Hunter Johnson
CEO

“Hunter would you just stop talking in class?!” These were familiar words for a cheeky teenage Hunter, who once received twenty-seven detentions in Year 9. Despite his non-conformist nature, Hunter grew up in a family that always encouraged him to be useful and get up to something that matters. It took Hunter a little time to work out what was important to him but in 2014, alongside his best mate, he co-founded The Man Cave and has since channelled his passion and energy into the organisations success.

With a background in emotional intelligence, facilitation, and social entrepreneurship, Hunter has worked with tens of thousands of young people across Australia and is constantly inspired by their audacity and brilliance. Hunter’s work has led him to speak around the world including presenting at the United Nations, Government House, the Sydney Opera House, Melbourne Town Hall, Graduation Ceremonies and various Universities.  Hunter has been recognised as a Finalist for the 2020 Young Australian of the Year Awards (VIC), listed as one of Harper’s Bazaar’s “Visionary Men of 2019”, named a 2018 Queen’s Young Leader by Her Majesty The Queen, and 2018 Winner of the EY Social Entrepreneur of the Year Award (Southern Region).

Al Green
GM People & Culture

Coming from a strong background in drama, Al values and focuses heavily on creative, experiential training to explore and understand the human condition. He honed his skills through 7 years at The Reach Foundation as a Facilitator, Trainer and Culture Leader, working with over 40,000 young people across Australia and creating and delivering hundreds of workshops. His experience also spans keynote presentations, MC’ing and facilitating workshops from graduate programs to CEOs in the corporate space exploring authentic leadership and positive organisational culture.

In his spare time, Al hosts a creative performance space in a blanket fort, is the 2012 Australasian champion of Wall Ball and has an ongoing interactive sound project focussed on lucid dreaming.

Imogen Thomas
GM Brand & Partnerships

Imogen (Im, Immy or Tommy) is a staunch arts advocate who cut her professional teeth as a film producer and followed this path to arts leadership. Her production credits include theatre, festivals, internationally acclaimed short narrative films, plus her most recent posts as Head of Production for TEDx Melbourne, Festival Director of festival21, and CEO of the Human Rights Art and Film Festival. Committed to the pursuit of cultural democracy, equal parts night owl and early bird, Imogen gets out of bed for initiatives that tackle ‘wicked’ problems – and global ambitions – with grassroots energy.

Jason Seeman
GM Products & Services

First and foremost, Jason is a proud father to his incredible daughter, Layla. She is his greatest teacher, best friend, and inspiration behind all that he does. 

Jason’s professional life started as a lawyer before discovering his passion for helping young people through education. He spent the next 7 years as Head of Product at a global education company, scaling study skills products to reach over 1-million students, as well as serving as General Manager of the UK team.

Jason enters The Man Cave as Head of Education, motivated by the opportunity to give boys the type of education he wishes he’d received; one that develops their character. 

Outside the cave, you’ll find Jason foraging for pine mushrooms, playing music, or dancing with his wife and daughter to ABBA anthems in their living room.

James Lolicato
GM Operations, HR & Finance

James Lolicato (he/him) is a social services and charity specialist, he was previously CEO of Australian charity organisations Proud 2 Play and Pride Cup Australia. James was honoured to be named Australian Community Leader of the Year by the Australian Institute of Managers and Leaders and is an OFA 30 under 30 winner. James is incredibly passionate about the advancement of social and emotional wellbeing of young Australians and extremely proud of developing international LGBTI+ inclusion initiatives including the first ever A Leagues Pride Game and the Australian Open Pride Day. James enjoys throwing back to his Italian roots and cooking all the meals he can to share with his friends and family.

Katie McLeod
Relationships Manager

Katie is the mother of two beautiful teenage boys and believes that supporting her sons to be healthy and flourishing men starts with open conversations. Katie also credits having healthy role models around her sons as a key reason they have grown up to become authentic young men of character.

