Dumbo Feather – February 2019

Well the thing for us is impact first and scale second. So we want to make sure

that the community group or the school that we’re working with have multiple

touch-points. With their parents and their teachers. Because some schools

contact us and want us to come in and fix masculinity with a 45-minute

PowerPoint presentation. And it just doesn’t work like that. This takes time,

which is challenging in a world that’s fast-paced, that’s about the short-term wins. But

we’ve done no direct marketing ever and had hundreds of schools across the world come to

us, from Asian countries, US, UK, New Zealand, which is a testament to our team and the

integrity and professionalism of our programs...

There was the award from the Queen which was a big platform for us, and Prince Harry

is a big supporter of our work. When his mum passed away he went through his own

mental health challenges.

Yep. Yeah.

And he actually shared that in Dubbo, country town where my stepmum’s from actually.

It’s like a classic salt-of-the-earth Australian town. And he opened up about that on his

recent trip. But then the other side of it is Meghan Markle who’s a big ambassador for gender

equality and sees this work as an important part of the male voice in gender equality. So that

definitely pushed us into the global sphere. I think as well, how do we get these conversations

in the mainstream? Because we know there’s a lot of men’s work out there that really gets

to the heart of spirituality, which is important and absolutely resonates for a lot of people.

But a majority of people don’t identify with that conversation.

There’s a number of organisations who do initiation work with

men and sitting in circle. But a majority of men aren’t found in these

contexts, they are at the pub chewing the fat with their mates. Or at the footy club. How do

we influence these communities? It’s about being able to tap into the spirituality space but

then bring it to the mainstream. Not letting it get lost in, “Oh that’s a bit hippy.” I also think

spirituality potentially has been pushed into the feminine basket, right? Like, my grandfather

just passed away recently. Amazing man. And he was in the Presbyterian church. That was his

model of community and being of service, and at his funeral one of the ministers said, “Harry

represented what the church ought to be.” Essence of spirituality, of purpose, of service.

And I’m like, “How do we get an update of that?” Because civic engagement as we know has

completely dropped. There is amazing data about how when civic engagement and going to

your local church, your synagogue, your mosque, your town hall, your RSL, your local club,

whatever it may be, drops, community engagement drops and isolation increases. Right?

And we are social creatures.

Now our young people are getting that on their phones from social media, from Netflix,

So how do you see this work
evolving? Are you always
responding to it in the moment
or do you have visions for it?

But how are they

finding out about it?

And he talked about that in context of your work?

Oh wow. Okay.

So talk to me about the difference there?

Mm.

We’re part of the collective, it’s how we have

evolved to survive. When we’re connected and

exposed to different role models they give us

different models and views of the world.

93

CULTIVATES COMMUNITY

CONVERSATIONS