BIOGRAPHY
CLIENTS
WHAT OTHERS SAY
Michael Kaufman, Ph.D., is a public speaker, educator, writer, and consultant, whose innovative approaches to engaging men and boys in promoting gender equality and transforming their lives has taken him around the world. He has worked extensively with the United Nations and with governments, non-governmental organizations, corporations, professional firms, trade unions, universities and colleges. He is the co-founder of the White Ribbon Campaign, the largest effort in the world of men working to end violence against women.
His work in the UN system, including with UNICEF, UNESCO, UNIFEM, UNDP, UNFPA, IFAD, and UNESCO, takes him to New York, Rome, Paris, Beijing, Katmandu, Ankara, Geneva, Nairobi, and Delhi. He has worked with numerous NGOs including OXFAM, International Red Cross, Save the Children, and Amnesty International, as well as with governments on six continents.
He does leadership training and coaching for senior management in government and corporation on finding positive ways to prevent and respond to sexual harassment at the workplace as well as other workplace gender issues. He wrote the training program on sexual harassment being used by tens of thousands of staff at the United Nations.
He is the author or editor of six books on gender issues, on democracy and development studies, and an award-winning novel, The Possibility of Dreaming on a Night Without Stars. His articles, which have appeared in newspapers, magazines, and journals around the world, have been translated into Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Italian, Finnish, Estonian, Russian, Persian, Chinese, Japanese, Hungarian, Turkish, and Arabic.
He has worked across Canada and the United States; in Europe (Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Iceland, Holland, Belgium, England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, France, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, Turkey, Germany, Austria, Estonia, Latvia, and Russia); Latin America and the Caribbean (Mexico, Jamaica, Trinidad, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Brazil, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador); Africa (Namibia, Kenya): Asia and Australia (Japan, South Korea, Philippines, India, China, Singapore, Malaysia, Nepal, Australia, New Zealand.)
Michael previously taught at York University in Toronto where he was Deputy Director of the Centre for Research on Latin America and the Caribbean. He lives in Toronto, Canada, is married, and has a daughter and a son.
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Selected Audiences & Clients
International Organizations and Governments
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Non-Governmental Organizations
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Corporations and Trade Unions
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Professional Associations and Societies
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Universities, Colleges and Research Centers
In the United States:
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In Canada:
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In Europe:
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In Asia and Australia:
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In Latin America and the Caribbean:
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Plus numerous high schools and teachers associations in North America and England:
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WHAT OTHERS SAY
“Michael combines a deep understanding of gender, violence prevention and social justice issues with an ability to express complex ideas in an understandable and compelling fashion. Michael’s effectiveness as a facilitator and trainer lies in his penchant for listening to and learning from individuals from diverse backgrounds while offering insights from his broad experience. And he does this with diplomacy, charm and humble authority. Michael is a partnership builder and coalition forger with the grace and confidence to tread in the most sensitive areas of gender, partnerships and peace.” . . . James Lang, United Nations Development Programme
“Michael Kaufman is an outstanding educator who includes experience, theory, stories, warmth, and humor in his highly stimulating and entertaining engagement of contemporary gender issues.” . . . Dean Chip Capraro, Hobart College, New York
“With a great ability to reach a variety of audiences, Michael Kaufman carries an important message in a way that is humorous, thought-provoking, and engaging. He can help challenge closed minds to open, and open minds to become active. He held the attention of a packed audience and I would highly recommend him.” . . . Janice Butler, Director, Women’s Resource Center, Bucknell University, Pennsylvania
“Michael Kaufman brings humor, imagination, and clear analysis to his work. It is rare to find a scholar who is also an actor and a superb popular educator. Michael Kaufman is the only person I have worked with who fits this description.” . . . Myra Novogrodsky, former co-ordinator, Women’s & Labor Studies, Toronto Board of Education
“There are few men in the world who can do what Michael Kaufman does, which is to expose the contradictions at the heart of masculinity. That he can take on such a burden with passion and humor is nothing short of miraculous.” . . . Michael S. Kimmel, Prof. of Sociology, State University of New York at Stonybrook
“Michael had the undivided attention of 1100 students, staff, faculty, and management for an entire morning and afternoon. He inspired us to work as a team with his uncanny ability to relate to all levels of people in a warm and humorous fashion from the barely literate to the Ph.D. graduate in a way unparalleled in our history.” . . . J. Bain, Saskatchewan Institute of Science and Technology, Regina, Saskatchewan
“Students and staff at the University of North Carolina had high expectations for Michael Kaufman’s speech and workshop, and I am glad to say that he exceeded these expectations in every regard. In comparison with other academics of his stature, Michael’s delivery is exceptional. He can speak about difficult and complex subjects to a large audience, yet makes everyone feel they are taking part in a personal conversation with a trusted professor.” . . . Jesse Moore, Graduate, University of North Carolina
“Michael Kaufman was the primary facilitator of a national men’s workshop on violence in Namibia in February 2000. This event, which brought together 250 men from all walks of life in every region of the nation, was the first of its kind. Michael trained local facilitators in advance of the meeting, galvanised the workshop with his heartfelt input on the causes of men’s violence, and managed to give the event much-needed shape and direction. The outcome of the workshop was a new organisation called Namibian Men for Change (NAMEC) which now has affiliates in each of Namibia’s 13 regions.” . . . Dianne Hubbard, Coordinator, Gender Research & Advocacy Project, Legal Assistance Centre, Namibia
“Self-confident, straightforward and humorous. . . a guy other guys could listen to without getting defensive.” . . . Times Colonist, Victoria, Canada.
