Our Approach
How we are Creating Change
Boys Champions builds healthier masculinities at scale by combining direct programmes, national research, policy influence, and AI-powered support systems.
Our work changes boys, influences the men around them, and strengthens the institutions that shape both.
We operate through four interconnected pillars. Each one strengthens the others. Together, they create the conditions for long-term, sustainable change.
BOYS DESERVE A BETTER FUTURE
GENDER EQUALITY STARTS WITH BOYS
BUILDING BETTER MEN
BOYS DESERVE A BETTER FUTURE
GENDER EQUALITY STARTS WITH BOYS
BUILDING BETTER MEN
BOYS DESERVE A BETTER FUTURE
GENDER EQUALITY STARTS WITH BOYS
BUILDING BETTER MEN
BOYS DESERVE A BETTER FUTURE
GENDER EQUALITY STARTS WITH BOYS
BUILDING BETTER MEN
Our Change Strategy
We work through research, programs, advocacy, and technology to change the norms and systems shaping boys and men.
We generate the evidence behind what works for boys and men
Our work is grounded in evidence, allowing us to track shifts in attitudes and behavior, learn from what works, and strengthen programs for greater impact.
We shape change in the places that shape boys.
Boys Champions works through schools, communities, and sports to help boys unlearn harmful norms, build healthier beliefs, and grow into men who lead with care, respect, and responsibility.
We influence policies and institutions that shape the lives of boys and men.
We work to shift the policies, public narratives, and institutional practices that shape men and boys’ lives, so change is not temporary or isolated but embedded in the systems around them.
We use AI to ensure every boy or man can access trusted support, wherever he is.
Through CHAMP AI and our digital platforms, we extend trusted guidance, mental health support, and behavior change tools to boys and young men beyond the classroom and into everyday life.
Our Theory Of Change
We believe change happens when boys are equipped with emotional and social skills, and the people and systems around them reinforce those values.
When boys, men, families, and institutions are engaged together, the patterns that drive violence, silence, and inequality can be broken, and replaced with healthier, more equitable ways of living.
Our Model
Connect
Create
Our Model
How the model works across our programmes
In Boys to Men, the CEC model helps boys build trust, learn healthier beliefs and behaviours, and apply those lessons through leadership, peer engagement, and school-based activities.
In DearMen, the same model works with older boys and men. Connection happens through Fellowships, Circles, and trusted male spaces. Engagement happens through reflection, dialogue, and accountability around masculinity, fatherhood, mental health, and gender equality. Creation happens through community action, male allyship, public storytelling, and leadership in homes, schools, faith spaces, and communities.
Why this model matters
In Boys to Men, the CEC model helps boys build trust, learn healthier beliefs and behaviours, and apply those lessons through leadership, peer engagement, and school-based activities.
In DearMen, the same model works with older boys and men. Connection happens through Fellowships, Circles, and trusted male spaces. Engagement happens through reflection, dialogue, and accountability around masculinity, fatherhood, mental health, and gender equality. Creation happens through community action, male allyship, public storytelling, and leadership in homes, schools, faith spaces, and communities.
Our model is designed to scale.
In Boys to Men, the CEC model helps boys build trust, learn healthier beliefs and behaviours, and apply those lessons through leadership, peer engagement, and school-based activities.
In DearMen, the same model works with older boys and men. Connection happens through Fellowships, Circles, and trusted male spaces. Engagement happens through reflection, dialogue, and accountability around masculinity, fatherhood, mental health, and gender equality. Creation happens through community action, male allyship, public storytelling, and leadership in homes, schools, faith spaces, and communities.
Our Strategic Pillars
We create change through four interconnected pillars. Each one addresses a different part of the system shaping boys and men. Together, they make lasting impact possible.
Research
We build on evidence, not assumptions. Our programmes are shaped by field data, continuous evaluation, and seven years of lived insights. Through the Boys and Men Data Observatory, we make critical data on boys and men in Nigeria accessible to those designing solutions.
Our work is grounded in continuous data collection, evaluation, and evidence generation, ensuring that every intervention is informed, tested, and improved over time.
Programmes
We meet boys and men where they are, at every stage of life. From classrooms to communities, from sports fields to safe spaces, each programme is designed for a specific moment in a boy’s or man’s journey.
- We work where boys are being shaped
- We use schools to change what boys learn beyond academics
- We work with communities because change does not stop at school gates
- We use sports to teach leadership, respect, and nonviolence
Advocacy
Lasting change requires institutions to evolve. We work with governments, schools, religious and traditional leaders, the media, and institutions to integrate gender-transformative approaches into education systems, youth development policies, and community structures, and systems that shape how boys grow into men. By working with institutions and policymakers, we are driving system-level change that extends beyond individual programmes.
Technology
We use technology to expand access and reach. From CHAMP AI, which provides real-time mental health support, to our data platforms, we ensure boys and men can access help, information, and connection, anytime, anywhere.
Boys and Men, Together
We work with boys and the men around them because change does not happen in isolation. The most powerful influence in a boy’s life is often what he sees modelled by others.
What People Are Saying
SAVE
16-year-old participant
I used to think crying made me weak. Now I know that talking about my feelings makes me stronger and helps me understand myself better. It also helps me be a better friend to those around me.
Boys To Men
16-year-old participant
I used to think crying made me weak. Now I know that talking about my feelings makes me stronger and helps me understand myself better. It also helps me be a better friend to those around me.
DearMen
Father, DearMen Parent Breakfast
I used to think crying made me weak. Now I know that talking about my feelings makes me stronger and helps me understand myself better. It also helps me be a better friend to those around me.
How we are Creating Change
Boys Champions works alongside efforts focused on girls and women by addressing the factors that shape boys as they grow into men. Our programmes focus on building emotional awareness, responsibility, and healthier ways of relating to others.
When boys develop these skills, the impact extends beyond the individual. Relationships improve, families become more supportive, and communities begin to shift toward healthier norms.
We see this every day. Boys learn to manage conflict without violence. Fathers become more intentional in how they show up at home. Educators create environments where all students feel safe and respected.
This is how change takes root; within individuals, and across the systems that surround them.
