The village boys need
Published 1:30 am Wednesday, April 22, 2026
It started with a conversation on the sidelines of a lacrosse practice. I was between jobs and had just been laid off from what felt like the best teaching position of my life when a parent asked me a simple question: What’s your dream job?
I told him about something my best friend and I had been quietly dreaming about: an organization that would meet boys where they are, walk with them through the hard years, and help them grow into men of character, courage and purpose. Men who are grounded. Who know how to show up. Who aren’t trying to figure it out alone.
He didn’t laugh. He leaned in.
That conversation planted the seed. In 2016, my co-founder, Nicky Wilks, and I started Journeymen Institute right here on Vashon, fueled by something we kept seeing: Too many boys were navigating the passage into manhood without a clear path, trusted mentors or a sense that they truly belonged anywhere. Ten years later, that seed has grown into something worth sharing more fully with our island home.
Look at what’s happening in our culture right now: the loneliness epidemic, the rising tide of anxiety and disconnection among young people, the polarization pulling communities apart, the troubling examples of masculinity modeled in public life — the rage, the contempt, the absence of accountability.
These aren’t unrelated problems. They share a root.
Ninety-eight percent of mass shooters are male. Boys are nearly four times more likely to die by suicide than their female peers. Research shows that a single young man who falls through the cracks through incarceration, chronic unemployment or social breakdown can cost society more than $3 million over his lifetime.
Too many boys grow up with one message about manhood: Be hard, don’t feel, figure it out alone. That disconnection doesn’t disappear at 18. It shows up in our relationships, workplaces and communities for decades. The crisis we see in adult men today was shaped in large part by the boys they once were — boys who needed a village of support.
This is upstream work. And Vashon can be part of the answer.
Journeymen is a nonprofit dedicated to boys and young men. At the core of everything we do are three things: mentorship circles, rites-of-passage experiences and real leadership opportunities in the community. Boys gather in small groups with trained adult mentors and teen leaders — spaces where they can be honest, be challenged and belong. As they grow, many become mentors themselves, helping shape the experience for the boys coming up behind them.
The through line is a simple but countercultural belief: Boys don’t need more management. They need more relationship. Steady adults. Safe spaces. A community that sees them and says: You matter here.
Here on Vashon, we run Boys’ Council circles, overnight rites-of-passage camps and a teen leadership program called Initiators. Of the boys who have been through our council circles, 88% report improved confidence, 75% say they are more emotionally aware, and 100% report a stronger sense of who they are.
One Quest participant, 17, said it as plainly as anyone ever has: “The Quest was the most profound experience I’ve ever had in my entire life. I came back a completely new person.”
Off-island, O’Dea High School in Seattle now runs Journeymen curriculum weekly for all 500 students, led by trained teachers and student leaders. What started as a few workshops is now embedded in the school’s culture, carried forward from the inside. This past year, I testified before the Washington State Legislature in support of a proposed Commission on Boys and Men.
One Vashon parent put it plainly: “In a world full of confusion, social media manipulation and toxic masculinity, Journeymen is a beacon in the storm — a safe harbor and a strong, supportive community for boys and young men.”
My co-founder and best friend, Nicky Wilks, stepped out of the executive director role this past year, and I stepped in, marking both a transition and a threshold. Ten years in, and the most important work is still ahead.
The boys we shape today become the men of tomorrow. The culture we build in our circles and camps ripples outward into families, workplaces and communities for generations. A boy who learns to speak honestly, be accountable, and lead with courage and care doesn’t just change his own life. He changes the lives of everyone around him.
Vashon has everything it takes to be a model for what’s possible. We just need more of us in it together.
Join us this spring:
FREE film screening and panel — “Gone Guys” | Tuesday, April 28 | 5:30 p.m. | Vashon Theatre. An award-winning 45-minute documentary on the challenges young men face today, followed by a community panel. Free and open to all. RSVP: form.typeform.com/to/AdKnXfhw
Become part of the village — mentor, donate or spread the word. Eighty-five cents of every dollar goes directly into programs. No young person is turned away because of cost. journeymen.us | 206-429-5203
Alex Craighead is the executive director and co-founder of Journeymen Institute, based on Vashon Island. alex@journeymen.us
