Introducing our Young Men and Media Collective 'test and learn' cohort 2026
What is the YMMC?
The Young Men and Media Collective (YMMC) is an ambitious new initiative, co-convened by Movember and Equimundo, that aims to transform the online worlds of young men in a way that supports their health and wellbeing.
It brings together creators, platforms, and organisations to test what works to expand ideas about what it means to be a man, which young men are increasingly exposed to online. We know from our research that over 60% of young men are engaging with content from online masculinity influencers, and this content is impacting their health in both positive and negative ways.
The YMMC serves as a hub for experimentation, learning, and dialogue, focused on expanding and reshaping the dominant and often harmful ideas about what it means to be a man that persist in online environments.
What is the “test and learn” funded project cohort?
As part of the YMMC, Movember, Equimundo, and Oak Foundation are co-funding 9 ‘test and learn’ projects led by organisations and individual content creators.
These funded projects will produce and distribute a range of different compelling content that speaks directly to young men. The goal is to disrupt harmful narratives; specifically the idea that to be successful you must be ‘relentlessly rich and ripped, at all costs’ and offer alternative, healthier ideas about fitness, financial stability, and what it means to be a man.
The projects represent a range of different creative expressions including poetry and humour and focus on different themes through sport, journalism, gaming, brotherhood, boxing, construction, and youth-led digital storytelling.
These pilot projects will explore what messages, formats, and creative tactics work to engage and support young men. Learnings from what does and doesn’t work will be shared with the YMMC’s wider Learning Network in order to equip a larger group of organisations to effectively support and create alternative narratives with the goal of ultimately shifting young men’s views of what it means to be a man today.
Sarah Sternberg, Director, Global Reimagining Masculinities Initiative, at Movember says:
“We’re working with a diverse and inspirational group of creators to explore the creative and messaging techniques that will engage and support young men with expansive stories of what it means to be a man. This is an exciting first step in this experiment to test ‘what works’ to shift masculinity narratives online and we are looking forward to seeing their content out in the online world and what we will learn from it.”
Cohort Bios and Credentials
Men Deserve Better
Location: United Kingdom
As part of a world-first initiative, we are establishing a dedicated Young Men’s Correspondent role. This pioneering journalism position will focus on producing original reporting, news analysis, and feature content that reflects the experiences, perspectives, and challenges facing young men. The role is intended to strengthen public understanding of issues affecting young men through evidence-based reporting and meaningful engagement with this audience. The recruitment process is currently underway, with applications under review.
Following the appointment of the Young Men’s Correspondent, we will develop a documentary series focused on topics directly aligned with the RRR theme. Informed by insights, data, and emerging trends identified through YMMC research and reporting, the documentary will explore underrepresented issues, challenge prevailing assumptions, and present balanced, accessible information for young men aged 15 - 30. The project aims to support safer, more informed decision-making while fostering greater awareness and understanding of the factors shaping young men’s lives.
Champions for Change
Location: United Kingdom
Fight for Peace is a youth charity based in east London that leverages the power of combat sports and personal development to support disadvantaged young people to become champions in life. Alongside combat sports, young people receive trauma-informed mentoring support, employability and education support, as well as access to leadership opportunities. For the YMMC ‘test and learn’, we will be producing a 6-part podcast series, targeted to young men and boys under the age of 25 that will promote positive and healthy articulations of masculinity, in opposition to the dominant online 'relentlessly rich and ripped' narrative. Each podcast will feature a professional athlete from the combat sports world and men's wellbeing experts to drive a healthy discussion on mental health, body image and financial success.
Young Bloods, Season 2
Location: Australia
Young Bloods Season 2 is a documentary series for TikTok, following the lives of a group of teenage boys and girls at the Sydney Swans Academy, over 20x 3-minute episodes. The athletes are all in the Under 18s teams, and aiming to get drafted into the AFL and AFLW at the end of the year. Through a mix of documentary and self-filmed vision, Young Bloods goes inside the footballing world to discover, from locker room to field, what kind of adults the Academy will turn these athletes into, and if they can make their dreams come true. We have an audience base of largely 16 - 25 Australians, and are planning to unpack various themes around masculinity—body image, gambling, identity and navigating pressure.
Hey Brother House
Location: United States of America
Through a series of short-term, retreat-style creator residences (7 - 9 creators for 7 - 10 days at a time), the Hey Brother House will incubate a media and content production pipeline intended to show men building connection, meaning, and identity together in ways that extend beyond status, wealth, or physical dominance. We'll flood the zone with alternatives narratives and displays of masculinity and brotherhood.
Next Gen Streamer Academy
Location: Canada
Next Gen Streamer Academy embeds messaging inside gaming culture and streaming content; training competitive gamers to reshape the 'relentlessly ripped and rich' narrative within the content and communities young men are already part of. Next Gen Men brings 5+ years of experience building authentic online youth communities, and the credibility to train emerging streamers who can model healthier masculinity from within gaming culture. Not from the outside.
Work In Progress - Learning To Build Better Men
Location: United Kingdom
We are On The Tools, a digital publisher and production company with a large, highly engaged audience of UK tradespeople and construction workers. Our YMMC project is a campaign which uses humour, social first storytelling and recognisable talent to open up more honest conversations around masculinity within trade communities. Creatively, we are developing short form video content built around relatable scenarios, role models, creators and comedians that feel authentic to this audience rather than preachy or overly clinical. We will be conducting thorough research prior to going to pre-production to best ensure our chosen creative and it's language, tone and talent lands with the audience.
Location: United Kingdom
"I'm Sam Browne a poet and influencer who mainly writes about masculinity and mental health. I'm offering a unique stance in the YMMC cohort. Firstly, because due to my age I have engaged in lots of this harmful content and secondly as a poet I have a unique way of writing and creating content. I will be focusing my work on expanding ideas about masculinity beyond on the ripped and rich narrative to a place which suggests worth is far more intrinsic in our being and aims to expand young men's world view from simply a patriarchal lens but instead one that understands the true value of life itself."
Location: United States of America
"I am Sander Jennings, a social media content creator with 1.5 million followers and CEO of DigiEmpower, a digital marketing agency working with values-based nonprofits and brands. My YMMC project, Beyond Ripped and Rich, uses my platform as a real-time research lab to discover what messaging, formats, and narratives actually shift attitudes among young men around the relentlessly ripped and rich narrative. Approximately 50 of the 80 videos will be directly tied to the RRR narrative, challenging what men have been told success and strength look like. The remaining 30 will address adjacent themes including gender dynamics, misogyny, and mental health as entry points to funnel men into the broader conversation, with each video connecting back to the core project narrative."
Beyond the Algorithm
Location: United Kingdom
"We are a youth-led collective working across music and film, embedded within communities of young (predominantly Black) men and engaging those most drawn to status-driven content around success, fitness and relationships. We are developing two complementary content formats: one that mirrors the high-quality, aspirational storytelling young men already choose to engage with, and one that uses youth-native humour and social formats to expose and destabilise the narratives driving that content. Rather than counter-messaging, our approach is to create culturally authentic content that offers alternative routes to identity, belonging and success that feel equally compelling and socially viable."
Find out more?
If you would like to stay up to date with updates on this project, please email ymmc@movember.com to be added to our newsletter.