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About Forge
A home for dignity, leadership, and the future of social health.
Forge is a space for people who believe leadership is a relational, moral, and developmental act.
For those trying to build something better—within themselves, their teams, and the systems they serve.
For anyone who senses that dignity belongs at the centre of how we lead, heal, and shape the future.
At Forge, we explore dignity-driven leadership, relational practice, and the inner and collective work required to meet the complexity of our time. We share ideas, tools, and stories that help leaders grow their capacity for courage, imagination, collaboration, and repair.
This is a place for thoughtful leadership in fragile times.
A place for building communities of hope when things feel fractured.
A place for practicing how to become more human—together.
Why This Space Exists
Across Canada and beyond, we’re watching two things rise at the same time:
Unprecedented levels of loneliness, burnout, anxiety, and social fragmentation
A growing hunger for relational depth, wiser leadership, and communities capable of real repair
Our work has shown—again and again—that systems fail or flourish based on the quality of relationships within them. Violence, breakdown, and burnout rarely begin as moral failures. They usually begin as adaptations to pain, disconnection, and unmet needs.
At Forge, we believe:
Dignity is the centre of being human
Culture is shaped by the practices we repeat
Most harmful behaviour begins as an adaptation, not a fixed identity
Transformational leadership requires inner development (self-leadership), relational skill, and systems awareness
We become the kinds of leaders who can heal systems by apprenticing ourselves to wiser ways of being
This publication is where we think out loud, test ideas, share field notes, and offer the practices that shape this work.
The Three Strands of Forge
1. The Ideas
Insights drawn from more than 25 years of research and practice across dignity studies, relational and developmental psychology, masculinity and social health, systems and complexity, and the art of leading change.
This is where questions live. Where frames are tested. Where we follow the threads that matter.
2. The Practice
Forge is deeply rooted in practice-based learning.
We believe leadership is shaped by the conversations we have, the habits we form, and the ways we respond when things get difficult.
Here you’ll find tools, exercises, practice invitations, and learning designs that help turn insight into action—and behaviour into culture.
3. The Work
The Forge Centre for Dignity-Driven Leadership designs and delivers world-class learning tools, development pathways, and systems-change approaches for organizations and communities.
Our work includes:
Leadership development programs
Relational and restorative practice tools
Developmental coaching and organizational advising
Innovation and systems-shaping frameworks
Partnerships with governments, nonprofits, and community leaders
Collaborative work with the Men & Project on men’s mental and relational health, violence prevention, and community wellbeing
Forge is not just an institution. It is a growing network of leaders, practitioners, thinkers, makers, and community-builders committed to weaving dignity back into our organizations and systems.
What You’ll Find Here
Thoughtful commentary on dignity, leadership, and systems change
Reflections on masculinity, relational health, and the cultural moment
Practical tools and practice invitations
Notes from the field
Stories from the work
Early drafts of frameworks, models, and ideas-in-progress
Occasional provocations meant to spark courage and clarity
This publication is for leaders, practitioners, learners, and anyone trying to build something humane and sturdy in a fragile time.
Who We Are
Dr. Jeff St. John — Founder, Forge | Co-Lead, The Men & Project
Jeff is a scholar-practitioner, toolmaker, and idea architect shaping Forge’s dignity-driven approach. His work is grounded in decades of counselling practice, leadership in human services, research on men and masculinities, violence prevention, and long practice in relational and developmental coaching.
Today, he works with leaders and teams across Canada to build capacity for relational leadership, innovation, and systems-shaping change.
This publication is where he explores the ideas behind that work—and shares what he is learning in the field, in research, in community, and in the ongoing craft of becoming a more grounded human being.
Kim Ruse — CEO, Fear Is Not Love | Co-Lead Partner, The Men & Project
Kim brings decades of frontline and executive experience in violence prevention and community safety. Her writing reflects the realities of engaging complex systems, navigating resistance, building community partnerships, and creating safety-centred strategies that still believe in the possibility of change.
Ryan — Design, Tools & Learning Ecosystems at Forge
Ryan works at the intersection of design, learning, digital innovation, and dignity-driven practice. He helps translate ideas into tools, media, and learning systems that support real-world change—with clarity, beauty, and usability.
Why “Forge”?
Because leadership is not downloaded—it is forged.
Shaped by pressure and practice.
By reflection and repair.
By imagination and community.
Forge is a reminder that we can participate in our own becoming, and that we can help shape systems that honour the dignity and complexity of everyone within them.
Join Us
If you care about dignity, relational health, leadership, and building better systems—this is your place.
Subscribe to receive essays, field notes, tools, and reflections directly to your inbox.
Join the comments. Share your stories. Invite others.
Welcome to Forge.
