News

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: The ManKind Project
April 25, 2013
CONTACT: Boysen Hodgson, MKP USA Communications Director, communications@mkpusa.org

ManKind Project and the Men's Health Network; Partnering for Men’s Health

Men’s Health week is June 10-16, 2013. The ManKind Project, a nonprofit men’s training and educational organization, is partnering with the Men’s Health Network, a Washington, DC based nonprofit advocacy and education organization, to raise awareness about men’s health issues for the whole month of June.

The ManKind Project, with its global network of men’s peer-support groups, is dedicated to creating safer and healthier communities by supporting mature masculinity and challenging unhealthy male stereotypes and behaviors. The ManKind Project will be holding events throughout the month of June to support men to take charge of their health, get screened for common men’s health conditions, and break the silence about the impacts men’s health problems have on our families and communities. You can get involved by getting free Resources for Men’s Health at the ManKind Project website. If you’re a man ready to take a challenging step to improving all aspects of your life; including your mental, emotional, physical and spiritual life, consider joining a men’s group or attending a weekend intensive for men offered by the ManKind Project.

Man Up. Get Healthy.

One of the most powerful choices you can make as a man is the choice to care for yourself. Men are often reluctant to seek the help they need because of cultural messages that we are supposed to somehow be indestructible. We're not. Fear and Shame can be powerful motivators to stay stuck in old behaviors that no longer help you. Today, you can take a big step toward changing that old pattern.

What's more ... you don't have to do it alone. In the ManKind Project, men have a community to give them the extra 'push' they need to begin creating healthy habits. We also have the skills and resources to help men get unstuck from the stickiest old habits.

As a starting place ... grab the great resources below.

And when you're ready for some real support from other men like you, connect with a local ManKind Project Community and take the risk to change your life.

Quick Resources

Men's Blueprint for Health - PDF
Get It Checked - for Men and Women

MKP Men - Get an EASY to USE Flyer for your Wear Blue Event.

Do a WEAR BLUE Event in your Men's Group!

As a way to recognize this partnership and gain national exposure for the ManKind Project - you and your community can take action to raise awareness of men's health issues - DO A WEAR BLUE EVENT in your IGroup or at Community Event.

It's almost TOO EASY.

1. Wear Blue
2. Print Poster(s) (like this one ... HERE)
3. Take a Picture of your group holding some posters. (Send it to me ... boysen@mkp.org)
4. [OPTIONAL] - Make a group donation to the Men's Health Network (a 501c(3) charitable org) (Donate HERE)

I will post the pictures up on the International Facebook Page and send them to the Men's Health Network for distribution and promotion of their international campaign. MKP gets recognized in Press Releases for the Men's Health Network.

OTP - Press Release for Power of Purpose Summit

For Immediate Release: ManKind Project USA Launches Global Online Event for Men - The Power of Purpose Summit

The ManKind Project USA announces their first virtual summit for men, engaging recognized experts to help empower a new generation of collaborative and creative male leaders, driven by purpose. The free four-day Power of Purpose Summit will run from February 27 to March 2, and will be available live online or by audio download after the event.

14 top purpose experts including Dan Millman, Jack Canfield, Neale Donald Walsch, Chris Attwood, and Richard Leider, along with some powerful ManKind Project thought leaders including Bill Kauth, Rich Tosi, Gregg Levoy, Mike Robbins, and Michael Taylor will share their insights, tools, and techniques to guide men towards finding their purpose. The summit will be co-hosted by Chris Kyle and George Daranyi, two men that have held leadership roles in MKP, bringing over 30 years of experience helping men and women discover and live their purpose.

“It's time to get beyond the lone wolf syndrome our culture promotes for men,” says Boysen Hodgson, Communications Director for the ManKind Project USA, “we need inspired, passionate men with clarity of purpose working together and partnering effectively with women to make a difference for the generations to come. In the ManKind Project, we create a space for men to mentor one another and build skills for this partnership.”

Chris Kyle, Program Director for the ManKind Project USA’s online programming team and co-host of the Summit says, “Over a dozen luminaries are coming together to shine a light for us. These men have lived big lives, they have struggled, grown, and conquered. They’ve done the most important thing any man can do: stepped up and served. Now it’s our turn. I’m excited to be a part of this effort.”

MKP USA invites men from all walks of life to be part of the shift that is happening: “Wake up. Don’t delay. Live big. Give your gifts … every day.” Become a Man On Purpose. Learn more about the Power of Purpose Summit, and see the full speaker list at powerofpurposesummit.com.

The ManKind Project USA (MKP USA) is helping build the emotionally mature, accountable and compassionate role models that our communities so desperately need. MKP provides men with powerful personal growth training opportunities and supports a diverse network of peer-facilitated men’s groups in 34 communities across the United States. MKP USA is part of the ManKind Project International, a global nonprofit with nine regions around the world.

