Men Leading Change for Healthy Communities

Through a series of critical conversations this fall, the Women’s Foundation of Minnesota invited men to join as partners and leaders in building healthy communities where all people can thrive. The series was a key opportunity on WFMN’s Road to Transformation to listen, amplify, and invest in the voices and experiences of communities across our state. With men and boys as our partners, we are activating our collective power to drive gender and racial equity!

We partnered to create a set of interactive trainings with A Call to Men, an internationally recognized leader in training men and boys to listen, learn, and act to end gender-based violence and discrimination. Wherever we sit, we can use our position and role to activate change grounded in equity when we listen, learn, share power, and drive long-term transformation.

Sessions addressed the “man box” and the harmful socialization of men through the 5 Essential Habits to Create Equity & Respect at Work with Ted Bunch, power and race analysis in a Power & Equity Training with Tony Porter, and men’s opportunities to model healthy behavior and attitudes with young people in How to Promote Healthy Manhood with Josué Argüelles.

Now, WFMN invites men to join the Men of Courage Circle to continue your personal journey and our shared commitment to gender and racial equity. If you are interested in continuing to activate this work, join Roderic Southall and others in the Men of Courage Circle at the Women’s Foundation of Minnesota. As a participant, you’ll have the opportunity to meet quarterly to listen, learn, share resources, and invest in creating a world in which we all can thrive.

As Josué Arguelles of A Call to Men shared, our liberation is linked!

If you weren’t able to be a part of the training sessions, it’s not too late to join in sharing conversation and resources to support your leadership as individuals, leaders, and investors in changing systems to create a better future for all.

Actions You Can Take on the Road to Transformation

See more tips for creating your personal action plan below.

• Lead. Leverage influence to promote healthy modeling and messaging of male behavior to prevent harassment and violence.
• Value. Listen to women and validate their experiences. Study, commit, and practice using language that values and does not denigrate women and girls.
• Speak Up. Speak up when you see harassment, disrespect, and violence. Demand accountability, support survivors, and change culture.
• Invest. Invest in and with women and girls to ensure safety, opportunity, and leadership for all women and girls as an investment in whole community well-being.

To join the circle or invest in the Men of Courage Fund, contact Stacy Papier-Meister, associate director of advancement, at stacy@wfmn.org.

Guiding Questions for Action Planning

Workplace

• Do current diversity & inclusion efforts in your workplace incorporate education for the dominant group? If not, how can that be created?
• What commitment can you make to initiate that process?
• What else can we do to create a workplace culture of respect, equity, and value for all?
• How can you create space for people to share their experience without fear?

Influence/Platform

• Where can you identify power you personally hold?
• Where can you identify systemic power that you can affect?
• What commitments can you make to help shift power to create more equity?

Youth Work

• In what areas of your life do you have an opportunity to influence young people and/or elevate their leadership?
• What commitment can you make to model and/or promote healthy manhood to young people in your sphere of influence?

Additional Resources

• Tony Porter’s TED Talk on the “Man Box”
• Ted Bunch’s presentation at the Upfront Summit
• “Faces of Power: 80% Are White, Even as U.S. Becomes More Diverse,” The New York Times
• #NetflixAndReflect
• LiveRespect on Campus ToolKit
• LiveRespect: Coaching Healthy, Respectful Manhood curriculum
• Learn more about YouthACT!
• Expanding Fluency with Gender Identity: Gender Unicorn and Pronouns
• The Book of Dares: 100 Ways for Boys to be Kind, Bold and Brave 
• A Call to Men’s Dismantle the Patriarchy contest