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When men and women work together, GenderWorks!

GenderWorks transforms men from feeling like “the problem” to “a key part of the solution” and accelerates gender diversity progress in organizations.

Employing the latest brain research on change management, we facilitate the engagement of men as diversity allies and partners.

Moving Men from the Side Lines to the Front Line

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Overcoming Biases Requires Humility, Not Value Judgments

Apr 18, 2019 | LinkedIn

In the U.S. today, bias has become a value judgment. In reality, it’s an adaptive function of human biology.

Bias results from our ability as humans to learn, to hardwire learnings into long-term memory and to retrieve those learnings in order to respond instantaneously to familiar situations.

Partnering with HR Leaders

Assisting diversity and inclusion professionals in leveraging male ally involvement to strengthen the impact of diversity initiatives and policies.

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Energizing Senior Leadership

Broadening and deepening the “gender lens” of senior leaders. Inspiring senior leaders to reimagine and redesign practices that perpetuate bias.

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Engaging and Inspiring Men

Fostering men’s engagement through thoughtful involvement and skill building. Assisting men in developing a “gender lens” and male ally toolkit.

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What is a Gender Lens?

“If we are going to truly change attitudes toward women in the workplace then we need men – a whole diversity of men – to get involved”

~ Voice of a Male Ally

What is a Male Ally?

The GenderWorks Difference

Trading the “what’s wrong with men” angle for the “what’s right with men” angle and building from there

The GenderWorks Difference

Trading the “what’s wrong with men” angle for the “what’s right with men” angle and building from there

Create Safe Spaces

We trade judgment for authenticity & understanding

Use Neuroscience to Engage Men

We start by listening and learning and avoid lecturing

Link Diversity with Men's Reality

Help men see links between gender equality & their lives

Give Practical Action Steps

Supporting diversity moves from a “tagline” to a “toolkit”

Develop Men's Gender Lenses

Develop a new set of glasses
to see what was formerly invisible

Support Individual Approaches

Letting each man define what being a male ally looks like

Create Safe Spaces

We trade judgment for authenticity & understanding

Use Neuroscience to Engage Men

We start by listening and learning and avoid lecturing

Link Diversity with Men's Reality

Help men see links between gender equality and their lives

Give Practical Action Steps

Supporting diversity moves from a “tagline” to a “toolkit”

Develop Men's Gender Lenses

Develop a new set of glasses to see what was formerly invisible

Support Individual Approaches

Letting each man define what being a male ally looks like

Looking for a partner to accelerate your organization’s diversity progress?

We can help.

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Our Team & Approach

Our approach can be summed up in one word: “FLEXIBLE”

As a male ally expert resource, we support you in reaching your D&I goals.

Lisa D’Annolfo Levey

GenderWorks Founder, Principal

Lisa has consulted to a marquee list of clients on women’s advancement, diversity and work-life issues for over 20 years. Her passion is bringing innovative thinking to social norms around gender, resulting in stronger organizations, more resilient families, and a better world.

Lisa's Bio

A veteran diversity consultant, having worked with nearly 25% of the Fortune 50, to better realize the underutilized leadership potential of women. She sits on the Diversity Committee for the Human Resource Leadership Forum (HRLF).
An expert on male allies, Lisa conducted extensive research with male allies on business school campuses, in companies and in the non-profit world. She led the design and development of the Forté Foundation’s Male Ally signature resource platform.
An author who published an award-winning book The Libra Solution focusing on the obstacles and enablers of gender equality for dual career parents. She’s blogged for Huffington Post, the Good Men Project and the Glass Hammer.
A professional consultant and coach, a mother, a wife, an animal lover, a voracious reader and deeply curious person, a good cook and a lover of the ocean and travel.
A graduate of Cornell University, holding a B.S. with distinction in applied economics, and of the Simmons School of Management, holding an MBA with highest honors in organizational development. She is an alumna of the Women Unlimited LEAD program and holds a certificate from the NeuroLeadership Institute in brain-based coaching.

Bryan Levey

GenderWorks Advisor, Special Projects
IntervalZero, VP of Engineering

Bryan has worked for more than 25 years leading technical teams that design and develop commercially successful, high-quality software applications. His passion is empowering diverse teams to do their best work and helping men to see gender roles in a new light.