For media inquiries, contact:

Boysen Hodgson
ManKind Project USA
Communications & Marketing Director
communications@mkpusa.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: ManKind Project USA, ManKind Project Chicago

Imagine men showing up for their families, and each other, with emotional maturity, accountability, compassion, and integrity. Imagine thousands of husbands, brothers, and sons doing the work to be available as solid partners and role models for men and boys, fostering safety and connection in our communities. What difference could that make to the headlines we see every day in our local communities?

The ManKind Project (MKP) is supporting men to ‘wake up, grow up, and show up!’ right now, every week, in communities around the world. The ripples from the work these men are doing in men’s groups and trainings – nearly 50,000 men over the last 30 years – has impacted hundreds of thousands and has profoundly helped families and communities. In 2012, two Members of the ManKind Project received Presidential ‘Champions of Change’ awards for their work with veterans and children.

On Thursday, January 17, 2013, men from the ManKind Project were on hand in Chicago to participate in a live program in support of fatherless men and fatherless sons. Nearly 150 men and partners came from across the country to support this important cause and event.

Following the event, local community were invited to attend an open house and luncheon at the ManKind Project Chicago Center at 1900 W. Fulton St. Chicago, IL 60612. Please contact Glenn Barker at 312-243-6743 for additional information.

Patti Henry, M.Ed, LPC, author of “The Emotionally Unavailable Man; A Blueprint for Healing,” who will be on hand for the taping, says of the ManKind Project – “I send men to this program because the response I have received from my clients who have gone through it has been overwhelmingly positive. They become better partners, better parents, better men. I think we have done a great job of empowering women in America, but that is not enough. We MUST heal men to heal the world.”

The ManKind Project knows men. The organization supports men from all walks of life, at all levels of success, and all backgrounds to be more the men they’ve dreamed of becoming. Men’s groups and training programs help men change negative patterns, discover a powerful sense of purpose in their lives, and give them tools to meet their goals. MKP provides a conscious men’s community, a place where a man can get powerful mentoring – and mentor others – through all the passages and transitions of his life. 

In the wake of the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary, there is a national conversation happening about the impacts of outdated ideas of masculinity on our young men, the absence of positive male role models, and the lack of resources for men who feel powerless to affect real change. Jessie Mayer, a massage therapist in Newtown who has been volunteering with trauma recovery efforts, talked about working with a man who described the ‘hollow-eyed men’ he witnesses suffering in silence, men without community, and with limited tools to process the emotional pain of the tragedy. The hollow-eyed men are not just in Newtown, they are everywhere.  The ManKind Project is a place of hope and healing for men and a practice ground for healthy masculinity and men’s community for the 21^st century.

We look forward to increasing recognition as our communities respond to recent events by creating a positive and pro-active approach to helping build engaged and emotionally available male role models. Mike Elser, Chairman of the ManKind Project USA said, “We know men. We’re here and we’re helping. And it’s time for more men and women to know who we are.”

The ManKind Project is a global nonprofit organization [501 (c)(3)] that conducts challenging and highly rewarding trainings for men at every stage of life, and hosts ongoing peer support groups. Our flagship training, described by many as the most powerful men's training available, is the New Warrior Training Adventure [NWTA]. The ManKind Project [MKP] is not affiliated with any religious practice or political party. We strive to be increasingly inclusive and culturally aware.

The ManKind Project has 34 local communities in the United States, supporting approximately 800 men’s peer facilitated support groups. There are men’s groups and training programs available weekly throughout the year. Local representatives would be happy to speak to your organization, and there are men available for interviews across the country (and around the world).

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Boysen Hodgson, Communications Director
communications@mkpusa.org
Office: 413-241-7119

Skype: boysen.hodgson

Learn more: www.mankindproject.org |  nwta.mkp.org | youtube.com/mankindproject

Download in DE | FR

As each of us in MKP gives our gift to our fellow men the results are profound.  Some lead, some administer, some do the books, some organize, some cook, some guide, some listen, some raise funds, some get stuff started, some make phone calls, some hold sacred space and some of us love meetings. Who we have become as the sum of all these gifts is the focus of this report!

Growing Adults: Let me begin with Duane Elgin, a visionary author, speaker and educator whom I have admired for 20 years. In his book The Living Universe, he speaks clearly on the global level of human development: 

 “As I traveled around the world giving talks about humanity’s future, I often began with a simple question: ‘When you look at the overall behaviors of the human family, what life stage do you think we are in? Averaging human behavior around the world, what stage of development best describes the human family: toddler, teenager, adult or elder?’ When I first began asking this question, I had no idea if people would understand it and, if they did, how they would answer. To my surprise, nearly everyone immediately understood the question and their responses show that, around the world, there is an overwhelming agreement about humanity’s stage of life–we are in our teenage years.”

