Our Story

Prior to MCSR’s founding in 1997, conversations about gender-based violence occurred in passive voice and fueled prevention efforts centered on risk-reduction and self-defense tactics directed at women. Society had yet to recognize the potential of boys and men as catalysts for positive change, or examine the meaningful intersections of race, gender, socio-economic status, oppression, and violence. But, a growing grassroots effort in the nation’s capital would soon shift the paradigm in addressing the epidemic of men’s violence against women by focusing on the root cause and establishing primary prevention as the most effective vehicle for change.

MCSR pioneered a comprehensive proactive strategy for prevention that engages boys and men – motivating them to build the knowledge, skills, and abilities to develop more fully authentic selves that continually learn and grow and inspiring them to consistently model the attitudes and behaviors that create healthier relationships and communities and a better world for everyone.

By reimagining prevention, MCSR recast responsibility and mobilized boys and men as allies by promoting healthy, nonviolent masculinity. Guided by an upstream approach that enlists a public health theory of change, then-Director of Community Education, Neil Irvin drew upon his experience and expertise serving at-risk and in-risk youth and began designing MCSR’s youth development work to fulfill our mission and create programming to organize and engage school-aged boys and young men as leaders in the work. MCSR’s first signature program, the Men of Strength (MOST) Club launched in 2000 at Ballou High School in Washington, DC.

MOST Club integrates the concept of counter stories with intergenerational and near-peer mentoring strategies, a 22-week U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention-evaluated curriculum, and service-learning activities to achieve primary prevention and positive youth development goals. Unique to the field – in both process and purpose – MOST Club quickly became known as an innovative and promising practice, earning early recognition from the National Crime Prevention Council and the Ms. Foundation for Women. In 2010, our youth serving work expanded to include a signature program for girls and young women, the Women Inspiring Strength and Empowerment (WISE) Club. The compounding effect of reputation and demand propelled a ripple of new Clubs across all DC Public Schools and beyond, and groups across the U.S. have established MOST Clubs as model programs in a broad range of urban, rural, and frontier communities.

With the launch of the Healthy Masculinity Action Project (HMAP) in 2012, MCSR mobilized dozens of national organizations, government agencies, and corporate partners to ignite the healthy masculinity movement on an even larger scale. This unprecedented collaboration reached more than 60 million people and raised the collective consciousness about the vital role healthy masculinity has in building cultures of equity and respect and healthy, safe relationships and communities.

The outcomes of MCSR’s groundbreaking work are measured across the young people served; impactful trainings and countless hours of technical assistance delivered to professionals and service providers; and our award-winning public education campaigns. As co-founder and steward of the DC Coalition to End Sexual Violence; creator of the cutting-edge ASK (Assault. Services. Knowledge.) technology platform; and committed partner to thousands of organizations and agencies, all branches of the U.S. armed services, Fortune 500 companies, and all major professional sports leagues, MCSR’s global reach exceeds 500 million people.

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