We're a group of parents, educators, clinicians, and neighbors from across Massachusetts who believe it's time for our state to pay attention — and do something about it.
Helping boys and men is not a zero-sum proposition.
We know that women and girls still face real barriers in pay, in safety, in representation. So do people of non-binary identities. We believe in that work.
We also believe we can look honestly at boys and men from middle- and low-income families and communities of color who are falling behind, with nothing to catch them. That is what our commission would do.
Helping boys and men complements the work of Massachusetts' other commissions and the broader civic society — helping co-create a future that works equally for all people. It's what we owe to the other half of our community.
Massachusetts has no permanent body tracking how boys and men are doing or recommending what to do about it. That's a policy blind spot we can fix.
The Gap in Our Policy
Massachusetts has commissions focused on women, on AAPI communities, and on LGBTQ+ youth.
There is no permanent body tracking how boys and men are doing — or recommending what to do about it.
Their commission will focus on education, jobs, health, family, and the impact of social media on boys. Massachusetts should build something like it.
Men who are thriving in education, with a solid career path ahead of them, and their mental health needs met, will be better partners, fathers, family members, and community leaders. That's better for all of us.
Del. Josh Thomas, Virginia House of Delegates (D)
Join our coalition!
We're building a coalition of Massachusetts residents calling on state legislators to establish a permanent Commission on the Status of Boys and Men. The data is there. The model is there. What we need now is the will.
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Frequently Asked Questions
We've heard the concerns. Here's where we stand.
Questions from across the political spectrum, answered honestly.
For skeptics on the left: on women, minorities, and equity
No. Massachusetts already has commissions focused on women, on AAPI communities, and on LGBTQ+ youth. This proposal doesn't touch any of those. It adds a body that didn't exist before — it doesn't take anything away.
Think of it this way: we don't say a cancer research fund is hurting heart disease patients. We can care about both. The same logic applies here.
Some men do. Wealthy, well-connected men at the top of politics and business hold real power — and that's worth naming honestly. But that's not who this is about.
This is about boys growing up in middle- and low-income neighborhoods who are falling behind in school. Men who are dying by suicide or overdose at alarming rates. Young men who feel unmoored and are finding community in the wrong places online. Those men don't have power. They need support.
We can hold both truths at once: challenging the men at the top while caring for the ones at the middle and bottom.
It can be — and we're not that. The people behind this effort include advocates for abortion access, racial justice, and immigrant rights. We've spent our careers fighting for equity. We're not walking any of that back.
What we're saying is that the same commitment to evidence-based, solution-oriented policy that drives progressive work on other issues should apply here too. The data on boys and men is real. Ignoring it doesn't make it go away — it just means young men go looking for answers elsewhere, often in darker places.
Virginia's commission was led by Democrats, co-sponsored by Republicans, and supported by women legislators who said they couldn't wait to participate. That's the model we're following.
For skeptics on the right: on government, culture, and whether this will work
It's fair to say culture is part of this. The erosion of faith communities, mentorship, and stable work are real factors — and a commission can't legislate those back into existence.
But government can do specific things well: collect accurate data, identify which programs are working and which aren't, make targeted recommendations on education and public health, and signal that this matters. Virginia's commission is explicitly designed to do those things — not to tell people how to raise their sons, but to ensure policymakers have the information they need to make good decisions.
Culture and policy aren't opposites. Better policy can support the cultural conditions that help boys thrive.
That's a legitimate concern and one worth watching carefully. Virginia addressed it by designing the commission to include educators, pediatricians, mental health specialists, public safety officials, and workforce development leaders — not just academics or advocates.
We believe the composition of any Massachusetts commission matters enormously. Our goal is a body that reflects the full range of people who work with boys and men — including faith communities, tradespeople, coaches, and fathers — not just institutional insiders. We'd push hard for that in any legislation we support.
Virginia is also a Democratic-led state, and it just passed this with near-unanimous support. The bill was championed by Democrats and co-sponsored by Republicans. That's the model.
Massachusetts has a strong tradition of evidence-based policymaking. Boston Indicators has already done serious research on this. Our public health infrastructure is among the best in the country. The question isn't whether Massachusetts can do this well — it's whether the political will is there. That's what we're working to build.
About the proposal: what this commission would actually do
Modeled on Virginia's commission and existing Massachusetts bodies, we envision a commission that:
Holds public hearings and listening sessions across the state
Commissions and synthesizes research on education, employment, health, and family outcomes for boys and men
Issues an annual report with specific policy recommendations to the legislature and the governor
Coordinates with existing agencies to identify gaps and opportunities
Promotes communities that give boys and men access to responsible male role models
It would not run programs directly or control budgets. Its power would come from surfacing data and keeping the issue visible at the policy level year after year.
We'd push for a composition that reflects the full range of people who work with and care about boys and men in Massachusetts — including K–12 educators, mental health clinicians, public health officials, faith and community leaders, workforce development specialists, and people with lived experience of the challenges the commission would study. People of all genders would be welcome.
Legislative appointments and gubernatorial appointments would both be part of the structure, as they are in Virginia and in Massachusetts' existing commissions.
We are actively building relationships with legislators on both sides of the aisle who share our concern about outcomes for boys and men in Massachusetts. We'll announce legislative partnerships publicly as they develop.
If you're a constituent or know a legislator who should be part of this conversation, we'd love to hear from you.