The only CV that matters is character.

Mission

Actors, athletes, and astronauts occupy positions of unusual public influence. How they treat other people, honor their commitments, behave in their relationships, and exercise their influence shapes social expectations and cultural norms far beyond their own fields. Our mission is to recognize the people among them who demonstrate strong character not only in their professional achievements but in how they live, and to do it in a way that is rigorous enough to carry real prestige.

This is not a popularity contest, a celebrity ranking, or a list of people who happen to have no known controversies. Inclusion must be earned through documented positive ethical conduct, reviewed by people, and published with its evidence. Over time we intend Character Verified to become a respected public institution whose recognition means something.

Editorial philosophy

Integrity is demonstrated, not declared. We look for what a person actually did, when, and at what cost, and we prefer the account of a named witness, a contemporaneous record, or an official document over any amount of reputation. We separate established fact from interpretation, we publish our sources, and we rate the strength of our own evidence on every example. When the record shows that someone made a mistake and took responsibility for it, we say so, because accountability is part of character and people change.

We also know the limits of what a public record can show. A profile states, dimension by dimension, what was documented and what was not assessed, and we never imply that every aspect of a person's life has been verified. Absence from the directory is not a judgment about anyone. Read Our Standards for the full framework.

Governance

Every editorial action on this site is attributed to a named member of the editorial team and recorded in an audit trail: who added a source, who approved it, who applied the rubric, who recorded the decision, and who published the profile. Three roles exist. Researchers gather and record evidence. Editors review sources, apply the published rubric, and record decisions with a written rationale. Administrators publish and unpublish profiles, manage the team, and maintain the private records that keep the directory honest: nominations, concerns that did not rise to findings, and administrative scope exclusions.

No profile can be published unless the system confirms that a decision, a rationale, a dated living-status check, and reviewer-approved evidence are all in place. Software, including AI tools, may help us find candidates and organize sources; it never decides anyone's character and never publishes anything.

Independence

Character Verified does not accept payment, gifts, or other consideration from anyone in exchange for nomination, review, recognition, placement, or the removal of information. We do not sell advertising, and we do not accept sponsorship from subjects of the directory, their representatives, or their employers. Nominations are free and open to anyone, and self-nominations are evaluated to exactly the same standard as any other. Team members recuse themselves from reviewing anyone with whom they have a personal or financial relationship, and recusals are recorded.

Scope and exclusions

We currently cover three categories: actors, athletes, and astronauts, with astronauts as our most comprehensive category. From time to time administrators may decide that a particular person is outside the project's editorial scope. Such decisions are private, are not published, and are not findings about anyone's character. Nothing on this site should be read as a statement about a person who does not appear on it.

Team

Character Verified was founded in 2026 by Thomas Shaffer, an entrepreneur based in El Segundo, California, who has spent his career convening capable people to solve complex problems. The editorial team is being assembled; members, their roles, and their recusal policies will be published on this page as they join.

Contact

For corrections, additional evidence, or a response from a subject or their representative, please use the corrections and appeals form, which creates a tracked record. For everything else, write to editors@characterverified.org.