Alberta Men’s Collaborative

Author: Mike Cameron, Alberta Men’s Collaborative Member

“Have fun at Yoga”

Those were the last four words I said to her. 

Little did I know that those four words would be the beginning of my lifetime commitment to make an impact in the lives of other men.  

On Friday, October 2, 2015, after leaving my house to go teach yoga, my girlfriend was ambushed and killed by an ex-boyfriend who subsequently took his own life. A tragic event I would have never in my wildest dreams imagined. 

To me, this begged the question “How do we stop men from getting to that point in the first place?”. I spent months, years in fact, meeting with a variety of individuals who were working in various facets of “men’s work”. 

What I learned was that there were some incredible individuals and organizations doing some incredible work in the arena of what I would broadly call men’s wellness. 

There were a lot of amazing initiatives being created and implemented yet almost all of them were unaware of the broader work that was being done. There was a real disconnect between all of the different individuals, groups and organizations all looking to achieve very similar objectives. 

Most of the work was being done in silos. As I explored initiative after initiative, and program after program, I recognized how much power there could be in collaboration. 

Anytime I discussed this with those working in the space, they all agreed that they saw it too. 

And then it happened.

I got an email from one of the men who I looked to as a mentor. A veteran with 30 years experience working with men.

“I want to invite you to join a small group to look at how our community service sector can be a better player in preventing suicide among men.”   

After our initial meeting with a wide array of individuals working in diverse facets of supporting men, it became incredibly clear that this would become the collaborative hub that so many of us longed for.

On November 10, 2021 The Alberta Men's Collaborative was born. Designed to be a collaborative hub for all working in the space. Our intent is not about creating new programs, or solving specific problems, rather to create a space for all those that adhere to mission and values to come together to share resources and information for a united vision.