Chris Christopher. This image was generated using Gemini_AI software.
In 2025 your international leadership embraced the concept of Doug’s Journey. That phrase describes the incremental trek through events, trainings, teams, and leadership that carries a man from wherever he is — and whoever he is — to mature masculinity. It includes the joys of leadership, and the opportunities for same that will, inevitably, be offered him as a mature masculine man.
That journey is alive and well as we head into the summer of 2026.
Recently we’ve seen a resurgence of the Point Program, resulting in no fewer than six Point Teams around the organization — with more to come.
The New Member Onboarding Program, led by Kevin Lavery (kevinplavery@gmail.com), oversees both the International Point Program and the Membership Training Program (MTP). Expect some exciting additions to both in the near future.
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Our International Training Program, led by Russ Hall, offers both our Team Leader Training and Enrollment Training on a regular basis. In fact, a new Team Leader Training begins the first week of July and you can register right here.
Hall is also developing an Advanced Leadership Training and there’s more coming. If there’s a training you believe would be valuable, or if you have ideas for creating something new, reach out to Hall (russhall@actioncoach.com).
We’ve also improved Legacy Magazine, our outreach and communication tool.
If you’re reading this, you’ve already had a taste of these changes and there is much more to come. We’ve recruited a committed editorial board; the magazine’s look, feel, and content have been greatly upgraded; and the whole is fully aligned with the goals and mission of MDI.
In particular, its goal is to expand readership — hence to be visible to a broad audience of potential new members via social media, podcasting, and other direct-outreach tools.
Your contributions of time or expertise, particularly in the areas of social media automation and marketing, would be incredibly valuable. Comments, ideas, and offers of support should be addressed to our editor, Dan Kempner, at (media@mdimen.org).
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And speaking of outreach, we continue to engage new men through our Expansion Initiative Program led by Darrell Gaul (darrellgaul@gmail.com). There’s a definite buzz around finding new ways to use social media to let more and more men know what’s available through MDI. We’re looking at blogs, podcasts, Instagram and Facebook posts, along with other platforms. These will be a welcome addition to our communications strategies. To be involved in this effort, reach out to Gaul or to Matt Tager (matttager@gmail.com).
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Under the leadership of Ed Harrigan (edharrigan01824@gmail.com), our International Enrollment Team, which includes Michael Fowlkes, Ethan Cooke, Jonathan Lane, John Eliopolo, and Steve Crossley — and their latest addition, Jay Baker — have brought more energy to enrollment than we’ve seen in years.
Legacy Discovery events have also made a comeback and were better attended than they’ve been in years. Men continue to join MDI, participate in teams, and take on leadership roles in the organization and in our communities. For questions, comments, or to assist with a Legacy Discovery event, reach out to Randy Cartwright (randycartwright2005@gmail.com).
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This increased energy put over 180 men into the last four TAOM events. With TAOMs held in Boston, in Atlanta, and twice in California, this effort was also fully supported by our regional and division coordinators. In the process, we have reawakened our somewhat latent enrollment muscle
That’s a trend we’re committed to continuing, and putting on yet another TAOM his fall may pump those muscles even further. Yet that is just what we aim to do, so look for a potential TAOM somewhere in Canada this autumn.
Prior to that though, we’ll conduct a comprehensive review of the first four TAOM events. Assessing those results — locations, enrollment, venues, costs, etc., will help assure we provide the best experience possible for the men.
Most important will be working to bring more new men into MDI through these events. By design, TAOM was intended to be the beginning of Doug’s Journey, and it’s up to us to ensure the trek doesn’t end there. TAOM offers a huge head start, an incredible springboard, for new men to become the mature masculine men the world needs.
All our events and trainings have a big impact on men, and we’re committed to ensuring that teachings from these events and trainings are kept alive on our teams. Repetition drives these crucial and life-transforming lessons home, so look for those lessons to show up on your teams. Then, examine how you’ve changed.
Hope you have a great summer!
About the Author
Chris Christopher is the sitting president of Mentor, Discover, Inspire (MDI),
an international non-profit men’s organization dedicated to mentoring men to live with excellence, hence to become better husbands, fathers and leaders. Christopher earned a bachelor’s in economics and political science from Northwestern University and a law degree and MBA from the University of Virginia. He is a partner at Darden Brothers, a private equity firm he co-founded in 1995. It is, among other things, the largest independent battery distributor in Canada.
Christopher lives in San Diego, California, and has two adult children.
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