The Journey to Manhood program fills a huge gap in boys’ education by helping them find passion and purpose in their lives to become the men they want to be in community. We make this vital education available online, at the fingertips of teenage boys around the world, through educational videos, collaborative discussion, and mentoring by elder men.
The Men’s Eagle Council Story
Our Indiegogo campaign video tells the story of how this site came about:
The Men’s Eagle Council (MEC) began when Carl Kalin’s son was 16 years old. Carl noticed that his son was going through a profound internal transformation, but that nothing in his surroundings reflected that change. So Carl teamed up with his son’s high school guidance counselor to create a rite-of-passage program for young men. This program ran for nearly ten years and served nearly 200 boys. Not only did it transform the participants for the better, but it also profoundly benefited the communities they later became parts of. Here are a few of the outcomes our graduates reported when we interviewed them fifteen years later:
- “I learned to listen to others, including women. This proved to be a great lesson in managing relationships both with my family and fellow Marines I commanded.”
- “Building community is something I got out of MEC and I rarely see it among other men who were not initiated.”
- “The work at MEC impacts not only the boys who take the program, but also the men and women that we come into contact with during our lives.”
This Site
In the process of creating and running the Men’s Eagle Council, Carl realized that the need for mentoring through the transition to adulthood is far greater than any one program could meet. He also noticed that teenagers spend increasing amounts of time online for entertainment, social networking and learning. The natural conclusion was to bring the wisdom and educational tools of MEC online, where they can benefit any young man who wishes to use them and engage the Journey to Manhood in a community of peers and mentors. The Journey to Manhood website is a place where young men can learn and talk about what is truly important to them. Sign up below for a free webinar and to be updated with new content Are you ready? Start Your Journey
Inclusivity Statement
Journey to Manhood Online is a resource for all masculine-identified youth. The purpose of this site is to help young people explore what manhood and masculinity mean to them, to determine what kind of men they want to be. So, while this question doesn’t really apply to feminine-identified young people, it definitely does apply to trans-men and masculine-of-center genderqueer or nonbinary young people. We are happy to support these young people in their exploration of what masculinity means to them.
Masculinity is changing, growing, expanding, branching into many different approaches to the question of how to be a man in the world. Like all cultural ideas and practices, it needs to adapt to a changing world, and move closer and closer to aligning with ethical principles. Our aim is to facilitate this process.
We also welcome participants of all sexual orientations, races, religions, and cultural backgrounds, as long as they are also willing to accept others regardless of such differences.
Our Staff
Carl Kalin
Co-founder, Mentor
Carl has mentored countless young men to step more fully into their joy and responsibility as adults. He has been involved in men’s work for 25 years staring with the Sterling Institute initiation weekend and 8 years on a Sterling men’s team. Carl co-founded the Mens Eagle Council and ran the program for ten years in Boulder, CO including rites-of-passage work for teenage boys indoors and in nature. He currently supports rites of passage work for young people in association with other groups (Mens Leadership Alliance, Youth Rites of Passage, Mens Ministry) working for the initiation of young people into adulthood. His current emphasis is on how to use the internet to introduce and provide the wisdom of rites-of-passage work for youth, parents and communities.
Asa Henderson
Director, Mentor
Asa is our Creative Director, in charge of producing our video series, as well as most of the writing for the site. Asa is a 30-year-old father of one son who has undergone The Mankind Project’s New Warrior Training Adventure and continued to participate in a men’s group for several years. He has a BA and a BFA in Film Studies from the University of Colorado, which included the study of gender representation in the media. He has over a decade of experience working with teenagers. He is passionate about both men’s issues and women’s issues, as well as how they intertwine. He is excited to help teenage boys investigate the role of gender in their lives, with the purpose of embodying their full potential as human beings.
Ramon Parish
Mentor
Ramon is one of the mentors who will be helping to facilitate our small-group webinar courses. The video above showcases his work with Melissa Michaels‘ Surfing the Creative International Youth Leadership Rites of Passage Camp. Ramon is a committed husband and father of three shinning stars. He serves as an adjunct instructor at Naropa University teaching classes in environmental justice, social identity and contemplative learning. Since 2005 has been a student of SomaSource and an integral member of the leadership team of Surfing the Creative. Growing from this role he has also been involved in an effort by local and international rites of passage practitioners, wilderness guides and youth mentors to integrate services, create a clearing house for best practices and help awaken mainstream educators to the elemental language of ritual. Ramon continues to quest for the alchemical marriage between the dance, art, science, activism, cultural diversity and the sacred, through community gatherings, creative experimentation and social enterprise. As both natural impulse and professional activity he seeks to be a helpful presence in the lives of youth of many backgrounds as they hone in on their heart’s calling and path of service to the whole.