A community for men who give a damn
Upstanding.
When men rise, everyone around them rises too. Upstanding is a Melbourne-based community where men get real — about relationships, emotions, and the world they want to help build. No lecture. Just honest conversation, good stories, and people worth knowing.
"When one of us rises,
all of us rise."
Upstanding is built on one idea: a man who understands his own emotions — who can sit with discomfort, who genuinely sees the people around him — makes everything better. His relationships. His community. His world. We create the space for men to become that man. Without agenda. Without shame. Just a good room and an honest conversation.
Why now
Men are searching
for something real.
The manosphere is filling a vacuum. Men are lonely, looking for belonging, and finding it in online spaces that make them angrier and more isolated. The antidote isn't a lecture — it's a better room to walk into. And right now, that room doesn't exist for adult men in Australia.
What we are
A space, not
a seminar.
Upstanding is not a workshop, a campaign, or a support group. It's a community — built around the idea that men talking honestly to other men, hearing stories they don't expect, and being genuinely surprised by each other, is one of the most underrated forces for change in the world.
What we are not
- ✕An ideology or a label
- ✕A therapy group or crisis service
- ✕A space that lectures men or assigns blame
- ✕Career or business networking
- ✕A new boys club — homogeneous, exclusive, closed
- ✕Only for men who already "get it"
- ✕Wristbands, pledges, performative awareness
What we are
- →A men's community — led by men, built by women
- →Built around story, honesty, and real conversation
- →Equity-centred in values, casual and fun in feel
- →Radically inclusive — all men, all backgrounds, all abilities
- →A counter to the manosphere, built with warmth not opposition
- →Low barrier — the only ask is to show up
- →A content platform as much as a live experience
What we believe
The beliefs behind
every decision.
These aren't values on a wall. They're the design principles behind every event, every story we curate, and every word we use to invite men through the door.
When men rise, everyone rises
An emotionally intelligent man is a better partner, father, colleague, and friend. That ripple effect is the whole point. This isn't just good for men — it's good for everyone around them.
No man should feel ambushed
Every event is designed so a sceptical man can participate at whatever depth he's comfortable with. He can laugh, listen, and leave — and still leave having felt something shift. The room earns its depth.
Story is more powerful than argument
A man hearing another man's honest experience opens something no statistic can. We lead with story because it bypasses defensiveness and lands somewhere real.
Inclusion is structural, not decorative
Diverse speakers aren't a quota — they're the point. Every room we build reflects the actual world: different ages, races, abilities, backgrounds. Show it before you say it.
The entry point must be easy
If men have to agree to a manifesto to walk in the door, they won't. Come for the mates and the drinks. Come curious. The growth is a side effect of a good night.
Men modelling this to men is irreplaceable
Peer influence is the most powerful force in men's behaviour. Upstanding is built so men see other men being honest, vulnerable, and whole — and decide they want that too.
The event design
How every room
is built.
Every Upstanding event — regardless of format — follows the same emotional arc. Men need to feel welcome before they can feel moved, and moved before they can be stretched. You don't open with the hard question. You earn it.
Music, drinks, no agenda visible. The room feels like a good night out. Nobody knows yet what they signed up for — and that's exactly right.
Something fun, relatable, or surprising. A story from a regular bloke. A question anyone can answer. Laughter before depth. Trust before honesty.
A man in the room — or on stage — says something that makes others think: I want to be more like that. This is the turning point.
They find themselves in conversation and realise they're not alone. They leave carrying something new — not because they were told to, but because the room earned it.
The warmup formula — music and drinks first, relatable story, or a low-stakes question to the room — will be tested across the first four pilot events. Each pilot isolates one variable. By event four, we'll know the formula not through theory but through feeling it in the room.
Event formats
Three tiers.
One arc.
Three formats designed to meet men wherever they are — from a man who'd never go to a "men's event" to a man ready for something deeper. Each tier has a distinct entry point, audience, and purpose. All follow the same emotional arc.
A social night with no declared agenda beyond a good time. Live music or a DJ set. Drinks. A loose prompt on each table — something playful, not earnest. Men answer if they want. Nobody's watching. Nobody's keeping score.
The bloke who would never go to a "men's event." He came because his mate invited him to a good night out. He leaves having had a conversation he didn't expect. This is the entry point for the man we most want to reach.
