'Gender equality is not a zero-sum game': Men's think-tank leader receives $20M from Melinda Gates (2024)

Richard Reeves, the president of the American Institute for Boys and Men (AIBM), received a landmark $20-million grant from Melinda Gates to help address ongoing gender gaps disadvantaging males.

“I think this is a really big moment, signalling a shift to a more expansive view of gender equality,” Reeves, the founder of AIBM, told National Post by email. “It shows that more people, including prominent voices for women like Melinda French Gates, understand that gender equality is not a zero-sum game.”

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On Tuesday, Gates announced in the New York Times that she would be “experimenting with novel tactics to bring a wider range of perspectives into philanthropy” by offering one-dozen people a $20-million grant. Among the recipients included Former New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern and former track star-turned-maternal health leader Allyson Felix.

“The big surprise for many will be her decision to channel resources towards the challenges faced by boys and men,” Reeves wrote on AIBM’s website, announcing the news. Although the money will not be going to AIBM, but rather Reeves directly, Reeves will be directing the grant’s funding to areas aimed at addressing issues impacting boys and men.

“We are still in the relatively early stages of raising awareness about the extent of some of the problems faced by boys and men, and of what works to address them,” Reeves acknowledged in his email. “So I’m all ears right now to hear about existing initiatives or programs that serve boys and men well, especially those from more disadvantaged backgrounds, and new ideas, and suggestions on how we can improve our understanding.”

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Joining Reeves is this inaugural round of grant disbursem*nts is Gary Barker of Equimondo, a gender equality organization which bills itself as a “Center for Masculinities and Social Justice” that aims to help guys across Latin America.

Justin Trottier, the founder and CEO of the Canadian Centre for Men and Families, who also runs a men’s shelter, said he hopes the money serves as a “wake-up call” for philanthropists, policy makers and social workers and that they look to supporting men.

“When we ignore the mental illness, suffering or victimization of boys and men we make it more likely that an untreated crisis will produce harm to others,” Trottier said. “Despite all this, support and services dedicated to boys and men are virtually non-existent in most Canadian communities. It is a truly baffling paradox.

“This new grant may signal a new day in our thinking about men and boys, and the very concept of gender equality.”

AIBM, a first-of-its-kind think tank, was created by Reeves in November 2023 following the publication of his book, Of Boys and Men, which explored “why the modern male is struggling, why it matters, and what to do about it.” The non-partisan research centre works to spotlight the issues unique to modern men, ranging from stagnating wages to overdose deaths and over-representation within the homeless community.

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“Fifteen percent of young men today say they don’t have a close friend — a five-fold increase since 1990. This loneliness, combined with a range of societal changes and pressures, has resulted in a mental health crisis for American boys and men. Today, men are four times more likely than women to die by suicide but ten percentage points less likely than women to access mental health care,” one AIBM research brief on male mental health reads.

Reeves feels that the disadvantages boys and men are experiencing have been placed on the cultural back-burner in recent years and this poses a threat to true gender equality.

“If gender gaps matter, they matter in both directions. And there are some gaps now where boys and men are at a disadvantage,” Reeves said. “I’d add that excluding boys and men also makes it easier for reactionary voices to claim that gender equality is in conflict with the interests of boys and men. Helping boys and men is the right thing to do in itself. But it is also the right thing to do for women and girls. In the long run, a world of floundering men is not likely to be a world of flourishing women. We have to rise together.”

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“Our goal is to provide authoritative research, both on the challenges of boys and men, as well as on potential solutions, and help build this field. The fund I’ve been asked to direct is a huge accelerator of this movement,” Reeves concluded.

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