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Ashanti Branch is the Founder and Executive Director of The Ever Forward Club - Siempre Adelante and creator of the Taking Off The Mask workshop.\n\nThe Ever Forward Club is a mentoring program for young men in grades 6-12. As an organization Ever Forward Serves all genders through their Taking Off The Mask Workshops and the #100kMasks Challenge. The Ever Forward Club has helped 100% of its members graduate high school and 93% of them have gone on to attend college, military or trade school.\n\nIn this conversation, we talk about the importance of working with young men to help them navigate the complex and confusing messages from adults in their life telling them to be a "good man" at times and "to be a real man" at others. We discuss the challenges that young people face when they face the pressure needing to be \u201ccool.\u201d And we reflect on how as adults we also have a similar version of this concept that prevents us from showing up with our authentic self in relationships, in the workplace, and in life.\nAshanti is famous for creating a workshop called \u201cThe Taking Off the Mask.\u201d It asks participants to create a mask and write down on the front what they show the world, and, on the back, what they hide from the world. The workshop has helped ten of thousands of youth and adults to engage in honest conversations and vulnerable experiences that give them a deeper understanding of themselves and just how much we have in common.\n\nThe Ever Forward Club has launched a campaign called 100 Thousand Masks (#100kMasks) which makes the workshop available for educators and facilitators to use all over the world. You can get your masks and find out more information at 100kmasks.com.