their students, with an average satisfaction rating among the facilitators we trained of 4.8 out of 5.

These editions of the program have demonstrated the practical value of our approach. Working with government stakeholders has progressed the local curated versions of the program for use in schools. The “train the trainers” approach has enabled adoption to spread at pace. Our on-the-ground engagement has demonstrated demand beyond the classroom, including interest from businesses, government agencies, and community groups.

Chandler Foundation’s work is built around the concept of the Trust Waterfall. This demonstrates that cultures of integrity must be built across three domains: government, marketplace, and community.

The first is government. Ethical governance is the starting point for creating cultures of integrity, with the positive change led in this domain flowing down to impact the others. Chandler Foundation’s National Action Plans (NAPs) as well as our Anti-Corruption Manual and the Chandler Anti-Corruption Practice Group all support integrity at the government level. 

Building a moral marketplace requires a range of strategies from government and corporate leaders to uphold free and fair competition, ethical standards, and good corporate governance. Chandler Foundation provides the Leading with Integrity training program to address this. Leading with Integrity is a marketplace curriculum for companies working to build a high-trust workplace. Currently in its pilot phase, Leading with Integrity highlights the legal, moral, and financial benefits of integrity to businesses. 

Character is Destiny is our flagship program at the community level. By shaping values when people are young, we support governments and institutions to sow honor in their communities. This helps to build socially cohesive, high-trust societies united in shared values and committed to one another’s wellbeing.