Keynote Speaker & Workshop Facilitator

Participatory, experiential workshops on healthy masculinity: for educators, organizations, and communities who want to move beyond the statistics and take action.

Book Brian to Speak

The conversation about boys and men is getting louder. But most of it generates more heat than light – either alarm about what men are becoming, or nostalgia for what they used to be.

Brian Dean Williams has spent 25 years working clinically with men, boys, and the people who love them. What he’s learned is this: men and boys are already changing, in ways that rarely make headlines. The work isn’t about fixing masculinity. It’s about creating more room for what’s already emerging, and giving educators, communities, and organizations the tools to support that shift.

His workshops don’t lecture. They listen, facilitate, and generate solutions from the room itself.

“What I love witnessing is that a lot of men and boys want to do relationships differently than what they had modelled. They just don’t have a map. We can provide that.” – Brian Dean Williams

Brian Dean Williams | Keynote Speaker & Workshop Facilitator

A different kind of workshop

Most workshops on masculinity and mental health follow a familiar format: an expert presents data, the audience takes notes, everyone goes home with a handout or PowerPoint slides.

Brian’s approach is different.

His sessions are participatory by design, meaning the people in the room generate the insights, not just receive them. Educators leave with strategies they built themselves, grounded in their own school context. Communities leave with language and frameworks that actually fit their lived experience.

One signature element: an expressive arts exercise in which participants use drawing to explore what healthy masculinity means to them personally, then share and connect their pieces as a group. Time and again, this becomes the moment people remember most — a reminder that this conversation isn’t abstract. It’s personal.

Kelly Erb

Manager, Empower Simcoe (Ontario)

Through two all-day interactive workshops, Brian really connected with our team and offered valuable strategies and feedback when working with people experiencing homelessness, poor mental health and addiction. Brian teaches the importance of helping one maintain their dignity, respecting others and really listening to people in a non-judgmental way. Brian’s approach brings things back to basics in terms of treating people with kindness and empathy. Brian works with the agency to customize it and ensure the training meets the needs of the program.

Aaron Munro

Leader, Manager Resource Network, Vancouver Coastal Health

Brian facilitated a session on Narrative Therapy and its application to leadership for over 100 Vancouver Coastal Health managers, and it left a lasting impression. The session was incredibly well received and, more than a year later, it continues to be one of the most talked-about and frequently revisited offerings in our monthly learning series.

What sets Brian apart is his ability to take complex, nuanced concepts and make them feel accessible, practical, and immediately relevant. Managers consistently shared how his approach helped them see their everyday challenges in a new light and apply fresh, meaningful perspectives in their work.

Ashley Rinas

Workplace Programs Manager, CMHA BC

It was a pleasure working with Brian Williams as part of Canadian Mental Health Association BC’s Community Social Services webinar series. Brian brings nearly three decades of frontline experience supporting individuals facing mental health challenges, substance use, housing instability and marginalization, and this depth of knowledge was evident throughout his presentation.

Brian’s webinars were engaging, authentic and grounded in real-world practice. Participants consistently shared positive feedback, highlighting both the richness of the information and the value of Brian’s lived and professional experiences. Following the webinars, attendees expressed strong interest in having longer sessions and additional webinars with Brian—an indication of the meaningful connection and learning he fostered.

Brian has a unique ability to create a respectful and thoughtful learning environment while making complex and sensitive topics accessible, practical and relevant for those working in community and social services.

Featured Workshop

Reimagining Masculinities

Book Now

Healthy masculinity isn’t one thing. It’s a range of possibilities — and boys and men are already living many of them, even when those stories don’t make the news.

This workshop invites participants to move beyond the statistics on boys’ and men’s mental health — which are real and worth knowing — and into action. Through facilitated discussion and small group work, participants generate concrete strategies for supporting healthy masculinities in their schools, teams, and communities. The session includes an expressive arts exercise that consistently becomes a highlight: personal, grounded, and often surprising.

Format: Half-day or full-day workshop, adaptable to conference or professional development formats

Audiences: Teacher associations, school districts, mental health conferences, Indigenous organizations, corporate and nonprofit teams

Available: In-person across BC and Canada, online by arrangement

Other Topics

Brian speaks and facilitates across a range of connected themes. All topics are adaptable to your audience, format, and time frame. Brian works with you to design something that fits, not a canned presentation.

Healthy Masculinity in Schools

Supporting boys and young men through an affirming, evidence-informed framework — practical tools for teachers, counsellors, and administrators.

Men’s Mental Health & Relationships

For mental health conferences, community organizations, and workplace wellness programs — the clinical and human side of what men are navigating, and what actually helps.

Decolonizing Masculinity

Exploring how colonization has shaped dominant narratives of masculinity, and what reclaiming Indigenous conceptions of manhood looks like in practice. Available as a standalone engagement or in partnership with Indigenous facilitators.

Narrative Therapy, Motivational Interviewing, Mindfulness & Trauma-Informed Practice

For front-line nonprofit and housing first teams: practical training in narrative therapy, motivational interviewing, harm reduction, and mindfulness for staff working with people experiencing homelessness, addiction, and complex trauma. Brian has worked with over 30 housing first teams on these topics.

Let’s talk about your event

Whether you’re planning a professional development day, a conference, a community gathering, or something that doesn’t fit a neat category — reach out. Brian is available across BC and Canada, and works with you to design something that fits your audience and goals.

There’s no standard package and no screening process. Just a conversation.

Let’s Talk