1. ENGAGING, EDUCATING AND EMPOWERING GAY MILLENNIALSLessons from Vancouvers Mpowerment Project

2. WHO WE ARE Gabriel Caruana Mpowerment Core Group Member Andrew Shopland Mpowerment Project Coordinator Claire OGorman Peer Education Programs Manager Michael Reid Community Engagement Manager 3. OVERVIEW YouthCOs Mpowerment Project Community-Building & Empowerment Peer Education & Health Promotion Engagement & Community Organizing 4. WHAT IS THE MPOWERMENT MODEL? Guiding Principles: Social Focus Empowerment Philosophy Peer Influence of Safer Sex Messages Multi-Level Approach Community Building Diffusion of Innovations 5. INCREMENTAL ENGAGEMENT Social Events Formal Outreach Community Member Workshop / Discussion Night Core Group Member Event Outreach Campaigns Social Media Informal Outreach Peer to Peer Engagement at eventsFacilitator / MentorGOAL: 1000 Workshop Participants Over 4 Years 6. HISTORY OF MPOWERMENT YVR 2010 ManCount Survey YouthCO seeks evidence-based intervention to complement the work of HIM. 2011 #gayboysolution engagement campaign Partnered with UCSF Partnered with HIM / Totally Outright 7. 2012 Funding received from PHAC, TD Bank & TELUS. Launched project in May 2012.2013 Funding received from Vancouver FoundationAs of October 31st, 2013: Project has run for 18 months Over 40 events, workshops & discussion nights 1,400 total social event attendees 770 unique attendees 200 unique workshop participants 25% secondary engagement 15% of gay guys age 18-29 have attended one of our events, skewing towards youngerMpowerment YVR 8. MILLENNIALS? Generation Y, Echo Boom Generation, iGeneration For our purposes: Born 1982-2000 Political worldview has been shaped by 9/11, Great Recession, and the rise of tech-enabled social movements Digital natives: Have always had computers, cellphones and social media Socially conscious generation. General spirit of support for human rights Underemployed, and have trouble keeping up with increasing cost of living 9. GAY MILLENNIALS? Coming out younger High percentage have experienced bullying In Canada, marriage equality has always existed Online sex and dating has always been the norm Increasing cost of living downtown means most live away from gay villages Increasingly urban HOWEVER Also rural Raised on porn but still not receiving any gay sex education Want more from the gay community & desire healthier relationships with other gay guys 10. COMMUNITY BUILDINGCreating spaces for healthier and more inclusive communities 11. AUSTINS STORY 12. IT GOT BETTER? Communication Location Based Social Networks (Grindr, Growlr, Hornet, Scruff, etc.) Wide range of dating and cruising sites (Plenty of Fish, Adam4Adam, Manhunt, Squirt, etc.) Tolerance Vancouver Pride is now a Civic Event GSA/QSAs in schools Safe to live outside Davie Village Same-Sex marriage 13. Apolitical: discrimination is perpetuated Highly Sexualized: objectification is the norm Lacking Intimacy: openness is challenging 14. WHAT IS MPOWERMENT? 15. WHAT DO GUYS ACTUALLY WANT? CommunicationToleranceConnectionAcceptance 16. HOW DO WE CREATE CONNECTION AND ACCEPTANCE? Intimacy Inclusion Non Sexualized and Sex Positive Youth Run 17. PRODUCTION OF SPACE Henri Lefebvre La Production de lespace (1974) Space is socially constructed based on values and the social production of meanings This process is fundamental to the reproduction of societyChange life! Change Society! These ideas lose completely their meaning without producing an appropriate space new social relations demand a new space, and vice-versa. 18. SPACE FOR MPOWERMENT Defined values and expectations Building container over time Shared experiences and intimacy Positive feedback cycle 19. OUR SPACE 20. NERDTASTIC 21. TURKEY TIME 22. ENHANCING THE RIPPLE Diffusion of Innovation Giving the guys skills to develop their personal communities Event planning Translating online communication to community Applied inclusion Empowerment Personal and Community 23. EDUCATION Goals: Behaviour change Knowledge transfer Diffusion of knowledge Creation of new community norms Way easier for this to happen in the container weve already built 24. PEER EDUCATION FOR HEALTH PROMOTIONAdapting principles of peer education for young gay men 25. BROADCASTED INFORMATION 26. TYPICAL SEX ED Lacking relevance Feeling left out Feeling judged Lots of myths and misinformation 27. PEER EDUCATION Power in learning from peers Increased relevance Increased trust and safety Removes the traditional hierarchy in education 28. PEER EDUCATION WORKSHOPS Acknowledge the skills and knowledge in the room Allows for two-way discussion, clarification of ideas and information Increases relevance Allows for exploration of all the Grey Areas and What ifs What -> So what 29. PEER EDUCATION AT YOUTHCO Sex-positive Inclusive 30. PEER EDUCATION WITH YOUNG GAY MEN Easier to be forthcoming Feelings of belonging Finding meaning Sense of security Information from a reliable source 31. MPOWERMENT CURRICULUM 32. REFLECTIONS & IMPORTANCE Peer relational practice Allows relationships to form and development Ongoing feedback and reform Space for follow-up and questions 33. ENGAGEMENT & COMMUNITY ORGANIZING 34. ENGAGEMENT 1.Reach Out2.Develop Relationships3.Foster Community4.Share our Vision5.Build Trust6.Inspire Action7.Cultivate and StewardUltimate Goal: To mobilize youth to be leaders in the HIV movement and in their own communities. 