Nearly everyone agrees that we live in a global adolescent culture. There is something about the leadership of our world that has felt narcissistic and dangerous, especially over the last couple decades. Indeed, if our world is guided by adolescent energy what might take us to the next level of maturity?

For 27 years I have seen us/MKP growing adults!  Like some folks grow tomatoes, we grow adults!  And because we do it well, we have a legacy around the world of emotionally and spiritually mature men, who in turn, nurture their children and develop more authentic intimate relationships with women. 

In my role as visionary I look for guidance and direction.  I ask “Are we/MKP focused in a good way, are we serving well?”  So as I read and study I focus through a unique lens of how MKP relates to the big picture.  What I see is rare and beautiful.  Allow me to share a context of good news!

Authentic Initiation:  I have recently immersed myself in Bill Plotkin’s seminal book, Nature and the Human Soul. Here he delineates the transition through 8 stages of human development. It is like our 4 quarters model, but far, far more complex with each quarter (child, adolescence, adult and elder) divided in two, creating 8 distinct stages.  He most poignantly states:  “One life transition in particular – soul initiation - is so demanding and difficult that we could think of the entire stage that precedes it (the Cocoon) as an extended preparatory period for separation, while the stage that succeeds it (the Wellspring) could be envisaged as an extended period of incorporation.”

Brothers, we are doing what Bill Plotkin calls “soul initiation,” the transition that moves men beyond the “thin cocoon” into authentic adulthood.  He points out that Soul Initiation in our culture is “… not only rare but also, when it does occur, likely to happen much later in life (in our twenties or anytime afterward) than it did, or still does, for indigenous peoples (in teens)   …we have lost our own traditions of Soul Initiation and must now imagine new ones that fit who we have become.” 

After initiation Plotkin suggests clearly that: “Now the initiated adult becomes an apprentice to his soul and to a discipline that enables him to live those mysteries into the world.”  In MKP we would say that after the NWTA initiation we “integrate” the learning, as adults, preparing to take our mission into the world. 

Over time as men practice in their I-groups, they get more present, they learn to handle conflict, trust other men and feel their feelings. It has been my observation over the years, that there is a point at which men have simply done enough “inner work” that  the healing is sufficient to allow a maturation that I have come to call “fulfilled to over flowing.”  In this place, there is nothing to do but give.  In Spiral Dynamics terms this is “Second Tier” or a stage of embodied multiple perspectives, when the transpersonal mission feels natural.

Bill Plotkin would say: “Soul initiation is the moment, not when you decided for yourself, but when an answer wholly claims you.  It is the moment when you fully accept your calling, your own particular mission in life. …true adulthood is rooted in something transpersonal.  …Once you have been shown your soul image or story, you must learn how to enact it with our particular culture, time, and place.”

As we have seen so often, when a brother is ready and touches this special moment he begins activating his mission.  Most of us know this profound moment. Again Plotkin says:  The transformation in your life at Soul Initiation is irreversible.  You have, in effect, made “a promise/it will kill you to break,” as David Whyte writes. You now have an obligation both joyous and terrible. There is a sacred responsibility to fulfill.  No excuses. 

Honoring Missions:  Every year we see the fruits of our brothers stepping up to their “action in the world” as we honor and bless men with the annual Ron Hering Mission of Service Awards, now going into the 14^th year.  I always feel touched by the beauty and magnificence of what our brothers are doing in the world.  One final quote from Bill Plotkin:  “The most potent seeds of the Great Work of cultural renaissance come from the uniquely creative work of initiated adults.”

The Depth of our MKP Work:   I have suggested in my opening that we/MKP grow adults, Duane Elgin notes our world is in an adolescence phase, and Bill Plotkin presents the deep importance for authentic initiation.  MKP is performing this crucial service, we know it is real, we have felt it in our own hearts and seen it in our brothers.  But, how does it make a difference? For complex reasons most of us suffer from a broken “attachment bonding” which makes it difficult to truly connect with others.  It has come to be called “reactive attachment disorder” and we/MKP provide significant healing over time by just being together in a safe container and more immediately thru the various forms of shadow work. I want to focus here on what we are reclaiming as the wounds heal, with some new hard data to show our path for 27 years.

MKP Bonding and Human Nature:  The following three authors offer refreshing views of human nature, deeply grounded in current research, mostly in the neurobiological and cognitive sciences.  Each acknowledges the dramatic role of the recently discovered mirror neurons --- also known as empathy neurons.

