Caring Online Spaces
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Jake Stika
Co-Founder and Executive Director, Next Gen Men
Jake Stika
Co-Founder and Executive Director, Next Gen Men
Jake is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of Next Gen Men – a nonprofit he began building at 26 with two friends over a decade ago, that has grown into an internationally recognized organization working across Canada and the United States. He is passionate about creating a positive vision for masculinity – toward a future where boys and men experience less pain and cause less harm.He has brought conversations about boys, men, and masculinities to everyone from the United Nations to Fortune 500 CEOs to the man on the corner. He co-authored A Kids Book About Masculinity and co-created Cards for Masculinity, a facilitation tool with thousands of decks in use by parents and practitioners around the world. A social entrepreneur with an MSc from the London School of Economics, he became publisher of Voice Male in 2024 – a pro-feminist magazine founded in 1983 – taking up the torch from one generation and passing it to the next.“Every boy is already on a journey toward manhood. The question is who shows up to walk with him.”
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Ashley Kolaya
Executive Director, Mental Health Storytelling Initiative
Ashley Kolaya
Executive Director, Mental Health Storytelling Initiative
Ashley Kolaya is the founding Executive Director of the Mental Health Storytelling Initiative (MHSI), a coalition of 80+ entertainment, mental health, and philanthropic organizations working to shape how mental health is portrayed in media and culture. MHSI operates as a translation layer between the full ecosystem of social and mental health knowledge — research, clinical practice, community organizations, and people with lived experience — and the storytellers who shape culture. The goal is to ensure that what’s true and hard-won about human experience actually makes it into the stories reaching millions of people.
With more than 15 years of experience at the intersection of storytelling and social impact, she has built initiatives that help creators and institutions better understand, engage, and move their audiences. At TED, she built the global youth voice platform, TED-Ed Student Talks, and served as the founding Director of Curation and Coaching for TED Masterclass, where she coached speakers and developed programs to help leaders communicate ideas that shape culture. Her background is in civic engagement education.
“The stories boys grow up watching shape the men they become — stories that make room for vulnerability, connection, and belonging are the ones we need more of, and we’re building the infrastructure to make sure they get made and seen.”
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Regan Mitchell
Director: Aboriginal and Tores Straight Islander Strategy, Our Watch
Regan Mitchell
Director: Aboriginal and Tores Straight Islander Strategy, Our Watch
Regan is a proud First Nations Wiradjuri and Ngunnawal woman from regional New South Wales, Australia.
With extensive lived and frontline experience, Regan is highly skilled in navigating complex systems and providing intensive support to women and children experiencing domestic, family, and sexual violence. Their voices inform her role as Director, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Strategy at Our Watch.
Widely respected for her expertise, Regan is passionate about ending violence against all women and children with a particular focus on First Nations women in remote communities – the most impacted and the least seen. Through truth telling, she shines a light on the root causes of the unacceptably high rates of violence against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women, and what we must all do individually and collectively to stop gender based violence before it starts
Widely respected for her expertise, Regan is passionate about ending violence against all women and children through truth telling with a particular focus on First Nations women in remote communities – the most impacted and the least seen.
“To achieve true equity, we have to recognise that the starting line is not the same for everyone. For some, the starting line is completely out of reach.”
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Dr. Daniela Ligiero
President and CEO, Together for Girls
Dr. Daniela Ligiero
President and CEO, Together for Girls
Dr. Daniela Ligiero is the CEO and President of Together for Girls, a global partnership working to end sexual violence against children and adolescents. Together for Girls combines rigorous data and research with survivor-centered advocacy to drive prevention, healing, and justice, increasing political will and mobilizing action to protect children—especially from sexual violence.
Daniela is the founder of the Brave Movement, the world’s largest survivor-led movement to end childhood sexual violence, mobilizing survivors and allies globally to demand legal reform, political accountability, online safety, and justice.
Previously, she served as Vice President of Girls and Women’s Strategy at the United Nations Foundation and held senior roles at the U.S. Department of State, where she helped develop the first U.S. global strategy to address gender-based violence and co-designed the PEPFAR DREAMS Partnership. She also held leadership roles at UNICEF and worked in the U.S. Senate.
A survivor herself, Daniela has spoken publicly for nearly two decades to help shatter stigma and drive systemic change. She has received multiple honors, including the U.S. Department of State’s Franklin Award and the Champion for Children Award presented by Her Majesty Queen Silvia of Sweden.
Daniela holds a doctorate in counseling psychology, is fluent in four languages, and lives in Bethesda, Maryland, with her husband and two daughters.
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Richie Hardcore
Richie Hardcore
Richie Hardcore works in the community as a public speaker, consultant, educator and advocate. His work discusses the intersections between masculinity, mental health, pornography, social media, sex and consent and how we can end sexual and domestic violence. He works extensively with schools and communities in Aotearoa New Zealand and Australia
He has a Master’s degree in Sociology and is an ongoing champion of the New Zealand Ministry of Social Development’s ‘Change is Possible’ anti-domestic violence campaign.
He was a multiple New Zealand Muay Thai champion, and now that he has retired from fighting, he is a gym owner, coach, and trainer. He uses Muay Thai and Kickboxing as a pathway for conversations about healthy masculinity for people who are in the criminal justice system, are in alternative education or are in alcohol and drug rehabilitation.