Outside of being a passionate parent, Katie has decades of experience working with not-for-profits and corporates, equipping her with exceptional relationship building skills.

Since joining The Man Cave 3 years ago Katie has developed strong relationships with over 300 schools and organisations. She is passionate about helping educators navigate the future of masculinity by listening to their hopes and challenges and tailoring programs to address the core needs of their young men and communities.

Katie has a Bachelor of Arts, Majoring in Political Science and Gender Studies and has a keen interest in global social and economic politics, especially as they relate to identity.

You can find Katie walking along the beach at 5am listening to a podcast or hiking on the weekends with friends. She has lived in the UK, Asia, Sydney, Perth and Melbourne and is intensely curious about people and culture.

Daniel Datnow-Jamieson
Operations & Technology Manager

Daniel is an energetic creative who loves to solve a good problem with a smile. He has a background directing brands in the music industry, covering communications, creative direction, design, operations and event management. When he’s not in the office, you can find him at home in the studio recharging his batteries and working on his next gig.

Daniel feels a strong calling to the work of The Man Cave, openly acknowledging the positive impact such a program would have had on his own time at school. When The Man Cave put out the call for a Communications Manager in May 2019, Daniel saw the perfect opportunity to give back to others by combining his interests and experience for this value-driven cause.

During his tenure as Communications Manager, Daniel discovered a passion for designing and creating data-driven systems that enhance the everyday functioning of our organization. As of January 2020, Daniel shifted his focus to Operations, where he is responsible for developing the backend systems that facilitate our growth as we expand our work and impact more young men in Australia.

Joel Hines
National Programs Manager

Joel is a passionate and dynamic facilitator, educator and coach, motivated by wanting to assist people to be the best possible versions of themselves.

Joel’s professional background spans over 2 decades and a number of industries including mental health, technology, primary, secondary and adult education. His knowledge and range of life and work experience inform his strong desire to empower others and seek out collaborative solutions to complex problems.

A keen storyteller, Joel integrates his patience, compassion and diligence into all that he does. His aim is to motivate, inspire and genuinely assist humans to be their absolute best, and achieve their dreams, goals and aspirations. He believes we all have innate gifts that when allowed to shine through and offer the world something remarkable and special.

Tess Alston
Financial Analyst

When Tess was a child, her parents moved around a lot and this gave her a chance to experience what it was like in various communities around the world. It also opened her eyes about the social inequality that existed, and how some people, through no fault of their own, found it impossible to become the best person they could be and contribute positively to their community.

It became Tess’s passion to work with others to allow both boys and girls, men and women, to become empowered.

After studying finance and economics, and working in the tax/accounting industry for a decade, Tess started working at the Man Cave where she could combine her passion and her finance knowledge. Yay!

Daniel Paproth
Communications Coordinator

Daniel, or Pappy or Papi as he is also known, joined The Man Cave way back in 2018, when the organisation was growing rapidly and in need of new facilitators. He has been a facilitator ever since, continuing that role today.

In early 2020 he took on the role of Comms Coordinator, following a series of persistent emails to The Man Cave’s brains trust. Pappy has a background in writing, journalism and PR, having worked across these industries since 2009. Feeling a growing sense of disconnect to those worlds amidst a burning passion for The Man Cave’s work, he left the professional world and now contributes these skills to The Man Cave, helping to build out the organisation’s communications strategy.

Pappy is driven by a desire to create a generation of more empowered, empathetic men, and now devotes most of his week to that cause, whether coordinating comms or facilitating workshops.

Outside of the Cave, Pappy loves his partner Emily, his cat Teresa, his Nintendo Switch, red wine, his extremely unsafe 1985 Honda City, and his favourite band U2 (you may have seen him win Hard Quiz…)

Alison Stuart
National Bookings Coordinator

Alison has joined The Man Cave as our NSW Programs Manager after an extensive career in the Human Resources and Employee Wellbeing space of Procter & Gamble, IBM and Johnson & Johnson.  Alison describes herself as being purpose and values driven, authentic and compassionate, and found great pleasure in knowing that the work she was doing at J&J had a direct impact on the lives of J&J employees and their families.  Alison is now excited to be able to shift this focus to the health and wellbeing of the young men in our community.

