2026 Voyageur Character Roundtable Presentation

The 2025 Character Roundtable Hosted by Voyageur Outward Bound October 22, 2025

Opening Quotes “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.”

Dr Martin Luther King, Jr

“I have my own strengths and skills, and so do other people. We’re in this together. We can help each other. Outward Bound was a miraculous experience. I wouldn’t trade it for anything. I will continue to use what I’ve learned for the rest of my life.”

2025 Character Expedition Alum

Welcome Thanks for making time today to explore character for young people! (3m) Marlais Brand, Voyageur Outward Bound (with Susan Farrell & Elise Gumm) Tom Bear, Character Focus Initiative Jake Plantz, Enrollment Management Association

Today’s Roundtable is a chance to • • • • • •

Meet Character Cohort collaborators Meet 2025 Character Cohort Partners & Students Recap 2025 Character Cohort pilot Hear from Character Expedition students Look ahead to 2026 Character Cohort Ask questions

Character Collaborators Introducing Character Collaborators (Tom) (10m) Collaborators: name, role & why you care about character Higher Ed & Character Advocacy—David Hawkins, National Association for College Admission Counselling Character Research & Advocacy—Trisha Ross Anderson, Harvard Graduate School, Making Caring Common Character Research—Nathan Kuncel, University of Minnesota Character Research—Keith Wright, Enrollment Management Association Student & School Success—Ann Duffy, Education First Character Development—Ginger Naylor, Outward Bound USA Character Development—Katie Dalbey, Outward Bound USA Character Development—Jack Lee, Voyageur Outward Bound *After introducing yourself, please pop a personal strength or skill in the chat

Character Partners & Students Introducing participating high schools, nonprofits & alums (Marlais) (10m) Partners: name & role, Why does character matter in your learning community?

Students: name & grade, What strength or skill comes in handy right now?

Blake School—Chloe Rizzo, Maren Anderson, Vince Donahoe & Students Culver Academies—Dave Bonner, Karen Standfast, Dan Cowell & Students Girls Inc—Lisa Ghartey Ogundimu, Symeon Braxton & Students Hawthorne Valley—Yuuki Metraud & Students Houston LEAD + Discover Us—Dejon Hawthorne, Ashley Willett & Students Open World Learning—Dave Gundale & Students Upward Bound University of Minnesota—Zoila Ganuza Hoaglund & Students Valley Forge Military Academy—Katie Newsom, Aaron Barkley & Students *After introducing yourself, please pop a personal strength/skill in chat

Why Collaborate?

Because character matters (Marlais) (3m) • Positive character skill development = resilience • People are more likely to thrive-- embracing opportunity and coping with challenge-when they practice social-emotional skills and develop positive character traits • Character can increase our lifespans (Dr. Nathan Kuncel) • And make a big difference in our sense of belonging and purpose (Dr. Angela Duckworth)

Collaborating across high school, higher ed, youth dev & research to • • • • •

Support student character development Investigate how character is developed and measure it Find common ground in character recognition Share best practices in identifying character strengths Advance character development and recognition in college readiness, access and success

How We Got To Now A Short History (Tom) (5m) (12:30) • 2024, NACAC, Character Focus Initiative, Making Caring Common & Outward Bound publish & present together—call for character collaboration across higher ed, high schools & youth development • NACAC, Character Focus Initiative and EMA answer the call & begin investigating collaboration • In 2025, EMA steps up as a character research partner, offering to experiment with a pre & post character survey, based on EMA’s Character Skills Snapshot

• Voyageur Outward Bound recruits high schools & nonprofits to participate in a 2025 Character programming and research, students are enrolled in Character Expeditions… surveying begins

2025 Character Cohort Details So here we are—starting to investigate, elevate & advance (Marlais) (3m) • role of character in learning communities • role of character in student readiness, access & success

2025 8 Day Outward Bound Character Expedition • • • • • •

Outward Bound Domains of Thriving 10 crews, 66 students, 519 student program days Pre & post survey (based on Character Skills Snapshot) + student interviews Outward Bound character certificate & recommendation Video & TBD publication Roundtable

EMA Survey & Research A word about EMA survey & research (Jake) (2m) Why embark on the research?