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Richa Gupta
Chief Executive Officer, Labhya
Richa Gupta
Chief Executive Officer, Labhya
Richa is a teacher-turned entrepreneur and the co-founder and CEO of Labhya, an India-based education non-profit that impacts the wellbeing of 2.4 million children.
Richa is a DRK Entrepreneur, a Mulago Fellow, and was featured in the Forbes Asia 30U30 list. Richa serves on the board of Global Fund for Children. She is one of the 17 United Nations Young Leaders for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Richa has a Master’s in Education from Harvard Graduate School of Education, where she also served as an Equity & Inclusion Fellow, Harvard Ministerial Leadership Fellow and Education Entrepreneurship fellow.
“To not feel like you are alone. To feel a sense of purpose and belonging. To feel complete. Today these are seen as luxuries. We need to create a world where this is a reality for every child.”
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Glenn Gillis
Co-Founder and CEO, Sea Monster
Glenn Gillis
Co-Founder and CEO, Sea Monster
Glenn Gillis is co-founder and CEO of Sea Monster, and a globally recognised thought-leader on impact games and immersive technologies. With a Business Science degree from the University of Cape Town and over 25 years as a senior executive, consultant, and entrepreneur, Glenn brings commercial rigour to the intersection of play, storytelling, and social change. As Chairperson of Games for Change Africa, Glenn helps shape the continent’s fast-growing games ecosystem, championing the power of games as catalysts for social impact and economic growth across Africa. As co-founder and chair of the not-for-profit social enterprise Relate, he has also helped generate over $5.3 million in employment opportunities and charitable donations across South Africa.
“Games are the digital continuation of humanity’s oldest cultural technology. When we understand play as fundamental human behaviour, not entertainment novelty, we unlock its real potential to engage, educate, and transform.”
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Isabelle Santos
Isabelle Santos
Isabelle has a decade of experience working at the intersection of legal frameworks, youth leadership, and the 2030 Agenda. She holds a degree in Political Science from the University of Brasília and executive training in Early Childhood from the London School of Economics and Political Science. She is currently a postgraduate student at the Center for Public Leadership and a PhD candidate in Social Sciences at São Paulo State University. She has led several advocacy initiatives, including co-founding the first Global Youth-Led Movement on Ending Violence Against Children, and has collaborated with governments, the United Nations, and civil society to advance policy change. She previously served as an advisor at the Federal District Secretariat of Justice and Citizenship, contributing to initiatives on child participation, digital wellbeing, and parenting programs. She is also part of international communities of practice, including United People Global, the Global Youth Forum, and the Brazilian Internet Steering Committee Youth Group.
“Digital spaces are shaping the identities of boys and girls and, with them, the political and economic fabric of our societies. Ensuring that they are nurturing, inclusive, and well-regulated calls for a commitment that spans from healthy interpersonal relations to the institutional foundations of parity democracy.”
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Natalie Shoup
Industry and Data Lead, Safe Online
Natalie Shoup
Industry and Data Lead, Safe Online
Natalie Shoup is Industry and Data Lead for Safe Online, a UNICEF-hosted fund focused on child safety and wellbeing in a digital world. She leads research and technology tools efforts across a $100M portfolio. Natalie is pushing forward the launch of a Mental Health Fund, leads a $3M collaborative Research Fund with tech industry and academia, and spearheaded Data for Change – a community of over 100 experts – to strengthen the data ecosystem for online child sexual exploitation and abuse.
Working at the intersection of technology, child protection, and social justice, previously Natalie directed programs for trauma-informed approaches to violence prevention with community organizations serving children at Nest and Developing Minds. At Data-Pop Alliance, she led work around ethical data practices for Big Data and social good initiatives. Natalie has a Masters in Education from University of Cambridge and a Bachelors in Engineering from Princeton.
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José Campi-Portaluppi
Director of Communications and Advocacy, Equimundo
José Campi-Portaluppi
Director of Communications and Advocacy, Equimundo
José is the Director of Communications and Advocacy at Equimundo. He leads the communications and advocacy teams, amplifying research and programming on masculinities and gender justice to inspire action and drive impact in personal opinion, community norms, and public policy. Prior to joining Equimundo, José worked with different international organizations in educommunications, capacity strengthening, political incidence, research and learning experience design.
“Real transformation comes from moving people, the culture that shapes them, their attitudes and mindsets.”
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Caroline Hayes
Technical Specialist on Digital Strategies, Equimundo
Caroline Hayes
Technical Specialist on Digital Strategies, Equimundo
Caroline is Senior Technical Specialist on Digital Strategies at Equimundo, leading efforts to address harmful masculinities online and promote healthy, caring digital engagement. She oversees the LinkUp Lab and guides the design, implementation, and evaluation of digital-first interventions across research, programs, and advocacy. Caroline builds institutional capacity, forges partnerships with digital creators, tech leaders, and policymakers, and represents Equimundo in global forums on digital safety and gender justice. Previously, she worked with the White House Gender Policy Council and the U.S. Department of Justice on gender-based violence prevention, and served in the U.S. Peace Corps.
“I’m certainly no Luddite.” — J.G. Ballard
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