From promise to progress: Movember Institute announces first Innovation Grant recipients as part of CAN $52.69M investment in Indigenous wellbeing

In 2024, Movember made a landmark commitment: CAN$52.69 million over seven years to improve the social and emotional wellbeing of Indigenous men and boys across Australia, Aotearoa New Zealand, Canada, and the United States. In 2025, we’re delivering on that promise — announcing the first round of Innovation Grants, supporting Indigenous-led solutions that are rooted in culture, community, and self-determination.

This large-scale commitment to First Nations communities will be delivered through a series of Indigenous Social and Emotional Wellbeing Initiatives, which aim to tackle the alarming health disparities experienced by Indigenous men, through holistic, community-driven approaches.

CAD $18.55 million is being committed to First Nations and Indigenous communities over 7 years. This year’s announcement includes 3 Innovation Grants recipients, each receiving CAD $300,000 over 3 years.

What work has Movember done in this space?

Over the past twelve years, Movember has been committed to bolstering the social and emotional wellbeing of Indigenous men and boys around the world. Our Indigenous Portfolio is backed by a decade of dedicated investment in Indigenous research, evidence-based solutions, and real-world program delivery. This includes Community Empowerment programs, Innovation programs, and initiatives such as Reclaiming our Voice and the Brotherland Network, aimed at lifting the profile of the strengths of Indigenous men and supporting knowledge translation and shared learning.

The Movember Institute of Men’s Health is proud to support innovative, community-led solutions that centre Indigenous culture as a protective factor for health and wellbeing.​This year marks another step forward, with the appointment of Nathan Appo to Movember’s Board of Directors – the first Indigenous Australian to hold this position – to help steer the future of men’s health.

Who will the grants help?

For too long, the status quo for Indigenous men has been unacceptable, with the health outcomes staggeringly out of step with national and international standards. Indigenous boys and men continue to experience disproportionate rates of psychological distress, suicide, and chronic disease. These grants aim to help Indigenous men, boys, and their communities thrive.

This funding will support Indigenous men and their communities across the globe in Canada, the USA, Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand.

Indigenous men, youth and families in northern Ontario, Quebec, Kingston along with multiple first nation and northern communities across the country will be supported by men’s programs that provide cultural, skills based, healing programming that supports independence and wellness.

Movember’s Global Director or Indigenous Programs, Sonia Prevost-Derbecker said: “There is recognition that the Indigenous men and communities we are supporting are some of the most marginalized in the world. Many have experiences with health determinants, such as incarceration, homelessness, addictions and more. These programs will bring community voice and solutions to the table, supporting Indigenous men and their communities to drive their own change.”

What will the grants do?

These Innovation Grants are designed to strengthen the evidence base for social and emotional wellbeing programs and surface scalable models that work — led by Indigenous organizations, for Indigenous men and boys. The Canadian recipients include:

• Wiikwemkoong’s Shkinawe Gamig project will train peer support workers to implement programming that use the Medicine Wheel Framework for peer led programming. This includes establishing a support group, teaching life skills (i.e. budgeting, cooking, health literacy), ceremonies (i.e. rites of passage, teachings, sweat lodge ceremonies, medicine picking/usage), land-based activities (i.e. traditional harvest/hunting/fishing, canoeing) and sacred fires to promote cultural connection to local elders and knowledge keepers. The program will also focus on language revitalization which strengthens cultural identity, community bonds and social circles.
• Centre d’amitié autochthone de Trois-Rivières’ Nitaskinan project allows urban Indigenous men and youth to engage in an identity healing journey on the land, based on the 6 Atikamekw seasons. Participants will develop a piece of land in the in forest to make it their territory, designed for and by men, while playing a role of peer helpers towards each other. The development of the territory will be accompanied by traditional cultural activities (i.e. tent building, trapping, fishing, hunting, snowshoe making, gathering), and includes sharing circles, and workshops related to well-being and fatherhood.
• True North Aid’s Work2Give (W2G) project is an initiative aimed at Indigenous male offenders, that are housed within Correctional Service Canada (CSC). W2G is aimed at redressing the criminal justice inequities experienced daily by Indigenous male offenders by helping them discover (or recover) and integrate their cultures into everyday life for both within the institution and upon release. It provides an opportunity for them to give back, at least partially, to First Nations communities for the damage and hurt they had caused by their criminal activity.

Were grants reviewed and approved with community involvement?

Movember recognizes that centring the voices of those closest to these communities is essential to improving the social and emotional wellbeing of Indigenous men and boys. Community voices provide invaluable insights into the barriers, opportunities, and unmet needs within their populations—insights that are often overlooked without intentional engagement.

To ensure the grant recipients reflected the unique needs and priorities of local communities, we formed the Global Indigenous Advisory Committee (GIAC) in 2024. This committee is made up of 7 Indigenous members from across the 4 countries that Movember’s Indigenous portfolio covers: Australia, Aotearoa New Zealand, Canada and the US.

Over the past year, the GIAC reviewed submitted expressions of interest, shortlisted applicants, and reviewed implementation plans and recommended to Movember those that should be funded.

This approach not only strengthens the impact of our funding but also ensures our initiatives align with the lived realities and priorities of the communities we serve.

More grants coming soon

Movember’s commitment is long-term and global. This is just the first step. Keep an eye out for future Innovation Grant announcements in Australia, Aotearoa New Zealand and the US.In addition, Community Empowerment Grants will launch in 2026, supporting broader, place-based responses to health inequity. Learn more and keep up to date with our Indigenous funding.