Dacher Keltner’s Born to be Good, speaks about our emotional lives with scientific precision “”The emotions that promote meaningful life are organized according to an interest in the welfare of other.  …We have been designed to care about things other that the gratification of desire and the maximizing of self interest.”  Consider all those MKP brother hugs:  “Touch, my studies show, is the primary language of compassion, love and gratitude – emotions at the heart of trust and cooperation.   ….Through touch, cooperation and kindness can spread across people and physical space within seconds.  The emotions that promote meaningful life are powerfully contagious, which increases their chance of propagation, and their encoding into our nervous systems and their ritualization into cultural practice.”

Lynn McTaggart known for her first book The Field, popularized what Rupert Sheldrake called “morphogenic fields.” In her new book The Bond, she speaks to who we are as humans. “One of the fundamental demonstrations of our natural instinct to Bond with each other is a will to give.  Rather than domination, our most basic urge is to reach out to another human being, even at a cost to ourselves. Giving to others – the urge to empathize, to be compassionate, and to help others altruistically – is not the exception to the rule, but our natural state of being. Altruism comes naturally to us. It is selfishness that is culturally conditioned and a sign of pathology.”

And most highly relevant to MKP is her statement “The Bond we make with a group is the most fundamental need we have because it generates our most authentic state of being.” 

Jeremy Rifkin offers his tome The Empathetic Civilization asking straight out: “Can we reach global empathy in time to avoid collapse of civilization and save the earth?”  He observes how human empathy has expanded from family, to tribe, to city, to country and now world (please see the RSA video on his web-page).  He states:  “We rushed to universalize empathy in the last half of the 20^th century (after WWII). We extended empathy to large numbers of our fellow human beings previously considered to be less than human – including women, homosexuals, the disabled, people of color and ethnic and religious minorities – and encoded our sensitivity in the form of social rights and policies, human right laws and now even statutes to protect animals. …And even though the first light of this new biosphere consciousness is only barely becoming visible, the simple fact that our empathetic extension is now exploring previously unexplorable domain is a triumph of the human evolutionary journey.”

From the research, it’s obvious that we humans are born to be good, kind, compassionate creatures, ready to empathize and bond with each other.  It’s who humans are, hard-wired to give, to live the give-away.  It’s what MKP has been teaching and living since the very beginning.  Now the data is coming in from all these credible sources, and we see what we do is important.   Dacher says “…our survival depends on healthy, stable bonds with other.”

We are social beings, we lived in tribal community for hundreds of thousands of years.  Now a new form of community is evolving unlike anything known before, because who we have become has never been seen before.  I submit, MKP is a significant creative force in building mature community.

Intimacy and Community in a Changing World:  MKP holds the containers in which we learn to bond and trust!  This leads to authentic community. Two MKP brothers and authors have addressed this in unique yet highly aligned ways. 

First, Chris Martenson has become famous for saying “The next 20 years will be completely unlike the last 20 years.” A decade ago he studied the world economic situation and decided to leave his VP job at a Fortune 300 company. He moved his family to Western Mass to live a much simpler life with a community of trust and shared values. 

Chris consolidated his research into The Crash Course (you may remember I brought copies to Glenn Ivy in 2008). He gave it away for free and people purchased another 25,000 copes.  This launched him as a popular world spokesman on our impending future.  When I spoke with him a few years ago he told me how his men’s group had gone to each of their homes for a “resilience assessment.” They are preparing together for the coming times.  In his book he says “What ever the future holds, I’d rather face it surrounded by people I respect, admire, and love in my local community, people whom I trust and know I can count on.  That’s my measure of true wealth.”

Second, Charles Eisenstein has become famous for his devotion to building “…a more beautiful world our hearts tell us is possible.”  He is a rising spokesman for the new culture emerging in the younger generations. In his new book Sacred Economics, he says “The economic changes I describe are part of a vast, all encompassing shift that will leave no aspect of life unchanged.”  He sees our money system driving the separate-self consciousness, which is taking us into crisis.  Fully aware of the powerlessness people feel in the current system, he brings it right down to a pure human level:  “We need way more intimacy than nearly any one considers normal. … Clearly the transition to a sacred economy accompanies a transition in our psychology.  Community, which in today’s parlance usually means proximity or a mere network, is a much deeper kind of connection than that: it is a sharing of one’s being, an expansion of one’s self.  To be in community is to be in personal, interdependent relationship, and it comes with a price: our illusion of independence, our freedom from obligations.  You can’t have it both ways.  If you want community, you must be willing to be obligated, dependent, tied, attached.  You will give and receive gifts that you cannot just buy somewhere.  You will not be able to easily find another source. You need each other.”

The call for community, these two men express, is powerful from every quarter.  I have found so many other books that end with a similar conclusion.  Because MKP men have learned to live in a high state of intimacy, we bring a powerful capacity to build communities, which could significantly shape the world.  Brothers, this is what MKP does, we build trust, bond with each other and build community. 