- Ticket $15–25 or free
- Accessible venue required
- Mixed audience welcome
- Highlights only recorded (not full event)
- Quarterly cadence to start
Three to five men tell a true 7-minute story on a theme. Curated — not open mic. One guest voice from outside the male experience tells one story that widens the lens without redirecting the room. Small-group conversation follows at tables with a single prompt.
The theme is always human, never political. Not "privilege" — but "what I was given that I didn't earn." The speaker lineup is diverse every single event — race, age, ability, background — not as a special edition, but as the standard.
- Ticket $30–45
- Full event recorded — podcast + YouTube
- Fully accessible venue — confirmed per event
- Mixed audience welcome
- Monthly cadence once established
12 to 20 men. Facilitated by a trained male facilitator. A theme explored over two hours with structured conversation — not a panel. Starts somewhere light. Moves somewhere real. No phones. No recording. No performance. What's said here, stays here.
Men who've been to a Warmup or Stories night and want to go further. This isn't the entry point — it's what men find their way to. The waitlist model keeps it intimate as it grows. The grant-funding case is strongest here.
- Ticket $60–80
- Scholarship spots at every Round (2–3 free tickets via community partners)
- Accessible venue — non-negotiable
- Never recorded
- Monthly once pilot proven
Pilot strategy
Test before
you assume.
The right warmup formula will be discovered in the room, not at a desk. Four pilot events, each testing one variable. The only constant: the emotional arc and the commitment to inclusion.
Pilot 01
Fun First
Music, drinks, a loose table prompt. No facilitation. See if the room warms itself or needs a nudge.
Measuring: Do strangers actually talk?
Pilot 02
Story First
One relatable man, 7 minutes, true story — then drinks and music. Does hearing someone else go first open the room faster?
Measuring: Does story create more connection than small talk?
Pilot 03
Question First
A low-stakes question posed to the whole room before anything else. Something anyone can answer safely. Then story. Then music.
Measuring: Does a shared question build trust faster?
Pilot 04
All Three
Music → relatable story → question to the room → deeper conversation. The full layered arc, in sequence.
Measuring: Is the full arc better than any single element?
Inclusion framework
Show it.
Say it. Both.
Upstanding is designed for all men — able and disabled, white and of colour, privileged and not, from every cultural background. This isn't a special commitment for a special event. It's the standard. And it's communicated differently depending on who's listening.
Lead with what's in it for him
When speaking to everyone — including the sceptical bloke scrolling Instagram — lead with the experience, not the policy. Don't announce your inclusion values. Make them feel them.
State it as a feature, not a requirement
Once a man walks through the door, he's already opted in. The facilitator names the room's diversity as something worth being there for — not something to comply with.
Be explicit, specific, and proud
The Victorian government, Movember, and philanthropic funders need to know exactly what we stand for. Here we say it plainly — because this is the language they fund.
Voice & language
How we
speak.
Language determines who walks through the door. Every word is chosen to invite men in — not signal a political tribe. The values are explicit. The vocabulary is human.
Content & reach
One event.
Weeks of content.
Upstanding Stories (Tier 2) is recorded at every event. The Round is never recorded — that guarantee is what makes it work. One Story Night produces a full content stack that reaches men far beyond Melbourne and generates sponsorship revenue.
One Upstanding Story Night
YouTube
Full event recording, monetised. Long-form watch time builds channel authority and ad revenue over time.
Podcast
Audio version released as a standalone episode on Spotify and Apple. Each story is its own clip.
Short clips
3–5 story highlights cut for Instagram, TikTok, and LinkedIn. Organic reach engine for live event attendance.
Newsletter
Written story excerpts and reflections. Builds a direct audience owned by Upstanding — not an algorithm.
Sponsorship
Values-aligned brands sponsor the podcast and YouTube channel. Movember, Headspace, beyond blue, men's health brands.
One event produces 4–6 weeks of content. A man in Brisbane, London, or Auckland hears a story on the podcast and wants to come to the next live event. Or wants to start a chapter in his city. That's how Upstanding scales without infrastructure.
Venue approach
No fixed home yet.
By design.
Upstanding won't commit to a home venue until the pilot events have shown what each format needs to feel right. Venue flexibility is a strength at this stage — it lets the community shape the space, not the other way around.
