Season 2: Episode 10 - Taking Off the Masks We Wear with Ashanti Branch

What masks do you wear in the world? How can we all step into vulnerability and self-love to create safer, kinder communities as men?

In today's episode, Louka speaks with Ashanti Branch, an inspiring educator, advocate and social entrepreneur raised by a single mother on welfare in Oakland. After studying engineering at California Polytechnic, Ashanti found his passion for teaching while tutoring struggling students. In 2004, as a first-year teacher, Ashanti started The Ever Forward Club to provide a support group for African American and Latino males who were not achieving the level of their potential. The Ever Forward Club has since helped 100% of its members graduate high school. Ashanti is on a mission to change how students interact with their education and the way schools interact with students.

After being featured in The Mask You Live In documentary, a Fellowship at the Stanford d.school, Campaigns for Black Male Achievement, and The Gratitude Network, Ashanti has launched the #MillionMaskMovement. The #MillionMaskMovement connects people worldwide in a self-reflective experience that helps people visualise and realise, "I am not alone."