Men and Women Together:  Social community includes women and I believe MKP is contributing dynamically to the authentic bonding between genders.  I have personally been looking for the “gender reconciliation” as we used to call it, for over 20 years. The good news is that I have finally found it. As I travel the world I meet so many MKP men who have healed their “broken attachment” wounds enough to be willing to risk their hearts to find true intimacy with women. 

Brothers, this is the healing of a 5000 year old wound between men and women.  HumanKind has been waiting a damn long time for this one and MKP is a force bringing it forward.

My wife Zoe and I (as well as Rich and Char Tosi) have been doing gender healing for some years now.  We found stunning examples of others doing this work.  One is Allison Armstrong, whose basic course is called Celebrating Men, Satisfying Women, a great title, which says it all.  She truly “gets” men and admires them, and she has taught over 20,000 women some important gender distinctions and how to appreciate and honor each other.  Her work is excellent and her husband and main male trainer are both MKP brothers.  Another is British brother Mark Josephs-Serra and his wife Elizabeth who have developed a gender healing mode they call The Culture of Honoring.  They believe: “Our personal and social development needs to be unified. If they aren’t, our social change will be superficial, and our self-development incomplete.”(websites below)

So, Who is MKP?  We seem to be men who have found the courage to go through the wounds and deep into our soul essence.  We know empathy, compassion, and have the ability to bond deeply with each other and know authentic intimacy with women.  As we are guided by our transpersonal missions we are building the communities of the future.

A World Changing Movement:  In the year 2000, brother Patrick Kane organizer of the Heartland Men’s Conference boldly proclaimed that MKP is a “movement.”  I felt struck in a good way, as I had not thought of us as such.  It has grown on me and as I review what we are actually doing it fits the potency of our being.  Parker Palmer, a very wise and courageous truth-teller, I have admired for decades, makes this observation:

“…institutional change doesn’t come about simply through the actions of courageous whistle-blowers. It happens through the formation of communities of people who have a shared moral concern and who can provide encouragement, resources, and protection for each other.”

He goes on to say:  “I don’t know of any great movement that hasn’t depended on base communities to sustain individuals in the demanding work of social change.”    Paul Hawken adds: "Social movements are humanity's immune response to political corruption, economic disease, and ecological degradation."

The MKP reach into the world:  Before we end, let’s consider the breadth of MKP as a movement.  Let’s look at some ways to demonstrate or measure the tangible impact of our work.  If we were a business we would want our stakeholders to know this kind of data.  As a not-for-profit organization inviting the support of members we might want to know the magnitude of our reach.

1,000,000 Face to Face Man Hours Per Year:  Imagine 65 men at a NWTA times 55 hours each, times 120 trainings per year = nearly half a million hours (65X55X120=429,000). Now imagine 1000 I-groups around the world, every week for 50 weeks each with an average of 10 men, = another half million. Plus the leader training events and it gets quickly up to over one million hours of interpersonal and inner soul development.  All this formal MKP work is personal face to face contact, where we actually feel each other.

2,000,000 Hours Per Year:  Now imagine our indirect impact as all the local projects and groups, social and training events brothers have created in their communities.  If we add the combined hours of all the hundreds of MKP "spinoff" projects for men and women it would account for another several hundred thousand.  Now, around the world, figure in the hundreds of thousands of hours we spend in meetings planning, organizing and co-creating.  I think we could make a powerful case for two million hours per year building what I’ve come to call "social capital."

Social capital is the glue of society.  It catalyzes natural expressions of reciprocity, mutual assistance, and trustworthiness, that bind people together.  With a couple million hours of this good glue, it is obvious how MKP builds community.  Because much of our culture has lost a sense of connection to community we bring a gift which people are deeply hungry to receive.

Stepping Out into the World:  Back in 2010 MKP asked the question; Is it time to go mainstream? Our MKPI chairman George Daranyi proposed a vision of honoring both our first 25 years in which we have held our work close to the vest and our next 25 in which we open our arms to the world, ready to serve.  This vision culminated in the wonderful 25/25 celebration, serving as our formal launch out into the world. 

This shift is now reflected in the new global structure in which each region will produce its own Strategic Plans.  This will encourage creative marketing, new training and partnering options and attention of generational transition.  Because I’m close to it I’ve seen MKP-USA on task, as they funded “The Plan” with enough money to make some needed shifts.  A “professional” team began structuring a membership based not-for-profit, as had been suggested by the Stanford Act 2 study.  Now with a strong base, we take our gifts boldly out into the world.  This feels so right and timely.

