From time to time our Rotary Club honors people in the community who exemplify the Rotary values of service above self with a Citizen of the Month award. On January 15th we recognized a group of citizens that were nominated in December 2018 for tackling an innovative and collaborative initiative to address one of the most compelling, and let’s face it, emotionally fraught issues of our day: the culture of sexual assault and harassment.
From time to time our Rotary Club honors people in the community who exemplify the Rotary values of service above self with a Citizen of the Month award. On January 15th we recognized a group of citizens that were nominated in December 2018 for tackling an innovative and collaborative initiative to address one of the most compelling, and let’s face it, emotionally fraught issues of our day: the culture of sexual assault and harassment. This has been in the national spotlight through the rise of the #MeToo movement and the Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearings.
This group of people came together to provide a panel discussion for men about what men can do to help turn the tide on sexual assault and harassment through focusing on topics such as authenticity, respect, and integrity. The full title of the first event, held in October, was “Conversation for Men: Straight Talk About Integrity, Love, Consent, and Courageous Discussions with Our Friends and Kids.”
Jessica Yeomans and Carrie Kirkpatrick, who have been hosting programs and events for girls and their caregivers over the last 7 years, are often approached with the question, “Where are programs like this for boys and men?” In an effort to spark a little inspiration, they invited a few men to join in a conversation about a possible event that wouldn’t involve girls at all. These men recognized value in offering a space where men could download knowledge and language they feel is imperative to moving the conversation forward and ultimately impacting the culture of sexual assault and harassment, if only in Jackson. And so, the “Manel” was born.
The Citizens of the Month who either initiated or participated in the “Conversation for Men” series of panel discussions are:
Carrie Kirkpatrick -founder of Raising Girls, a program of GAP!
Jessica Yeomans -ED of GAP!
Jimmy Bartz – Rector at St John’s Episcopal Church
Andy Cavallaro – ED of Community Safety Network
Heath Miller – counselor at JH Community Counseling Center
Ben Brettell – Director of the Hirshfield Center
Ryan Burke – Counselor at Curran Seeley
Jim Jenkins –teacher of Gender Studies class at JHHS
Jose Rivas – counselor at Munger Mountain Elementary School
There have been numerous well-received local platforms for hearing the voices of women and their experiences of sexual harassment and assault. Paying attention to the stories of women is long overdue. Ultimately this is a human issue and an issue that involves both men and women and so this initiative creates space for men to have a conversation.
This initiative didn’t pretend to have all the answers or to know if this event would work. The Rotary Club would like to commend this group for coming together and being willing to take a risk to try something new and be open about the fact that it is experimental.
The first event had over 80 attendees, with open and candid conversation, lots of audience participation and men stayed around after the event concluded to continue the conversation. And so a second event was held, with over 60 men gathering to talk about definitions of masculinity and how not to compartmentalize it. A third event is scheduled for Thursday night (January 17th).
The Rotary Club of Jackson Hole is granting funds to support the Community Safety Network in the development of a three-year curriculum for Jackson Hole Middle School around respect and ending violence. The Community Foundation of Jackson Hole is also funding the effort. We think it is wonderful that our community is approaching this issue on so many levels and on behalf of the Rotary Club of Jackson Hole want to thank and commend all of our December 2018 Citizens of the Month for their leadership.
(L-R) Ryan Burke, Jim Jenkins, Heath Miller, Jimmy Bartz, Jessica Yeomans, Ben Brettell, Andy Cavallaro