During the October A Bolder Way Forward Coalition Meeting in Emery County, a discussion began on when and how to conduct the Male Allyship meeting.
It was explained that the Male Allyship meeting is made up of five conversations and it really takes a core of people that want to commit to do it. According to the Utah State University Utah Women & Leadership Project, in the late 1800s and early 1900s, Utah men were some of the most supportive of women’s advancement in that era supporting suffrage, education and sharing opportunities with women to speak in public.
Deborah Lin explained that this program is really easy to run and basically takes an individual that is willing to organize it and decide when and where it is going to be. The Male Allyship meetings can be via Zoom or in-person and some resources are available online to show how to run it and answer some questions.
“Utah can again become nationally recognized for the way men and women work together for the common good,” the UWLP Male Allyship website shared. “As men and women join forces to improve the status of women in the state, we will benefit families and strengthen the positive impact of both women and men in their communities and the state as a whole.”
The vision of the Male Allyship Impact Team is to enhance Utah’s organizations and leadership by emphasizing the profound benefits of male allyship in the workplace and community.
Lin stated that there was a group that piloted this program and left it saying that it was the best conversations that had been had around the subject. Usually, it is most effective if men want to participate and get others to join along. Already, A Bolder Way Forward has some men that want to be involved.
The idea was to begin the conversation during one of the A Bolder Way Forward meetings. Lin informed the group that there is not a rule that women should not be present, though she acknowledged that the conversation would obviously be different with women present.
It is likely that the inaugural meeting for the Male Allyship will take place in January, where the first video in conjunction with the allyship will be viewed to get the conversation started.