About MDI
A Note From Our President
Dear Men,
We stand with you, shoulder-to-shoulder to Mentor you with compassion and direct communication, to help you Discover your purpose, goals & legacy and Inspire others to do the same. Welcome to MDI – Mentor Discover Inspire.
Dear Women,
This isn’t a men’s locker room. Your man isn’t going to a cult every week. He’s not encouraged to bash you or women in general. We provide a safe space for your man, to step into the best version of himself and create a legacy. In fact, we honor and praise the divine feminine, as much as we do the divine masculine.
Ian Kennard
Our Vision
A world where Honor, Selflessness, Commitment, Integrity, Training and Learning give men the wisdom and courage to serve all men, women, and children for the betterment of humanity.
Our Mission
To cause greatness by mentoring men to live with excellence and, as mature masculine leaders, create successful families, careers and communities.
Our Code of Honor
To be successful, a man must possess a strong and healthy ego. However, a man’s ego can consume him if he is not the Master of It. A man without a clear sense of his commitment will allow himself to be led by whatever happens to be at hand in the moment (usually his emotions or ego). Commitment before Ego demands two disciplines:
1. To practice and possess a firm understanding and adherence to one’s purpose and commitment; and
2. To hold an iron mastery over one’s ego.
In order for a man to have a true sense of himself and the world around him, he must Honor the Truth. Honoring the truth requires that a man possess the wisdom and courage necessary to:
- Discern what the truth is
- Face the truth about himself and/or others even when painful
- Understand the value of truth
- Understand the limitations and sometimes harmful effect of the truth
- Understand that speaking the truth must be tempered and governed by one’s purpose and commitment
- Understand that Honor the Truth does not mean “Tell the Truth”
The ability to keep confidences or secrets is a key component of trusting relationships. In order to Respect Confidentiality, one must:
- Understand the importance of confidentiality and its effect on trust
- Understand what is and what is not confidential and under what circumstances
- Understand that blind confidentiality robs a man of much of the richness to be found in his many relationships and is really not respect at all
Being a Three-Dimensional Man requires:
- An understanding of what the three dimensions embody (Ghandi: “I Give a Fuck”; Clint: “I Don’t Give a Fuck”; and Curly: “I Don’t Take Myself Too Seriously”)
- The ability to access these three dimensions when necessary
- An understanding that being a 3-D man does not mean that one is equally comfortable with each dimension, only that he has ready access to the dimension
In order to live this element of the Code, one must:
- Understand what being faithful to the men means
- We remain faithful to the men by being true to our principles and values
- We never choose personal loyalty over loyalty to our principles and values
In order to live this element of the Code, one must:
- Understand the value of having a code of honor in a man’s life
- Keep the Code and its value alive by living it, teaching it, calling out men who have lost touch with the Code
- Call out men who add or take away from the code
In order to live one’s life fighting only honorable battles, one must:
- Understand what’s there that’s is worth fighting for
- Understand what is not worth fighting for
- Have enough mastery over one’s ego to never fight battles in defense of one’s ego
To earn and honor rank, one must understand that:
- Rank does not necessarily carry a “title”
- Rank carries both privilege and responsibility
- Privilege and responsibility must be earned, otherwise it is not respected
- Earned privilege and responsibility must be respected or it has no value
- The most important rank that a man will ever honor is whatever rank he currently holds. This is the essence of humility
In order to Embrace All Men, one must:
- Understand that the parts of other men that are difficult to accept are often the parts of ourselves that we deny
- Understand that we ourselves are capable of any crime if we lose sight of our purpose and commitment
- Understand that other men, regardless of their actions or crimes are simply men who have lost sight of their true purpose
- Look unflinchingly at one’s own darkness
To Be an Example to Children, one must understand that:
- An honorable man takes responsibility for the lives and future of the children in his life
- The example that he sets teaches children lessons that will either serve them or weaken them
- To live this element intentionally requires that a man live a disciplined and purposeful life
- Having children in one’s life and being committed to be an example to them provides an invaluable benefit to a man by forcing him to be a better man than he would otherwise be
- Being an example to children does not mean the man should pretend to be something he is not just because he’s around children (this is not being an example, it’s bullshitting)
- Being an example to children does not mean being a “good” example because “good” is just someone else’s subjective judgement
- Being an example to children is about taking responsibility for the example one sets and having that example be an expression of the man at his best
Our Diversity
Mentor Discover Inspire (MDI) is a global organization of honorable men. We’re committed to being an organization as diverse as humanity itself. For MDI, diversity and inclusion are a matter of commitment and honor. MDI Men are bound by honor to defend humanity in all of its rich diversity. That starts with making a welcome seat at our table for honorable men from all walks of life. We’re committed to being an organization for whom diversity and inclusion are reflexes, not future plans. That will take action and commitment but first it will take a stand.
