About Quentin
Quentin Walcott, Co-Executive Director, through his bold work is pushing communities to redefine manhood and is building a society that embraces equality, mutuality and rejects violence in communities as the status quo. An anti-violence activist and educator, he has spent the last 18 years addressing a critical part of the equation to stopping violence against women: men. Quentin has developed and launched some of New York City’s only programs aimed at transforming bystanders, men and boys, and even batterers into allies and activists against all forms of violence. Quentin as CONNECT’s Co-Executive Director, along with Sally MacNichol, is an innovative example of shared leadership as men and women as allies in preventing and ending all forms of violence. 2015 Quentin has already lended his expertise in providing training to a global facilitator group in Bangkok, Thailand and has been selected as a J. Walter Thompson 2015 Innovator of Change Honoree. Quentin has demonstrated CONNECT’s community empowerment model in Paris, France; and as an invited presenter at the 2014 MenEngage Global Symposium in New Delhi, India. 2013, Quentin’s sought after expertise and leadership, lead him to work in Nairobi, Kenya, to train men and women from 11 African countries that do gender based violence work on male accountable practice. Quentin’s groundbreaking work, vision, and activism were honored in 2013 with the UN Trust Fund’s first ever awards along with UN Women Goodwill Ambassador Nicole Kidman and Founder of the Joyful Heart Foundation actress Mariska Hargitay, for their exemplary contribution to local, national and international efforts. In 2012, Quentin received NOW – NYC’s Susan B. Anthony Award, the first male to receive the esteemed award. In 2011, Quentin through a special invite Vice President Joe Biden to facilitate one of ten events that occurred across the country during National Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
Since 1996, Quentin trained, supervised and mentored by Dr. John Aponte, began facilitating Batterer’s Intervention and various other groups for men and youth throughout New York City. For 6 years, Quentin co-chaired the Committee on Working with Abusive Partners (CoWAP), a committee of programs explores best practices and look to transform policies regarding abuse partner intervention services throughout New York City. Quentin has also worked with Eve Ensler to help facilitate and launch V-Men programming in NYC.
CONNECT
CONNECT was founded by several veterans of the domestic violence movement who recognized that among domestic violence services, prevention work was virtually non-existent and that while the availability of direct services for survivors had improved over the years, the prevalence of domestic violence had not diminished. Today, we’ve created programs to work on three levels: individual, community and systemic.
We believe that to end violence against women and girls, we must challenge and transform the conditions that allow it to occur. Thus, our approach is grounded in an ongoing commitment to addressing root causes and to confronting the way intimate violence both shapes, and is shaped by systemic violence and structural oppression. We cast a bright light on the way the dynamics of power and control work to create and sustain violence, and strategize to resist and transform them. Through our extensive activities, CONNECT empowers individuals, social service professionals and community and religious leaders with the tools and training to create a more peaceful society free of family and gender violence.