35. THE EXCUSES: ENGAGING YOUNG GUYS Young guys dont want to come to our programs. Thats because the program needs to be fun and fulfill an actual want or need of young gay guys. Young guys are apathetic and just dont care. Thats because theyre not being inspired. This generation has a taste for the dramatic/emotional and expect to be stirred to action. Its hard to reach/find young gay guys. This is actually the easiest generation to reach in the history of humanity. Theyre all online. 36. THE EXCUSES: ENGAGING YOUNG GUYS This generation is lazy and self-entitled. So were the Baby Boomers. And Generation X. Everyone always thinks that about the youngest generation. We cant relate to younger guys. Then hire younger staff or empower a group of young volunteers. Be a youth ally and practice good Eldership. The young guys we do find arent high-risk enough. There is no standard demographic profile of the young gay male that gets HIV. Dont go looking for specific people or youll ignore everyone else. Target the community and youll reach everyone organically. 37. THE EXCUSES: SOCIAL MEDIA Social Media doesnt actually accomplish anything and we dont have the staff time. Our communications policies dont allow junior staff and volunteers to speak for the organization. We have no control over what other people say to/about us online. Social Media is a passing fad. Followers, fans, and likes dont actually mean anything. 38. SOCIAL MEDIA AT YOUTHCO Learning from 2008 Obama Campaign Social Media Policy = Not to have a social media policy Decentralized control to each program. Autonomous communities Brand and values consistency ensured by managers via Hootsuite Only delete comments in extreme circumstances! Engage in a dialogue Specific strategy for each platform YouthCO currently has 12 social media accounts on 5 platforms targeting specific youth communities. Controlled by many staff and volunteers 39. WHICH PLATFORM WHEN? Facebook Event promotion, program pages, direct messaging Twitter Professional / informative Instagram Pictures/videos from event Tumblr Miscellaneous fun reposts 40. WHICH PLATFORM WHEN? YouTube Gay and sexpositive video promos Email Rarely used. Facebook messaging instead Texting Core Group members and those who opt-in Facebook Advertising Cost effective, hypertargeted social advertising 41. STAYING IN CONTROL Centralizes control of multiple social media accounts onto one control panel Allows multiple staff/volunteers to control multiple channels Social CRM (contact relationship manager) database. Manages contacts via email, phone, texting, Facebook, Twitter as well as live events 42. NATIONBUILDER 43. MILLENNIALS & DIGITAL ACTIVISM Technology-enabled social movements and protests of the past 15 years have shaped the attitudes of Millennials surrounding human rights and social justice What makes digital movement-building successful? It inspires and/or organizes real-world action. 44. FROM ONLINE ENGAGEMENT TO REAL WORLD ACTION What is the value of a comment or a like on Facebook? NO VALUE if we dont follow up! Each time someone interacts with our page or post its an invitation for us to talk to them Weve already done the hardest thing, which is getting them to notice us. Dont waste it Its not a cold contact because they either follow our organization or we have friends in common. Mention the connection to build trust 45. Tagged with MP General Flagged for Initial Outreach All contact information hes shared with us is available If he has interacted with us on Twitter or Facebook, NationBuilder matches the names up and links his social media accounts to his profile 46. CHALLENGES & ISSUES Confidentiality: Community organizing data is kept entirely separate from service & health data Building relationships across demographics within the youth community. Sometimes get stuck in the same social networks As program has skewed younger, guys in their late 20s are not as interested 47. LESSONS LEARNED Peer education more important than ever Young gay guys have a strong desire to build a healthier gay community Young guys need a voice at the table Elders to listen and not judge Social Media is by far the best way to reach this population, but must be done relevantly and intentionally Taking a community organizing approach to health programs is powerful Youth are passionate and knowledgeable empower them to reach their potential 48. CONTACT FacebookMpowerment YVRmpwr.ca/fInstagram@mpowermentyvrmpwr.ca/iTwitter@mpowermentyvrmpwr.ca/tYouTubempowermentyvrmpwr.ca/yEmailmpowermentyvr@youthco.org