Warren Farrell

Warren Farrell is an American educator, activist and author of seven books on men’s and women’s issues. He came to prominence in the 1970s as one of the leading male thinkers championing the cause of second wave feminism, and serving on the New York City Board of the National Organization of Women (NOW). However, when NOW took policy positions that Farrell regarded as anti-male and anti-father, he continued supporting the expansion of women’s options while adding what he felt was missing about boys, men and fathers. He is now recognized as one of the most important figures in the modern men’s movement.
In 2009, a call from the White House requesting Dr. Farrell to be an advisor to the White House Council on Women and Girls led to Dr. Farrell creating and chairing a commission to create a White House Council on Boys and Men. The multi-partisan commission consists of thirty-five authors and practitioners (e.g., John Gray, Gov. Jennifer Granholm, Michael Gurian, Michael Thompson, Bill Pollack, Leonard Sax) of boys’ and men’s issues. They have completed a study that defines five components to a “boys’ crisis,” which has been submitted as a proposal for President Obama to create a White House Council on Boys and Men.

Glen Poole

Glen Poole is a radical voice in the world of gender equality with a unique ability to bring together the many different factions of the “men’s movement” in pursuit of better outcomes for men and boys in areas like health, fatherhood, education and safety.
Glen is based in the UK where he hosts the annual National Conference for Men and Boys, is lead co-ordinator for International Men’s Day in the UK and globally and runs the consultancy Helping Men.

Prof. Alan White

Prof. Alan White has been developing his research and scholarly activity around men’s health for over 15 years. There are three main strands to his work: Gendered Epidemiology (exploring the data relating to men and their health and health service usage); Men and Public Health (how men engage with the health service and how the health service meets the needs of men); and Men’s Experience of ill-health. 
A pioneer for men’s health, Alan set up the Centre for Men’s Health in 2007 and has been the Chair of the Board of Trustees Men’s Health Forum (England and Wales) since 2001. He is also a Board Member of the International Society of Men’s Health. He sits on the joint National Cancer Research Institute and National Cancer Equalities Initiative Equalities in Research Committee.
In March 2012 he received the Nursing Standard Robert Tiffany International Award for his work on raising the profile of men’s health across Europe and leading on the State of Men’s Health in Europe Report for the European Commission.

Richard Aston

Richard is the Chief Executive of Big Buddy NZ. Big Buddy is a free, secular, mentoring service run by dedicated professionals who recruit and rigorously screen male volunteers from the community to become mentors to fatherless boys. Big Buddy are a registered charity, governed by the Big Buddy Mentoring Trust, and audited annually. The award-winning programme currently covers the Greater Auckland, Wellington and North Shore/Rodney areas, with expansion plans covering the rest of New Zealand. Richard is father of four grown children and grandfather to two mokos. He has been married to Ruth for nearly 30 years. When he is not running Big Buddy, he spends a lot of time with his family and friends, gardens, likes to read and write poetry and keeps up to date with current thinking in physics and psychology. He is a marriage celebrant and deputy chair of Consumer NZ.

David Bartlett

David has a longstanding commitment to gender equality and strengthening men’s roles in children’s lives. He worked as a social worker from 1987 to 2000; in 1997 he, set up NEWPIN’s community-based Fathers Centre in London. David was one of the founders of Fathers Direct in 1999. David builds national strategic partnerships and develops new opportunities for joint working. He advises nationally and locally on developing father-inclusive policies and services. He has written widely about fatherhood, including co-authoring the Institute’s Toolkit for Developing Father-Inclusive Practice.

Joe Puketapu

Joe Puketapu lives in Blenhem where he is employed as Co-Manager of Te Hauora o Ngati Rarua. As part of his role with Te Hauora o Ngati Rarua Joe was instrumental in the successful preparation and submission of a business case to the Ministry of Health to obtain funding towards holding the inaugural Tane Ora National Conference in 2009. The conference attendee’s mandated the conference organising committee to continue as the Interim National Maori Men’s Health Coalition of which Joe is currently the Chairperson.
In addition Joe holds many other roles as the Chair of Waikawa Marae at Picton, a Director of the Nelson Marlborough District Health Board, a Trustee of Te Atiawa Manawhenua ki Te Tau Ihu Trust, a Trustee of the Kimi Hauora Public Health Organisation, Chair of the Iwi Health Board and Board member of the Nelson Marlborough Conservation Board. His iwi affiliations are with Te Atiawa Nui Tonu.

Randal Ross

Randal has three traditional descendant backgrounds, his Aboriginal is the Bindol and Juru from the Burdekin and Bowen region and Kunjun connection in Coen/Lockhart River, his Torres Strait Island family is from Erub(Darnley Island) and is also a Kanaka descendent of the Australian South Sea Islander with many of his family residing in Ayr and Bowen Districts. Randal is a current Building Indigenous Research Capacity Scholar (BIRC) with James Cook University. Randal has had a strong background working with governments at local, state and federal levels in both Queensland and New South Wales. Much of his work has been related to working with Indigenous youth and families in both states. Randal’s future aim is to develop programs about restoring indigenous families particularly around men.  ‘Many of our Indigenous families are being headed by our strong Indigenous Women’ and Randal’s vision is to restore a vital cultural balance within the family by working with Men. Randal is a Cofounder of the Red Dust Healing program which has been operating with his Partner and Close friend Tom Powell for the past six years. Randal has now seen over five thousand participants participate in the Red Dust Healing from all ages from children, youth, Woman, Elders, Non Indigenous and especially Men with astonishing results. ‘It is our time to turn the hearts of the fathers to our children, and the hearts of our children to our fathers’.

The National Men’s Health Gathering will be held in Brisbane on the 22 – 25 October 2013. For more information please visit www.workingwithmen.org.au