MDI extends a warm welcome to all honorable adult men of good-will without regard to race, age, ethnicity, sexual identity, sexual orientation, religion, politics, national origin, or disability. And, in acknowledgement of the implicit bias all men wrestle with, we offer this accommodation.
For men who are willing to do what it takes to overcome their own racism, bigotry, or bias. MDI is a place to learn how, but men who don’t want to overcome racism and bigotry have no place in MDI.
Our Story
We inspire men to pursue a purpose larger than themselves; while we recognize that, to be effective, men must confront their life challenges and personal demons, we do not seek to devote our time focusing solely on the individual.
We empower men by providing them with the tools they need to succeed. These tools are discovered and put into use in weekend trainings or weekly courses, one-on-one mentoring or weekly team meetings. As an organization, we believe that true wisdom comes not from a single source, but from the diverse viewpoints of our community of men.
We pursue our passion by being in relationship with the men of our teams; they provide the inspection, feedback and support necessary to get the job done. When we stumble, our teammates are there to get us back on our feet, brush us off, and ensure we have learned the lessons from a setback or challenge before we get back into the game.
When we realize our passion and find a way to make it manifest, we have a circle of men with whom to celebrate. These men acknowledge our victories and the unique qualities we bring to the world; this allows us to continue to carry our personal legacy forward to our families and communities.
In a nutshell: We are unconditionally committed to men winning in their lives.
As an organization, we do not seek to define what winning means for an individual man, or to dictate what passion a man should pursue. Neither do we seek to erect or define the parameters of how that process even looks.
Our teams can be made up of men who meet via the telephone, or who meet weekly, bi-weekly or monthly. They can range in size from three men to more than twenty men. Our youngest member is 18. Our oldest is well into his 80’s. We cover the spectrum of ethnicity, political belief and vocation. We have members who have been married for more than 50 years, who have been divorced, who are in long-term committed relationships or have never been married.
Our members may be straight or gay, professional or working class. The only requirements of membership are that you be a man of legal age, pay annual dues and adhere to our code of honor.
Our Leadership
International Core Team
Chris Christopher
Pacific Region
Ed V Harrigan
Atlantic Region
Ian Fraser Kennard
Continental Region
Denis Moreau
Atlantic Region
Dave Smith
Continental Region
Stan Snow
Continental Region
Matt Tager
Pacific Region
Tom Thurmond
Atlantic Region
Frank DeCarlo
Continental Region
Olaf Krop
Pacific Region
Robert Miller
Continental Region
Rich O'Keeffe
Pacific Region
Board of Directors
Jeremy Leggett
Atlantic Region
Steven Marchione
Continental Region
Nathan Merlin
Pacific Region
Jeffrey Charles Pettengill
Atlantic Region
Scott Williams
Continental Region
Ashanti Branch
Pacific Region
Earl Baum
Atlantic Region
Patrick Allard
Continental Region
Michael Dytyniak
Continental Region
Keith Gosselin
Atlantic Region
Stewart Johnston
Continental Region
Jim Lawrence
Atlantic Region
Todd Sorbo
Pacific Region
Regional
Dave Yale
Pacific Region
Hugh Kurth
Atlantic Region
Dylan Stewart
Continental Region