Accessibility is non-negotiable
Every Upstanding event must be fully step-free and wheelchair accessible. This is a hard requirement, not a nice-to-have. It's also one of the clearest signals to men of all abilities that the room was built for them.
The room should feel earned, not rented
The right venue for each format will emerge from the pilots. A Warmup needs a bar and music. A Story Night needs a stage and intimacy. The Round needs a room that feels private. No single venue serves all three equally well.
Venue partnerships come with pilots
Once the format is proven, a venue partnership becomes a meaningful conversation — not an assumption. Potential partners include independent theatres, community spaces, arts venues, and hospitality groups aligned with Upstanding's values.
Geography matters for inclusion
A single CBD venue limits who can get there. Rotating across inner Melbourne suburbs in the pilot phase lets Upstanding test which communities respond — and where a permanent home makes most sense.
The team
Built by women.
Led by men in the room.
Two women founding a men's community isn't a weakness to manage — it's the headline. It proves the thesis before a single event runs. And the team structure means every function is covered, every role is deliberate.
Vision, strategy, financial architecture, and grant funding. The builder of the scaffolding. Present as producer and connector at Story Night and Keynote events — in the room, not running it.
Marketing, brand, event production, and partnerships. The person who makes the event feel like something worth showing up for — and who builds the relationships that open doors.
Contracted per event. The credible presence in the room — warm, disarming, experienced with men's group work. Not co-founders. Paid per event as Upstanding grows. Drawn from ManKind Project, Tomorrow Man, and community networks.
Triple J alumnus, author, independent political candidate, and Comedy Republic co-founder. Values-aligned, publicly committed to gender equity, and trusted by the exact demographic Upstanding needs to reach. 99K Instagram followers. A potential venue conversation — once the relationship is built.
Funding model
Diversified.
Not dependent.
Bootstrapped to start. Grants-first in year one. A diversified model by year two that doesn't depend on any single source — so the mission stays independent of whoever is funding it.
Victorian Government
Victoria's new Minister for Men and Boys has explicitly named countering the manosphere as a key focus. Upstanding is the community-level, prevention-first program this ministry needs to fund. Apply via DFFH Grants Gateway and the ministry directly — with pilot evidence.
Movember Foundation
Community men's health grants, open annually. Upstanding's focus on loneliness, connection, and mental health prevention aligns directly with Movember's funding priorities.
Freemasons Foundation Victoria
Recently granted $600K across 18 Victorian organisations focused on community wellbeing and isolation — a direct match for Upstanding's outcomes and geography.
Ticketed events
Story Night ($30–45) and The Round ($60–80) generate direct event revenue. Affordable, but not free — investment signals commitment.
Content sponsorship
Podcast and YouTube channel sponsored by values-aligned brands — Headspace, beyond blue, men's health organisations. Built on audience, not impressions.
Lord Mayor's & Perpetual
Lord Mayor's Charitable Foundation and Perpetual Foundation both run annual community grants relevant to Upstanding's prevention focus and Melbourne geography.
Roadmap
Prove the room.
Then build the rest.
No infrastructure before there's a community that cares. The pilot events prove the concept. The evidence funds the scale. Everything in sequence.
Phase 1 — Now → 3 months
Prove the Room
- Approach Alex Dyson — coffee, no deck
- Recruit Lead Facilitator from ManKind Project / Tomorrow Man networks
- Run 4 pilot events testing warmup formats
- Document everything — attendance, testimonials, video
- No brand required yet — just show up
Phase 2 — 3–12 months
Build the Engine
- Register as incorporated association (under $60, Victorian)
- Lock Upstanding brand — name, visual identity, website
- Submit Victorian government grant application
- Launch podcast and YouTube from first Story Night recording
- Monthly event cadence established
- First content sponsorship secured
Phase 3 — Year 2+
Scale the Model
- Expand to Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide
- City chapter leader model
- Annual Upstanding Summit — flagship event
- Paid membership community launched
- Explore New Zealand and UK
- Podcast reaching men beyond live event geography
The invitation
Better men.
Better everything.
Upstanding is a concept in motion. Two women, a clear purpose, and a moment in Victoria that won't stay open forever. The first event costs almost nothing. The conversation starts now.