Visionary looking ahead: As Chris Martinson suggests above, the world is changing faster and more unpredictably now.  These accelerating changes are inspiring healing actions all over the world and as Paul Hawken suggests, Gaia’s immune system is kicking in.  It just might happen that an end of 5000 years of male and western domination is very near.  In these highly complex modern times I find hope and vitality as I imagine all our remarkable MKP work building with millions of other healthy visionary projects like the sounds in a band; the drums, guitars, horns and songs all blending to create a more beautiful world our hearts tell us is possible. 

Thank you - Bill Kauth

Bibliography:

The Empathetic Civilization: The Race to Global Consciousness in a World in Crisis, Jeremy Rifkin, Publisher: Jeremy Tarcher (a MKP brother) Penguin, 2009, $27.95      http://empathiccivilization.com/

Nature and the Human Soul: Cultivating Wholeness and Community in a Fragmented World, Bill Plotkin, Publisher: New World Library, 2008, $18.95    http://www.natureandthehumansoul.com/

Born to be Good: The Science of A Meaningful Life, Dacher Keltner, Publisher: Norton, 2009, $25.95 http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/offtheshelf/ots.jhtml?id=262400002

The Living Universe: Where Are We? Who Are We Where Are We Going?, Duane Elgin, Publisher: Berrett-Koehler. 2009, $15.95 http://www.duaneelgin.com/

Sacred Economics: Money, Gift & Society in the Age of Transition, Charles Eisenstein, Publisher: Evolver Editions of North Atlantic Books, 2011, $22.95   http://sacred-economics.com/

The Bond: How to Fix Your Falling-Down World, Lynn McTaggart. Publisher: Free Press, 2011, $16.00, http://www.lynnemctaggart.com/

The Crash Course: The Unsustainable Future of Our Economy, Energy, and Environment, Chris Martenson, PhD. (MKP Brother), Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, 2011, $27.95 http://www.peakprosperity.com/crashcourse

Allison Armstrong:   http://www.understandmen.com/

Mark Josephs-Serra:   www.cultureofhonouring.com

From Ten Men to One Thousand

The ManKind Project started with three men in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1984. These men stumbled into an idea for a men's training program, which they initially named the "Wild Man Weekend." That program became the New Warrior Training Adventure, now the most recognized modern initiation experience for men available.

Kauth, Tosi, and Hering had no idea what they were starting. The training gave birth to a community of men's groups. Now nearly 30 years later, the ManKind Project has evolved into a movement for emotionally mature masculinity in eight regions around the world with developing communities in at least four more regions. Each year the New Warrior Training Adventure is offered and supported by an army of volunteers in over 40 locations on four continents.

Men who experience the New Warrior Training Adventure are inspired to make a difference and share the gifts they've received. In 1992-1993, ten men from Kentucky learned about the training and made the journey in small groups to Chicago to participate. These men came home on fire, and the ManKind Project Kentucky was created.

Almost all of these men are still actively involved with the community 20 years later. They were recently honored with a gala celebration in Louisville at the First Unitarian Church.

Over 100 people gathered for an evening of story-telling, food, and entertainment in honor of the Kentucky community. As part of the celebration - a number of videos produced by William Thomas (brightideascreative.com), a local ManKind Project community member, were shared. Below is a brief promotional video produced for the event.

MKP KY 20th Anniversary Trailer from William Tyler Thomas on Vimeo.

For more information about the ManKind Project Kentucky, contact Bob Oser at 502.939.4333.

For more information about the ManKind Project, contact Boysen Hodgson, Communications Director for the ManKind Project USA at 1-800-870-4611 or email media@mkp.org.

In the ManKind Project, we support the efforts of the International Association for Suicide Prevention. http://www.iasp.info/.

International Suicide Prevention Day is Sept 10, 2012.

In Eastern Maryland, the ManKind Project is coordinating a multi-site educational effort to prevent suicide. You can read more about the event in the Star Democrat newspaper: http://www.stardem.com/article_eb08abec-f928-11e1-ab39-001a4bcf887a.html.

Harris Marx is the MKP International representative working with several other mental health agencies in Eastern Maryland to coordinate the event. To participate, please contact David Rose, the Chair of the Mental Health Resource Team at: mhrt@mkp.org

The MKPI Suicide Awareness and Prevention Initiative

The Mental Health Resource Team (MHRT) invites and urges you to participate in World Suicide Prevention Day.  On and around September 10, groups, communities, and organizations all over the world will be meeting and supporting each other in learning about suicide, learning how to prevent it, and learning how to deal with its aftermath.

How can we join them in this vital initiative?  That’s the good news- much of the preparatory work has already been done for us.  The home page of World Suicide Prevention Day is World Suicide Prevention Day is www.iasp.info/wspd/.  Visit this site (or use the links below) and you will find resources that will help you

Find World Suicide Prevention Day banners in over 40 languages.