• What EMA does, and our role in education and character Why EMA is interested in measuring character • Why CFI is interested in measuring character • Why Outward Bound is interested in measuring character Initiative resilience teamwork self-control intellectual engagement open-mindedness

2025 EMA survey • Basic structure, process & early findings • Lessons • Moving forward

EMA Research Methods

• Character Skills Snapshot • OBOS

Pre-Test

VOBS Course • Eight-day outdoor expedition

• Character Skills Snapshot • OBOS

Post-Test

6-Week Follow-Up • Character Skills Snapshot

• Descriptive Statistics • T-Tests

Analysis

Reporting • Fulldocumentation of methods • Report of findings

EMA Early Findings Findings (Jake) (2m) We saw increases to four out of six skill preferences on the Snapshot: • • • •

Intellectual Engagement Resilience Self-Control Teamwork

There were decreases to two: • Initiative • Open-mindedness

EMA Early Findings A first look (Jake) (2m) The number of students who completed the course is still relatively small.

There is still much to do before we can come to a firm conclusion on how character skill preferences are being impacted.

Lessons & Future What we learned & where we are headed (Jake) (3m) (12:55) •

This first course helped us develop the methodology for future courses

•

We now have a standardized procedure to streamline the research

•

We also found early support for the efficacy of the VOBS course

•

We will be communicating the results through a research brief we send to our partners and in a publication with NACAC.

Questions?

2025 Character Video

2025 Character Interviews Emerging interview themes >>> resilience, teamwork & open-mindedness (Susan) (1:00)

2025 Student Perspectives Question For Students (Susan) (7-10m) Think about one particular strength or skill you had to use on your Character Expedition.

What is that strength or skill?

When do you use it in your life today?

2025 Partner Perspectives Question For Partners (Marlais) (7m) As you look ahead, what skills do you most want to help your students build?

Let’s Go! What’s Next?

2025 Character Cohort (Marlais, Tom, Jake) (3m) Continue interviewing 2025 students Integrate interviews into survey results Share back 2025 survey takeaways in early 2026 Publish follow-up in David Holmes Series with NACAC, early 2026

2026 Character Cohort (Marlais, Tom, Jake) Reach more students Expand Character Expeditions-- 5 new partners Expand Research-- more students = more data Secure returning & new 2026 Character Cohort partners, Dec 2025 Present & publish together Produce another video

Join The Crew In 2026 Continue advancing character with us! (Susan) (1m) (1:25)

We will send meeting recording, powerpoint, videos & our 2026 Character Cohort info sheet to all attendees To join the 2026 Cohort, reach out to, Susan Farrell: susan.farrell@vobs.org QR Code for 2026 Character Cohort webpage ⟶

Thank You A big thank you to all 2025 Character Cohort partners and students!

Gratitude to Tom, David, Jake & Trisha for sharing their energy and expertise.

And another big thank you to EMA, NACAC and Outward Bound USA for showing up for young people today, and every day.

We are excited to keep advancing character together!

Character Cohort Testimonials From Valley Forge Military Academy: “What we hoped would happen, happened. The cadets shared a transformative character building experience and bonded. When I met them on the last day of their course, their confidence and camaraderie were palpable. They were humbled by their own potential. They can see their own abilities, and recognize strengths in others.”

Character Cohort Testimonials From Culver Academies: “What an incredible week! As a teacher at a leadership school, it was great to see students be able to reinforce and put into practice the theories of leadership we teach.

It was especially great to see how the program empowered our female students. As an educator, I also learned some valuable tools to put in my own toolbox. Overall “A” for the program!”

From Girls Inc Chicago: “Thank you so much for the Outward Bound opportunity… an unforgettable experience —pushing boundaries, building confidence, and developing important leadership and teamwork skills. Your team’s thoughtful planning, expert guidance, and dedication throughout the trip made a tremendous difference. Thank you for creating such a safe, empowering, and memorable adventure. We’re truly grateful for your partnership and look forward to future collaborations.”