Join us on Wednesday, November 18th, as the AVA Webinar Series presents Men Like Me: Engaging Men as Allies in Preventing Gender-Based Violence, featuring Amy Zhou, Project Coordinator of Program Innovations from Mothers Matter Canada
Wednesday, November 18, 2026
12 – 1:30pm MST
Gender-based violence (GBV) remains a critical public health and human rights issue across Canada, yet programming specifically designed for men remains limited. Men Like Me (MLM) is a bilingual, peer-led prevention program for multi-barriered fathers with young children, providing culturally appropriate spaces to learn, connect, and grow as equitable partners and engaged parents.
Piloted at six sites across five Canadian cities (Edmonton, Yellowknife, Regina, Saskatoon, and Toronto), this two-year initiative, funded by Women and Gender Equality, uses peer facilitation and group learning to reduce social isolation, challenge harmful gender norms, strengthen family relationships, and promote healthy masculinities among newcomer and refugee men. We will share findings and lessons from the program’s implementation and evaluation.
This session explores MLM’s design and implementation, highlighting how peer-led facilitation builds accountability and models healthy behaviours. Attendees will learn inclusive strategies, key implementation lessons, and promising practices for reducing stigma and building trust with men to prevent GBV and family violence. These approaches support fathers in promoting gender equity, strengthening families, and breaking cycles of harm in their communities.
About the Speaker
Amy Zhou, Project Coordinator of Program Innovations, Mothers Matter Canada
Amy is a Project Coordinator of Program Innovations at Mothers Matter Canada. With a background in Political Science and Gender Studies from Simon Fraser University, Amy brings a commitment to reducing inequities through the design of culturally appropriate, community-led programming. She leads innovation programs grounded in the principle that the most effective approaches centre the communities they serve, translating lived experience into models that drive meaningful systemic change.
Amy has been the driving force behind Men Like Me’s successful implementation across six delivery sites spanning Edmonton, Yellowknife, Regina, Saskatoon, and Toronto, mobilizing program partners to deliver this bilingual program.