Bryan's Bio

A technology leader, Bryan has spearheaded highly-effective integration initiatives and navigated engineering teams through multiple IPOs and acquisitions.
An executive who has played nearly every technical role – software developer, application architect, principal engineer, support and consulting services manager, director of development, and vice president of engineering – over his career in high tech.
A graduate of Williams College with a B.S. in computer science. Bryan holds a certificate from the NeuroLeadership Institute in brain-based coaching.
A father who walked the road less traveled, taking several-month leaves of absences (FMLA) after the birth of each son and negotiating an 80% schedule, across three technology companies, which spanned eight years.
A technology executive, coach, husband, father, an avid fisherman, an enthusiastic poker player, a hopeless fantasy football participant, and a member of a soccer team for mature men (some might say middle-aged).

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Voices of Male Allies

My thinking went from ‘how can I help women’ to ‘how can we evolve our broken culture.’

It became much more of a collaborative partnership with women that was focused on let’s work together to fix what is wrong with the system.

I have a much greater awareness and a different lens in seeing interactions.

For instance, whenever I look at a group now, I notice the gender ratio.

It’s in my mind subconsciously.

You need to think proactively about gender issues.

Men believe in equality but don’t know they need to play a role, or what role to play.

I always knew there were gender issues but I did not really know how blatant it was.

Every manager needs to be equipped with this knowledge so you can be conscious of unconscious bias.

My thinking went from ‘how can I help women’ to ‘how can we evolve our broken culture.’

It became much more of a collaborative partnership with women that was focused on let’s work together to fix what is wrong with the system.

I have a much greater awareness and a different lens in seeing interactions.

For instance, whenever I look at a group now, I notice the gender ratio.

It’s in my mind subconsciously.

You need to think proactively about gender issues.

Men believe in equality but don’t know they need to play a role, or what role to play.

I always knew there were gender issues but I did not really know how blatant it was.

Every manager needs to be equipped with this knowledge so you can be conscious of unconscious bias.

group of employees with male facilitator running meeting

Celebrating Men

Historic Oscar Moment Showcases
the Power of a Male Ally

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Male Ally Story Project

Learn More about
GenderWorks’ Perspective

Overcoming Biases Requires Humility, Not Value Judgments

In the U.S. today, bias has become a value judgment. In reality, it’s an adaptive function of human biology.

Bias results from our ability as humans to learn, to hardwire learnings into long-term memory and to retrieve those learnings in order to respond instantaneously to familiar situations.

Let’s Move from a Gender War to a Gender Partnership

Gender equality is not about winning a war! The war metaphor distracts us with finger pointing, blaming, and endlessly seeking to justify who’s the perpetrator and who’s the victim. The war metaphor keeps us stuck. The reality is we all – both women and men – fall...

The Game Changing Power of Allies

In the challenging work of supporting diversity in the workplace – and diversity as it relates to social justice more broadly – allies play a critical role. But before exploring why allies make such a difference, it makes sense to begin with the question: what exactly...

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Praise

Lisa has been an immensely helpful resource in establishing a male ally program.

She provided credibility as the keynote speaker at Nike’s male ally launch event.

I highly recommend Lisa as a source of knowledge on the subject of gender equality and in particular for support developing your own male ally program.

Luke Hussey,
Director of Strategic Planning, Nike

Lisa’s deep expertise in work life effectiveness directly influenced the development of our global policy and practices.

Lisa brings a wealth of knowledge and passion to organizations actively working to realize the full potential of women.

Leslie Mays,
VP Global Inclusion, Avon

Lisa played a key role in developing Forté’s Men as Allies Toolkit. She built the toolkit from the ground up.

We are so pleased with the final product and could not have accomplished this task without her leadership and vision.

Ellisa Ellis Sangster,
Executive Director, Forté Foundation

Lisa has been instrumental in the New York City Bar’s diversity efforts. Lisa is an innovator.

I would recommend her as an experienced diversity consultant and researcher.

Gabrielle Lyse Brown,
former Director of Diversity and Inclusion, New York City Bar Association

Drawing from her rich personal experiences, her years as a top-flight consultant, and her in-depth knowledge of research, Levey offers excellent insights into how we can make family systems and work organizations synergistic, not adversarial.

Brad Harrington,
Executive Director, Boston College Center for Work & Family

Lisa challenges us to break out of self-reinforcing gender norms.

She offers proven solutions and encouragement towards healthy change.

Ilene Lang,
former President, Catalyst