Stand Up Dads: The Gender Conversation

Brian Anderson is the father of 2 spirited daughters that keep him inspired and exhausted. He started Fathering Together as a way to better connect and learn from his fellow dads. During the work day, you can find him working at IFYC as a Student Leadership Manager where he trains undergraduate students to build bridges across lines of religious difference.

Ted Bunch is an author, educator, activist, and lecturer working to end all forms of violence and discrimination against women and girls. As the chief development officer for A CALL TO MEN™, Ted is internationally recognized for his efforts to prevent violence against women while promoting a healthy, respectful manhood. He is a leading voice on issues of manhood, male socialization and its intersection with violence, and preventing violence against all women and girls. 

Ted is the co-author of The Book of Dares, 100 inspiring, creative, fun challenges for boys based on the work of A CALL TO MEN. The Book of Dares has been called “a direct answer to parents' cries for building healthy masculinity, respect, and emotional literacy in their sons.”

Stephen Dypiangco is the co-founder of Dadventures (dadventures.com), a curated family entertainment platform helping parents discover fun things to do with their kids. Dadventures is on a mission to strengthen families by helping dads gain confidence as active parents and more equal partners. Previously, Stephen worked on 2 Academy Award-winning films and with leading tech platforms (Netflix, YouTube), broadcasters (PBS, Ovation), and the top US telco (Verizon). Stephen attended Georgetown's School of Foreign Service and NYU's Graduate Film Program.

Leslie Forde has used research to inform growth and innovation strategy for over 20 years. She’s held brand management, product marketing and business development roles in consumer technology and products, market research, media and publishing companies.

Most recently, she held leadership positions at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Care.com and CSpace (an Omnicom market research agency.) She began her brand management career at Bausch & Lomb and Xerox. 

Her writing about parenting, motherhood and equity has appeared in The Washington Post, Slate, Parents Magazine and her website, Mom’s Hierarchy of Needs among other publications. 

Brad Johnson is Professor of psychology in the Department of Leadership, Ethics and Law at the U.S. Naval Academy, and a Faculty Associate in the Graduate School of Education at Johns Hopkins University.

David Smith is Associate Professor of sociology in the College of Leadership and Ethics at the U.S. Naval War College.

They are co-authors of Athena Rising: How and Why Men Should Mentor Women and Good Guys: How Men Can Be Better Allies for Women in the Workplace.

Shani Mahiri King is a law professor at the University of Florida, where he is director of the Center on Children and Families and an Associate Director of the Center on Race and Race Relations. King received a B.A. from Brown University, a J.D. from Harvard Law School, and a Mst. in International Human Rights Law from Oxford University, and he is an active writer and scholar in the area of children’s rights and family law. King is the father of a nine-year-old daughter and a six-year-old son, for whom he wrote this book, as well as the picture book Have I Ever Told You? (2019).

Kate Mangino is a consultant focusing on gender and social inclusion that leads to positive social change. She’s excited to be a member of Fathering Together’s Advisory Council for “Dads for Gender Equity” and brings with her expertise in Gender Facilitation &Training and Instructional Design. This expertise has led her to work with partners across the globe to develop multi-staged trainings to strengthen and deepen the conversations around gender in the workplace as well as in the home.

Past clients of Kate’s range from RUMPUN, an Indonesia-based organization, Warren Wilson College’s Program for Writers, the United States Peace Corps, and White Ribbon Alliance. With all of her partnerships, she brings a high-level of care and attention to ensure everyone grows!

Michelle Travis is a mom of two daughters and a long-time advocate for gender equity and work/family integration. She is a Professor at the University of San Francisco School of Law, where she serves as the Co-Director of USF’s Labor and Employment Law Program. Her award-winning book, Dads For Daughters: How Fathers Can Give Their Daughters a Better, Brighter, and Fairer Future, is an invitation and guidebook for men to become stronger advocates for gender equity in their homes, workplaces, and communities.

Joseph Vess is a husband, father, farmer, educator and gender equality consultant living in the rural Appalachian mountains of southwest Virginia. I have been active in the gender equality field for more than fifteen years in many ways including supporting access to abortion clinics, gender-based violence prevention education with young and adult men, gender equality education in post-conflict countries, and facilitating groups for incarcerated fathers. I try to live my life based on something a friend of mine once said: "For me the paid work happens in my spare time. I say it as a joke but it’s also true. The carework is the main bit. The paid work is what you do to support the main bit."

Quentin Walcott, Co-Executive Director of Connect NYC, who is also known as “Q,” is a leading national and international anti-violence activist, educator and writer. 

A hallmark of Quentin’s work over the past 22 years has been engaging men and boys as allies and activists in the movement to prevent intimate and gender-based violence. The foundation of Quentin’s work is a focus on the intersections of violence—race, class and gender—and its impact on marginalized communities.

As Co-Executive Directors of CONNECT, Quentin and Rev. Dr. Sally MacNichol were jointly named New York New Abolitionists in 2014. Prior to taking the helm of CONNECT in 2013, Quentin developed the CONNECT Training Institute (CTI), the leading anti-violence learning facility in NYC, and was director of CONNECT’s Community Empowerment Program.