Jackson Katz

Jackson Katz is an educator, author, and social theorist who is internationally renowned for his pioneering scholarship and activism on issues of gender, race, and violence. His work covers a range of topics, from gender-based violence to masculinities, media, violence, and politics.

In 1993, Dr. Katz co-founded the Mentors in Violence Prevention (MVP) program at Northeastern University’s Center for the Study of Sport in Society. The multiracial, mixed-gender MVP program was the first large-scale program of its kind in the college and professional sports culture, and in all branches of the U.S. military.

Among its many accomplishments, MVP introduced the “bystander” approach to the gender violence prevention field; Katz is a key architect of this now broadly popular educational strategy.

Since 1990, Katz has delivered thousands of keynote addresses and conducted leadership trainings in all 50 states, 8 Canadian provinces, and every continent except Antarctica.

Katz’s educational videos include the groundbreaking Tough Guise series about masculinities and violence, which are widely regarded as classics in the media literacy field, and" The Bystander Moment: Transforming Rape Culture at Its Roots." His latest film, released last year, is entitled "The Man Card: 50 Years of Gender, Power, and the American Presidency."

Katz is widely quoted across media platforms and has appeared on radio, TV, and podcasts throughout North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia.

He’s also the author of three books: "The Macho Paradox: Why Some Men Hurt Women and How All Men Can Help," "Man Enough: Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, and the Politics of Presidential Masculinity," and the forthcoming "Every Man: Why Violence Against Women is a Men’s Issue," due out from Penguin Random House UK on February 20.

His 2013 TEDx talk of the same name has been translated into 27 languages and viewed more than 5.5 million times.

Katz is also co-founder of the Young Men Research Initiative, which explores better ways of engaging young men politically. He’s a regular contributor to Ms. Magazine, where he writes about sex, violence, and the cultural politics of masculinity in an age of right-wing, anti-feminist backlash. His Substack newsletter is called "In the Arena with Jackson Katz."

Katz is a former high school football star who became the first man at UMass-Amherst to earn a minor in women’s studies. He holds a master’s degree from Harvard and a Ph.D. in cultural studies and education from UCLA.