The Man Cave

It was great to be present for the #SocialMediaSummitNSWSA in Sydney yesterday, a day full of robust discussion. From our school programs with 15,000+ teenage boys this year, we know that social media is a core part of the way young man connect with one another. We also know that young men are exposed to a range of concerning content that has the potential to negatively influence their attitudes, behaviours and belief systems, and cause harm to themselves and those around them. Julie Inman - Grant, the eSafety Commissioner outlined the exceptional work being done behind the scenes to keep young people safe online, whilst also advocating for young people’s voices to be heard in the discussion. eSafety's well-rounded research is critical in ensuring we strike the balance between online community and keeping the tech giants that operate the social media platforms accountable. The Summit was opened with a powerful Welcome to Country from Aunty Yvonne Weldon AM, followed by remarks from Chris Minns and Peter Malinauskas, who spoke passionately about keeping young people safe from harm online. US-based researchers and advocates presented the case for age restrictions on social media and spoke about a rise in mental health issues associated with social media uptake, and in breakout rooms a range of speakers including Dr. Zac Seidler and Rosie Thomas OAM shared about the immense positive impacts many young people have found through online communities. The day was closed by hearing from those who would be impacted by a social media ban - young people. They spent the day brainstorming solutions and it is vitally important we continue to involve young people in discussions that impact their lives.

Our vision is for a world in which every man has healthy relationships, contributes to his community and reaches his full potential. Though The Man Cave is growing, changing and evolving, our mission - empowering boys to become great men by providing them and their communities with impactful programs, role models and resources - remains the same. Since 2014, we’ve worked with 80,000+ young men and their communities. Our preventative, strengths-based programs are working - 95% of boys say the workshop had a positive impact on them, and 91% feel motivated to positively grow and change. To learn more about our impact, insights, story and culture, visit our new website, https://hubs.la/Q02SHtPm0

Meet Caveboy - The Man Cave’s official new logo! You’ll start to see Caveboy appear across all things The Man Cave, from our social media to our website and our research and insights. A big thank you to TRiC, the agency that has helped us bring Caveboy and our new brand to life, for all their exceptional work in refreshing our look.

With growth comes change - The Man Cave’s brand has evolved. We aim to positively impact the lives of 300,000 young men by 2030, and so we’re refreshing our look to better connect with and serve the communities that will help make this goal possible. Our new website - https://hubs.la/Q02SHjvY0 - is now live. Visit the page to learn more about how we are expanding our impact and better connecting with our communities, whether you are an educator, parent, guardian, potential partner, supporter or one of the 80,000+ young men we have worked with over the past decade.

We're in the final school term of the year in Victoria - this week we're working with 987 boys 🙏

Cass De Nardis from Elephant Ed on the communication of consent 👏🏼 Cass and Remy from sex and consent ed org Elephant Ed, alongside Max from LGBTQIA+ youth empowerment org Minus18 Foundation, joined us on Is This OK?? to talk about all things sex, consent, relationships.

We recently gathered to recognise and thank Hunter Johnson, our outgoing CEO, for building The Man Cave ❤️ In case you missed it, our founding CEO is stepping out of the CEO role at the end of this year, after a decade leading our mission to empower boys to become great men. In that time, we’ve been able to positively impact the lives of 75,000+ young men, and our movement has grown from an idea into a thriving community. And as Hunter steps out of the role - though he will continue to support our mission on our Board as a Director - we wanted to come together to recognise the profound impact Hunter has had, not just as CEO of The Man Cave, but as a role model and human, too. At the end of the recent Squad Retreat, our entire organisation took part in an ‘Honouring’ ritual for Hunter, where we each got an opportunity to share how we’ve been impacted by him. This is one of our favourite practices at The Man Cave, where we get to recognise the positive traits we see in one another, just like the boys experience in our workshops. To Hunter, thank you, the Cave is thriving!!

Thank you to The Men’s Project and Women's Health in the South East for coming into The Man Cave and hosting us in training! We were thrilled to welcome The Men’s Project, part of Jesuit Social Services, and Women’s Health in the South East to Man Cave HQ last week, for an organisational capacity-building session guiding us on how to best equip ourselves for conversations about prevention of gender-based violence. The engaging session covered the context of gender-based violence in Australia, the importance of intersectionality, masculinity and The Man Box, and encouraged us to explore ways in which we can bring these conversations into rooms, helping young men establish healthy relationships and boundaries. It prompted some fantastic conversations, shone a light on some areas for improvement and brought us closer together as an organisation! Thanks so much to Drew Hanger from The Men’s Project and Zoe Francis from WHiSE!

Does asking for consent ruin the mood? 🤔 The Is This OK?? team say no! This clip is from the final episode of Season 2 of Is This OK?? our online series exploring affirmative consent. Thanks to our partners Minus18 Foundation, AIME and Elephant Ed, support from the Victorian Government, and of course all the young people tuning in, for making this series a success! 

"I made it my mission to change." Taika, one of the Board of Boys, on his experiences growing up as a teenage boy. This group of teenage boys took part in our eight-week Board of Boys program, an adapted version of our in-school programs designed to improve boys’ wellbeing and the relationships with those around them.