Introducing you to the Sponsors of the January What Boys Need As Males Conference is a great way to deepen the vision of the Conference for you. The sponsors have been working in the field of male development for more than thirty five years. To register for our free conference, please visit www.helpingboysthrive.org.
Dr. Paul Golding, Dr. Bonnie Ellinger, Dr. Michael Gurian, and Gail Reid-Gurian, via the Santa Fe Boys Fund and the Gurian Foundation, are the official sponsors of this What Boys Need Conference. We want to thank all of them for making this happen. Michael Gurian will also present two sessions in the Conference.
Paul Golding, Ph.D., is the president of the Santa Fe Boys Fund. Through publications and conferences, the fund and Dr. Golding seek to educate adults about the unique vulnerabilities of boys captured in the phrase, “boys at risk.” Twenty five years ago, as a new Big Brother and president of the Santa Fe Big Brothers and Big Sisters organization, Golding became interested in what was happening to boys, the “boy crisis.” In addition to his experience with his “little brother” and editing the Santa Fe Boys newsletter, he has pursued this subject by contributing articles in the Zero to Three Journal, the Infant Mental Health Journal, and “Boys at Risk” in the Encyclopedia of Infant and Early Child Development (Elsevier).
Bonnie Ellinger, Ph.D., Applied Linguistics. Dr. Ellinger lived in Israel for 35 years, the first five on the kibbutz. She taught English for more than 20 years at Bar Ilan University before moving to Santa Fe. She has recently written, “With communal spirit, Nir Oz will rise again” and interviewed Amir Tibon, Haaretz journalist and author of “The Gates of Gaza: One Family’s Story of Betrayal, Survival and Hope on Israel’s Borderlands.” Tibon and his family survived the October 7th attack on kibbutz Nahal Oz. Read the transcript and view the interview here: “The Gates of Gaza” Israeli Journalist and Author Amir Tibon interviewed by Bonnie Ellinger – video and transcript.
Gail Reid-Gurian. The Gurian Foundation is co-sponsoring this Conference in honor of Gail, our Foundation’s co-director, a marriage and family therapist, mother of two daughters, and a loving child advocate, who passed away from pancreatic cancer on August 16, 2023. For more than forty years, Gail worked with teen males and men and noticed the crises they were having as males. She worked tirelessly for all of her clients to help them heal and grow, including committing her time to the Foundation, the Gurian Institute (GI), and GI’s Helping Boys Thrive®
initiatives
Michael Gurian is a marriage and family counselor in private practice and the New York Times bestselling author of thirty five books. As a social philosopher, he has pioneered efforts to bring neuro-biology and brain research into homes, schools, corporations, and public policy. The Gurian Institute, which he co-founded, conducts research internationally, launches pilot programs, and trains professionals. A number of Michael’s books have sparked national debate, including The Wonder of Boys, The Wonder of Girls, Boys and Girls Learn Differently, Leadership and the Sexes, Saving Our Sons, and Boys, A Rescue Plan (with Sean Kullman).
Michael Gurian’s Keynotes:
Michael will provide a short introductory session, Setting the Stage, with thanks to the Santa Fe Boys Fund, Dr. Paul Golding, and Dr. Bonnie Ellinger, as well as last-minute logistical information; then he will set the stage for the Conference with the importance of understanding boys and men in our new millennium, including delving into the male brain. As many people have sensed already, for various political reasons, protecting males as males gets short shrift in national, international, and community discussions. That paucity, Michael will point out, is a primary reason our males have fallen behind worldwide: we avoid understanding males as males and pay a terrible price.
Michael will also provide a keynote during the Conference titled Saving Our Sons. We are living in a complex age, one in which children are overusing digital tools and tech; our definitions of sex and gender are being negotiated in social media, academe, and our schools; violence surrounds us; and teachers and parents feel almost desperate for tools to help the children in their care. In this keynote presentation, Michael will explore how the minds of boys learn and grow, including brain differences that impact K – 12 education, and early childhood, family life, and social emotional development throughout the lifespan. He will provide insight into best teaching, parenting, counseling, and mentoring practices targeted to sex of the brain. Michael’s presentation includes brain scans that display sexual dimorphism (male/female brain differences) as he focuses on educating, raising, and counseling boys. Participants will learn about girls, women, and the female brain, as well.
Michael will also lead two working lunch discussions in which he, and other available keynoters, will answer questions that participants might have based on the keynotes and Conference subjects.
To register for this free conference, please visit https://helpingboysthrive.org/.
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