Alison grew up in Sydney with her mum, dad and two older sisters, and still lives in Sydney today with her husband, three daughters, one cat and one dog.  In her spare time Alison can be found on the netball court, watching her children participate in sport, consuming beautiful food and wine with family and friends, or just relaxing at home.

Lucy Barrat
Product Manager

Lucy – Luce to her friends – holds the value of ‘other people matter’ very close to her heart. This, combined with her natural curiosity in the wellbeing space, led her to the world of education, where she has dwelled for close to 14 years teaching across the public, private and residential sectors. After completing her Master of Education (Student Wellbeing), Luce found her way into The Man Cave in 2021, where she realised her passion for creating educational experiences that have lasting impact could be combined with her desire to see a safer, more sustainable and equitable world. She is also a staunch advocate for strong coffee, ocean swims, almond croissants, the Collingwood Football Club and will forever be open to a hug.

Ben O'Toole
Senior Facilitator, SpeakEasy Coordinator

Affectionately known as BOT, Ben has worked at the Man Cave since 2018 coming on as a facilitator in training. With the Man Cave in its infancy, Ben came in with the hope that his existing skill sets could transfer to facilitation.

Ben has experience with anti-violence programs in high schools presenting them across the country since 2014. In that time, he has delivered over 500 presentations to more than 45,000 young people. As a victim of a violent assault in 2007, Ben’s personal experience gives him a unique insight into the impact of a single punch. Through exploring masculinity and how it can be a catalyst for violence, Ben was drawn to the work of The Man Cave as it provided another platform to role model alternative ways of being a healthy male role model to young people.

Having established himself as a Senior Facilitator for school programs, the opportunity arose to expand into workplace facilitation as The Man Cave partnered with Movember to deliver the ‘SpeakEasy’ program, which Ben now coordinates.

Outside of the Cave, Ben is a doting husband to Sarah, a proud father to Maeve, Peggy and Herbert (and his fur daughter Pam the dog), a passionate Geelong Cats supporter, a lover of weird music and an owner/operator of a pale blue courier bike – his latest love.

Joshie Glover
Facilitation Team Leader

When he joined the Man Cave in 2021, Josh tried the nickname Joshie on for size. A name that reflects the warmth, curiosity and cheekiness that he seeks to bring to life. These qualities were born from his cross-cultural upbringing, spending his childhood in Kathmandu, Nepal and have shaped his personal and professional life since.

With degrees in Human Geography and Theology, Joshie initially worked and volunteered in international and community development. Since moving to the facilitation and education spaces, he has worked with over 5000 young people, seeking to help them grow to their full potential and be the changemakers their communities need them to be.

Joshie also tries to spend as much time as possible around natural places with lots of green and blue things, especially if they also host a range of bird life!

David Verdugo
Facilitation Team Leader

With a background in Health and Fitness highlighted by David running yoga classes on the beaches of the Bahamas, David stepped into tertiary education and saw that many of the challenges people faced on their learning journey often came from their mental well-being and so began running keynotes and workshops to support and educate young people on resilience, wellbeing, personal leadership, having now spoken to over 40000 people.

David, a member of TMC since 2016 started as a facilitator and has risen to the position of Team Leader, where he now trains our facilitation squad to provide support to the youth we work with. David is also a skilled facilitator for Man Cave Academy’s programs, where he helps adults support their boys on their journey to adulthood.

Outside of the Cave, David is an Adventurous spirit and has trekked to Mount Everest Base Camp, run a Marathon, competed in a triathlon and is preparing for his biggest adventure yet, becoming a father.

