23/04/2026
MEN’S WELLBEING SUMMIT 2026
Meet the team💪🦅👇👇👇👇👇👇👇
This is a national discussion - but it speaks to issues at the heart of every small town & big city in NZ alike - addiction, drugs, booze, depression, su***de, chronic illness, losing men and boys we love too earl It is a hard, honest discussion we all need to have - if you are man enough to go there, get a ticket if you can, or reach if you want to volunteer. If money is an issue, reach out, there might be the odd full or partially sponsored spot on offer.
https://theprovider.co.nz/mens-wellbeing-summit
Here’s the team of hard hitters bringing it together with aroha:
Jono Ridler is an endurance swimmer, ocean advocate, and founder of the Swim4TheOcean initiative. Through ambitious endurance challenges, he uses sport as a platform to spark conversations about the health of our oceans. He has just completed a staged, unassisted 1,000-mile swim down the east coast of New Zealand’s North Island—a world record for the longest unassisted staged swim.
Beyond the physical and mental challenge, Jono’s work is about possibility. By sharing the lessons behind preparing for and pursuing extraordinary goals, he’ll be encouraging the Men at this years Summit to think bigger about their own potential. Through stories from the ocean and the edge of endurance, he’ll challenge you to dream bigger, commit to bold goals, and discover just how far your potential can take you.
If you’re looking for tools to support your self or others through hard times, you need to experience
Rob Mokaraka’s world class kaupapa - Shot Bro! Quite simply it is a masterclass in using your gifts and lived experience to shine aroha and light into dark places. Rob has been touring his kaupapa tirelessly around Aotearoa following on from his own lived experience recovering from rock bottom and helping others realise that you’re not crazy, you're hurting and deserve help.
Rob is an actor/writer who had a public mental and spiritual breakdown in Point Chevalier, Auckland, New Zealand - 2009. In the storm of suicidal ideation, Rob provoked the police to shoot him dead on the street, outside his house. He ignored the warning from police and took another step, which resulted in him being shot in the chest at close range. After multiple surgeries, multiple court cases, multiple therapies, 7yrs later Rob created a tool for healing and educating communities and organisations about mental wellbeing, su***de prevention and after care when someone you love has taken their life.
Jemarl Paerata - A former professional firefighter, Jemarl’s journey has taken him from the frontlines of crisis to the frontlines of transformation. After overcoming personal battles with addiction, disconnection, and burnout, he walked a path of deep healing—rooted in Te Ao Māori, holistic health, and a commitment to serve others.
He is now the founder of Te Kaiārahi, a kaupapa Māori mentoring service focused on helping rangatahi and adults alike reconnect with their identity, purpose, and potential. Through outdoor wānanga, leadership training, and breathwork-based resilience workshops, Jemarl has helped hundreds of individuals reclaim their story, step into leadership, and move forward with clarity and mana. Proud descendant of Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Ngāti Te Kohera, and Ngāti Mutunga.
Carl Muir uses his own lived experience and grounded prescence to provide a safe and natural space for men to recalibrate and explore their true nature. Men from around New Zealand and the globe have been traveling to his Provider Men’s Retreat for many years - a safe space for men to be brutally honest, to brave the truth of their experiences and delve into different scientific, structured and proven natural health practises, while experiencing some of the best of the The Coromandel's pristine oceans and landscapes. This space is working to 'lift the lid' on their health issues, including depression, su***de, abuse, metabolic conditions, addictions, work place bullying, the stress of self employment, extended time out of the workplace or trauma induced through significant global events. Carl’s passion is seeing men re-power and step back into their purpose and potential.
Professor Grant’s Schofield's - whose career has focused on preventing the diseases of modern times, and seeing what it takes to help people live a long, healthy and happy life.
He lives and breathes the motto “be the best you can be”, and sees this as a game-changer for the health system, capable of transforming the current health (sickness) model, to one in which we aspire to be well. He is redefining public health as the science of human potential; the study of what it takes to have a great life.
Grant is well known for thinking outside the box and challenging conventional wisdom in nutrition and weight loss, as well as physical activity and exercise. Co-founder of innovative preventative health kaupapa PreKure.
Stone James, Mens Coach, Sober Leader
In search of a pathway away from alcohol and drugs Stone spent four winters on the Taranaki coastline surfing in just board shorts. The answers were not found in the exhilaration of riding powerful waves, nor in the biting chill of howling southerly winds. But within the slow, silent gaps between waves, Stone built a deep relationship with the cold water. With this knowledge and experience Stone has been holding space for men (and women) since 2022 in sacred circles and outdoor adventures. After overcoming 20 years of addiction to alcohol, substances and other vices, Stone passionately holds the line of radical self accountability to inspire and guide others to do the same.
And that’s just the start. There are more, powerful Tāne, stepping in, so…..does that include you?
https://theprovider.co.nz/mens-wellbeing-summit