Download the World Suicide Prevention Day brochure.

Download the World Suicide Prevention Day Suggested Activities sheet.

Read about World Suicide Prevention Day activities throughout the world.

Download the World Suicide Prevention Day Toolkit, a single-page PDF that contains links to World Suicide Prevention Day resources and related Web sites.

Use the WSPD Activities Online Submission Form to let us know about your World Suicide Prevention Day activities.

Let us know where to send your Certificate of Appreciation for participating in World Suicide Prevention Day.

Visit the Official World Suicide Prevention Day Facebook Event Page. Over 1,500 people from around the world have indicated they are participating in a World Suicide Prevention Day activity.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: The ManKind Project
May 7, 2012
CONTACT: Boysen Hodgson, MKP USA Communications Director, communications@mkpusa.org

ManKind Project and the Men's Health Network; Partnering for Men’s Health

Men’s Health week is June 11-17, 2012. The ManKind Project, a non-profit men’s training and educational organization, is partnering with the Men’s Health Network, a Washington, DC based non-profit advocacy and education organization, to raise awareness about men’s health issues for the whole month of June.

The ManKind Project, with its global network of men’s peer-support groups, is dedicated to creating safer and healthier communities by supporting mature masculinity and challenging unhealthy male stereotypes and behaviors. The ManKind Project will be holding events throughout the month of June to support men to take charge of their health, get screened for common men’s health conditions, and break the silence about the impacts men’s health problems have on our families and communities. You can get involved by getting free Resources for Men’s Health at the ManKind Project website. If you’re a man ready to take a challenging step to improving all aspects of your life; including your mental, emotional, physical and spiritual life, consider joining a men’s group or attending a weekend intensive for men offered by the ManKind Project.

Man Up. Get Healthy.

One of the most powerful choices you can make as a man is the choice to care for yourself. Men are often reluctant to seek the help they need because of cultural messages that we are supposed to somehow be indestructible. We're not. Fear and Shame can be powerful motivators to stay stuck in old behaviors that no longer help you. Today, you can take a big step toward changing that old pattern.

What's more ... you don't have to do it alone. In the ManKind Project, men have a community to give them the extra 'push' they need to begin creating healthy habits. We also have the skills and resources to help men get unstuck from the stickiest old habits.

As a starting place ... grab the great resources below.

And when you're ready for some real support from other men like you, connect with a local ManKind Project Community and take the risk to change your life.

Quick Resources

Men's Blueprint for Health - PDF
Get It Checked - for Men and Women

MKP Men - Get an EASY to USE Flyer for your Wear Blue Event.

Do a WEAR BLUE Event in your Men's Group!

As a way to recognize this partnership and gain national exposure for the ManKind Project - you and your community can take action to raise awareness of men's health issues - DO A WEAR BLUE EVENT in your IGroup or at Community Event.

It's almost TOO EASY.

1. Wear Blue
2. Print Poster(s) (like this one ... HERE)
3. Take a Picture of your group holding some posters. (Send it to me ... boysen@mkp.org)
4. [OPTIONAL] - Make a group donation to the Men's Health Network (a 501c(3) charitable org) (Donate HERE)

I will post the pictures up on the International Facebook Page and send them to the Men's Health Network for distribution and promotion of their international campaign. MKP gets recognized in Press Releases for the Men's Health Network.

The ManKind Project USA is working with the ManKind Project International and the Mental Health Resource Team (MHRT) to coordinate efforts for World Suicide Prevention Day - September 10, 2012.

We ask men from all our regions to participate in this effort by spreading the word to our IGroups and engaging men in our communities to take action.

To participate, please contact David Rose, the Chair of the Mental Health Resource Team at: mhrt@mkp.org

As always, the MHRT is available 24/7 to assist in an emergency or potential emergency at mhrt@mkp.org or 301-502-1777.

The MKPI Suicide Awareness and Prevention Initiative

The Mental Health Resource Team (MHRT) invites and urges you to participate in World Suicide Prevention Day.  On and around September 10, groups, communities, and organizations all over the world will be meeting and supporting each other in learning about suicide, learning how to prevent it, and learning how to deal with its aftermath.

How can we join them in this vital initiative?  That’s the good news- much of the preparatory work has already been done for us.  The home page of World Suicide Prevention Day is World Suicide Prevention Day is www.iasp.info/wspd/.  Visit this site (or use the links below) and you will find resources that will help you

Find World Suicide Prevention Day banners in over 40 languages.

Download the World Suicide Prevention Day brochure.

Download the World Suicide Prevention Day Suggested Activities sheet.

Read about World Suicide Prevention Day activities throughout the world.

