About

Making Connections is funded by Movember who receives support from generous donors including the Distinguished Gentlemen's Ride. Without their support, programs like Making Connections would not be possible. Our partner for this initiative has been Prevention Institute.

The Movember Foundation

STOPPING MEN FROM DYING TOO YOUNG

Our fathers, partners, brothers and friends face a health crisis that isn’t being talked about. Men are dying too young. We can’t afford to stay silent.

THAT’S WHY WE’RE TAKING ACTION.

We’re the leading charity changing the face of men’s health. We’re addressing some of the biggest health issues faced by men: mental health and suicide prevention, prostate cancer, and testicular cancer.

We know what works for men, and how to find and fund the most innovative research and programs to have both a global and local impact. Since 2003, Movember has funded more than 1,250 men's health projects around the world, challenging the status quo, shaking up men's health research and transforming the way services reach and support men.

Prevention Institute

Prevention Institute (PI) is a national nonprofit with offices in Oakland, Los Angeles, Houston, and Washington, D.C. Our mission is to build prevention and health equity into key policies and actions at the federal, state, local, and organizational level to ensure that the places where all people live, work, play and learn foster health, safety and wellbeing. Since 1997, we have partnered with communities, local government entities, foundations, multiple sectors, and public health agencies to bring cutting-edge research, practice, strategy, and analysis to the pressing health and safety concerns of the day. We have applied our approach to injury and violence prevention, healthy eating and active living, land use, health systems transformation, and mental health and wellbeing, among other issues.

The Distinguished Gentleman's Ride

Over 120,000 distinguished gentlefolk in over 650 cities worldwide annually don their cravats, tussle their ties, press their tweed, and sit astride their classic and vintage styled motorcycles to raise funds and awareness for men’s health, specifically prostate cancer and men's mental health.

The Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride was founded in Sydney, Australia by Mark Hawwa. It was inspired by a photo of Mad Men’s Don Draper astride a classic bike and wearing his finest suit. Mark decided a themed ride would be a great way to combat the often-negative stereotype of men on motorcycles, while connecting niche motorcycle communities together.

That first ride in 2012 brought together over 2,500 riders across 64 cities. The success of the event encouraged the founder to consider how it could be used to support a worthy cause.

Influenced by the tragedy of losing one of our ride hosts to depression, from 2016 we have seen a change in our health fundraising goals. Now, the funding of men's mental health programs is a Distinguished Gentleman's Ride focus, in addition to prostate cancer research through our new official charity partner, The Movember Foundation, and the support of our title sponsors Triumph Motorcycles and Zenith Watches.