People with Purpose: You’ve got male

Tell us a little bit about your career background.

Throughout my professional career I have been passionate about fostering equality to encourage greater health and wellbeing outcomes for Australians.

For nearly 10 years I worked in the sport sector, first as the founder of Proud2Play, an organisation focused on increasing queer engagement in sport, exercise and active recreation, and then as the CEO of Pride Cup, which works with all levels of sport to build a world where all LGBTQIA+ people are included, accepted and proud to be who they are.

I was proud to oversee significant increases in queer visibility in sport, highlighted by the launch of the annual AFL Pride Game between St Kilda and Sydney and the growing recognition of gender inclusive action plans throughout sporting institutions.

Working in sport was both wonderful and challenging; I saw the role that sport plays in bringing people together, and I also saw how stereotypes, particularly those with regards to masculinity, can bring harm to people of all genders.

Homophobia is one of those stereotypes, and I saw how that intersected with misogyny. I was seeking to further shift the dial when it comes to gender equality, and for a while I had been following the great work being done by the Man Cave to empower teenage boys to become healthy men.

Wanting to move into the prevention space, I decided to make the jump out of the sport sector and take on the role of chief operating officer (COO).

How did the Man Cave come into being?

The Man Cave was founded in 2014 by Hunter Thomson, Jamin Heppell and Al Green.

We are Australia’s leading preventative mental health charity for teenage boys and their communities, and our vision is for a world in which all men have healthy relationships, contribute to their communities and reach their full potential.

We saw that outdated stereotypes of what it means to be a man were having a detrimental effect on communities, as evidenced by high rates of male suicide, gendered violence and mental ill-health.

And while significant funding is put towards crisis management, there is very little focus directed towards preventative solutions which can interrupt the attitudes, behaviours and belief systems that lead to these issues before they arise.

So, the Man Cave was born, and we have since worked with 80,000 young men and their communities.

What are the issues the Man Cave is trying to address?

The Man Cave seeks to address the concerning rates of male suicide, gendered violence and mental ill-health through a preventative lens, by providing teenage boys with impactful programs, role models and resources.

Our programs address the underlying factors that lead to these issues by giving boys safe spaces in which to explore and unpack the traditional scripts of masculinity that they have inherited, and the opportunity to create their own vision for healthy masculinity.

Why is toxic masculinity on the rise and what programs does the Man Cave have in place to address this?

The phrase “toxic masculinity” is one that we generally avoid using at the Man Cave, as it tends to be divisive and isolating for young men, preventing them from exploring healthier expressions of masculinity.

However, there is no doubt that certain expressions of masculinity, driven by stereotypes of what it means to be a man, have caused significant harm, not just for women and non-binary folk, but also for men themselves, who become stifled by limiting beliefs in what a man can be.

From our workshops we see that many young men are struggling to discern for themselves how to be a man in the modern world, with conflicting societal messages making it a confusing time.

As a result, we have seen the rhetoric surrounding masculinity become increasingly intense, particularly with negative online male influencers seeking to fill the gap with concerning messaging targeting young men.

Our programs are designed to provide teenage boys with positive male role models who give boys aspirational examples of healthy masculinity, and from our data we know that these programs are having a positive impact not just on the young men, but also on the communities around them.

How can the community support the work being done by the Man Cave?

The Man Cave could not do the work it does without the incredible support of our community.

The best way to support our work is through a direct donation — as little as $50 can provide the funding for one teenage boy to experience one of our life-changing workshops.

Other ways to support our work include purchasing Stuff That Matters products from Woolworths. Stuff That Matters is a men’s personal care brand and every sale directs funds towards our programs.

Finally, simply following our work via our social media and spreading the word helps us immensely.