Michaela Healey
Director

Michaela is a founder of the International Women’s Forum Australia, a member of Chief Executive Women, Chair of Free to Feed, Chair of Good Stuff Global and a member of the Faculty for the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership. She was previously Group Executive, People Communications & Governance at the National Australia Bank Group, responsible for people, leadership, culture, corporate responsibility, government affairs, communications, legal and governance.

As a mother of a young adult son and a former director of Berry Street, Michaela is aware of the pressures and challenges young men face and the importance of the development of skills to navigate life. She believes that young men can be encouraged to value respectful relationships. Through the work of The Man Cave Michaela is optimistic that more young men in Australia will be alert to the impact of their words and actions on the wellbeing of others.

Ian Ward-Ambler
Chair

Ian contributes widely to the community, and carefully considers each role before accepting. Mission alignment for him is imperative but it’s also about ensuring he can make a contribution (and learn much in the process!) In addition to Chair and Board Director at The Man Cave, Ian is Deputy Chair, Voyages Indigenous Tourism (Ayers Rock Resort) and Chair, Mutitjulu Foundation; Trustee Director and Investment Committee member, CBA Group Superannuation Fund; Board member and Chair, Finance and Audit Committee at Trinity College; Council Member and Chair, Investment Management Committee at Melbourne Grammar School; Advisory Board Member, Indigenous Leadership, Excellence and Achievement Program (I-LEAP) at Melbourne University; and Director, Foundation Five Nine.

Ian is also an executive coach.

Ian spent much of his career in Finance, retiring in 2012 from Goldman Sachs, as Head of the Asset Management Division. He is the former Chair of Hands on Learning and former Vice Chair of ANROWS. Ian is a family man, married with four children. His passions include travel, golf and enjoying life to the fullest.

Jono Nicholas
Director

Jono Nicholas is one of Australia’s most prominent advocates for better mental health and has an Honours degree in psychology and a Masters Degree in Public Health.

He was a founding staff member of  ReachOut, Australia’s leading digital mental health service for young people and their parents. During his twenty year tenure with ReachOut he helped establish the service in the US, was Founding CEO of ReachOut Ireland and CEO of ReachOut Australia from 2010-18.

In 2018, he stepped down as CEO to establish the Wellbeing Outfit, a consultancy firm dedicated to helping organisations improve their performance by improving the wellbeing of their people. Through the Wellbeing Outfit he is an Executive Consultant specialising in mental health at EY and advised a range of large organisations on strategies to improve the mental health and wellbeing of their staff and customers.

In addition to being a board member of ManCave, he sits on the Board of the ASX listed investment company, Future Generation Global and is Deputy Chair of the Foundation for Alcohol, Research and Education.

Jono has a lifelong love of football and continues to play with a level of enthusiasm that far outstrips his talent. His support of Crystal Palace FC, reminds him each year that winning is not the most important thing in life. Most importantly, Jono is a father to three awesome boys and is dedicated to ensuring that they grow up in a world that enables them to be awesome young men. His support of ManCave is small  part of making this happen.

Carolyn Bendall
Director

Carolyn is an experienced marketing and communications executive with over thirty years’ experience in various services sectors. Currently Chief Marketing Officer at Swinburne University of Technology, and before that General Manager Marketing for ANZ Australia, Carolyn is passionate about truly understanding and meeting customer needs, aligning brand strategy with excellence in communications, delivering results, and leading and developing large teams of talented professionals.

Carolyn’s experience spans corporate, commercial and consumer market segments, across Australia and New Zealand, and in disciplines ranging from brand strategy, marketing communications, product proposition development through to distribution channel management and customer acquisition. Carolyn was proud to lead Mumbrella’s 2016 Marketing Team of the Year, has been recognised with 16 Cannes Lions for creative excellence and is a three-time Australian CMO50, which recognises Australia’s most innovative CMO’s.

In addition to The Man Cave, Carolyn is also a Director of Swinburne Student Life and is committed to making a contribution towards a more inclusive world – where diversity is valued, opportunities are equal, and people are simply kinder to one another.