Download the World Suicide Prevention Day Toolkit, a single-page PDF that contains links to World Suicide Prevention Day resources and related Web sites.

Use the WSPD Activities Online Submission Form to let us know about your World Suicide Prevention Day activities.

Let us know where to send your Certificate of Appreciation for participating in World Suicide Prevention Day.

Visit the Official World Suicide Prevention Day Facebook Event Page. Over 1,500 people from around the world have indicated they are participating in a World Suicide Prevention Day activity.

How can you participate?

• If you’re a Center Director, find your best facilitators and ask them to convene a Community Circle and use the World Suicide Prevention Day resources to start a discussion- and encourage men to go out and share what they’ve learned.
• If you’re an I-Group Council member or I-Group Facilitator, take these resources out to the I-Groups, new and old.  Many of these activities can be adapted to an I-Group evening format.
• If you’re a certified Leader or Co-Leader, share these resources with your mentees and make use of them in NWTA staff meetings.
• If you’re involved in Boys To Men, there are materials and activities suitable for that age group, and no, that’s not too early- that population is especially vulnerable!
• If you’re a man in an I-Group, bring these resources to your group and use them to encourage sharing and mutual support.

Our vision for World Suicide Prevention Day (and after) is that

• EVERY Center and Community will convene a Community Circle to share these resources and begin an ongoing, informed Community conversation about suicide.
• EVERY Certified Leader and Co-Leader and senior I-Group facilitator will be familiar with these resources.
• EVERY I-Group will know about the resources and activities that are available, and know who to call for support in using them.

And what can you do now?  RIGHT now?  Go to that website and just start looking around.  This site brings together information that mental health professionals have been accumulating for decades in a very user-friendly format.  This is a website that can teach us things we need to know, that can help us give men hope, that can help us give men breathing space to find new alternatives.

This is a website that can help us save lives.

Join us on World Suicide Prevention Day.

It’s time to fight back the darkness.

The Chairman of the ManKind Project, George Daranyi, was interviewed on Blog Talk Radio's program "The Secret Lives of Men" with Chris Blazina, Ph.D - a notable and published Psychologist, Researcher and Author. Chris's show archives are available at The Secret Lives of Men, along with the book of the same name.

This interview with George covers a broad spectrum. Chris and George explore why initiation and male-only spaces help men evolve in their emotional skills and are a valuable and needed resources in a society that still expects men to 'hang tough' in the face of growing uncertainty and fear. Developing healthy relational attitudes, beliefs and responsibility for actions and feelings helps men improve all the relationships in their lives. A healthy way to develop these competencies is with other men committed to mentoring one another through all the stages of their lives, a mission which the ManKind Project has been doing for 25 years.

George speaks to the 'calling' that men feel to engage with other men and the fear that prevents many men from reaching out to get the support and the challenge they need to be successful in life. The ManKind Project is the largest male training and education support network in the United States - with 30 communities hosting regular men's groups and New Warrior Training Adventures throughout the year. The ManKind Project International also represents 7 other independent global regions, in German speaking and French speaking Europe, the UK, South Africa, New Zealand, Australia and Canada.

If you're ready to find your place in a circle of men - contact someone in your local community to learn more.

Listen to the Interview:

Download the Interview: RIGHT CLICK HERE

The Good Men Project

The Good Men Project is about capturing the modern male narrative. It is about giving men an opportunity to talk candidly about themselves and take ownership of the everyday heroism and everyday failures that men in the 21st century experience. Right now there is a book, a DVD and a growing social network through the Good Men Project website. Within a couple of years, the project hopes to have a number of additional books, movies and TV programs developed or in the works. These stories come from soldiers and immigrants, ex-convicts and photo-journalists, fortune 500 executives, musicians and single dads.

Tom Matlack is the founder of the Good Men Project. He grew up very close to where the New England ManKind Project community was born, in a western Massachusetts town called Shutesbury. He doesn't talk a lot about it, but he has a deep understanding of the early men's movement, as seen through the eyes of a kid living in the mytho-poetic heart of the northeast United States. He's come a long way since then. Today his 6th floor corner office looks out on the high end shops and restaurants of downtown Boston's Newbury Street. His choices led him here, sometimes consciously and sometimes by accident. He's dedicated the last two years of his life to exploring and creating a 21st century dialogue about men and masculinity.

Matlack is passionate about getting the word out - and fostering dialogue about what it means to be a man in today's world. We're with you, Tom.

The Good Men Project book is an excellent way to open the door to a greater possibility of male connection through truth-telling. This book is not Chicken Soup, it's stew. It's not stories tied in a neat bow with some words of wisdom. These are men's stories; complex, sometimes painful, full of heart. Buy a copy for yourself, Click here to visit http://www.goodmenproject.org" target="_blank">buy a copy for a man in your life.