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The Healthy Project Podcast is your go-to source for thought-provoking conversations on health equity, public health, and social determinants of health. Hosted by Corey Dion Lewis, each episode explores the intersection of community health, policy, and innovation, offering insights from experts and changemakers who are leading the charge in creating healthier, more equitable communities. Whether you're a healthcare professional, public health advocate, or simply passionate about making a difference, this podcast equips you with the knowledge and inspiration to drive meaningful change. Join us on the journey to build a healthier, more just world—one conversation at a time.
Corey Dion Lewis (00:01.422)
Hello everybody, thank you for listening to the Healthy Project podcast. I'm your host, Corey Dion Lewis. And today we are getting into a critical and very important topic, prostate cancer awareness. And as we all know, September is Prostate Cancer Awareness Month. So dedicated to that. So with my guest today, not only will we be discussing that,
but also I would love to talk about kind of the equity piece as well. So with us today, I have Chris Bennett. He's the director of Prostate Cancer Health Equity Initiatives at Movember, who is a global leader in men's health. We will be talking all that today. So again, Chris, thank you so much for being here. I really appreciate it.
Kris Bennett (00:49.408)
Corey, appreciate you having me on, brother. Excited to talk more about this and just kind of get this message out,
Corey Dion Lewis (00:54.614)
Yeah, yeah. So before we get into the conversation, can you tell the people a little bit more about yourself and what gets you up in the morning?
Kris Bennett (01:01.6)
Yeah, absolutely, absolutely. So a little bit about me, my background. So I actually have my master's in public health as well as my master's of social work. So that was a dual degree that I finished up at Alabama not too long ago, actually. So that was a tough one. I also have my master's in management, which I received in the United Kingdom. So Durham University. And what got me over there to Durham actually is always kind of my fun fact. So I know you can't tell behind the screen, right?
Corey Dion Lewis (01:16.493)
Okay.
Kris Bennett (01:29.922)
or on a podcast, but I'm actually 6 '8". So I played professional basketball before I jumped into this space. And that actually kind of led me to the kind of public health world. So I played in multiple different countries all over the world. While I was playing in South America, I started to realize, you know, some of those public health issues and barriers that folks face. And that kind of got me into it. So I actually started my public health masters while I was playing in Nicaragua, I believe.
started at a different school than what I finished at. But that really got me into it. And then of course, paired with when my mother was diagnosed with cancer, I started to see kind of how those big systems play into accessing care. And so that kind of got me into it and that's kind of led me here. I've always been a proponent of health equity. You know, I kind of laugh because all of my practical experience after I played basketball, the real world experience, if you will, has been centered around health equity.
And so, I mean, I've worked in federally qualified health centers. I've advised politicians at state and also federal levels, all on health equity, health equity policy. So I would say honestly, what gets me up in the morning is just doing this work for our communities, just for anybody that's coming from a historically or intentionally excluded community. wanna be, you know, I wanna use the privileges that I have, being light skin, having the educational background that I have.
Just having the, just again, having the kind of platform that I have to be able to help get, make sure that people have access to those types of things, especially that are going to help them with better healthcare.
Corey Dion Lewis (03:09.026)
words. So pretty much you went from dunking on people to helping people. So that's awesome. That's awesome, man. And I love, so I love what you're doing. And I, and I would really, to kind of play on that health equity piece, I know you said that's been your journey ever since you finished, you know, your professional career or professional basketball career.
Kris Bennett (03:12.258)
I've never thought of it like that, but I like that.
Kris Bennett (03:36.694)
Thank you.
Corey Dion Lewis (03:39.898)
You know, why, when we're talking about under -resourced or underserved communities and prostate awareness, where is that connection? You know, what does that look like?
Kris Bennett (03:53.607)
Yeah, absolutely. just from, so my role is global right now, so I definitely can rattle off a few global statistics, but one of the biggest statistics that I think is kind of palatable, right, for folks to really understand is prostate cancer in general, globally, is the second most commonly diagnosed cancer in men behind lung cancer.
And then when you really get into it, especially in the United States, black men are disproportionately affected by prostate cancer. So in general, again, in the U .S., that number is one in eight men are gonna be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime, but it kind of balloons to one in six when you're talking about black men. And so the reason why health equity in prostate cancer is so big to me is because there are so many different kinds of factors that play into prostate cancer, whether it's a lack
conversation around anything that has to do with our sexual reproduction system. You know, it's the genetic pieces. are genetic factors that kind of go into play, environmental factors that go into play, of course, those socioeconomic factors. And that really does include, you know, the unequal access to health care, as well as early detection services that most folks have access to. But not everybody, obviously, and I think everybody that's probably listening to this knows this, but
Of course, not everybody has access to those types of things. And so for me, I got into the prostate cancer space because again, I came from the general health equity space. I've kind of done this everywhere across the spectrum. But when I noticed what those numbers were in the prostate cancer world, it was really jarring for me. I think that's really the appropriate word to use is jarring because those disparities are so, so, so, so eye -opening to me. And so I said, you know what, what can I do to again, kind of help out?
Corey Dion Lewis (05:15.106)
Right.
Kris Bennett (05:42.172)
And I think everybody, honestly, if you have those types of conversations with your homeboys, with your family, anybody that has a prostate, you'll recognize that pretty much everybody has some kind of run -in with prostate cancer, whether it's a SCAR or BPH, so an enlarged prostate. It's just something that happens quite often, especially in our communities, in Black and Brown communities. So it's a conversation that I think is warranted and one that I really want more people to have.
Corey Dion Lewis (06:08.94)
Yeah, you know, you hear about, definitely have had conversations. I know people have had issues. and then you, kind of talk about some of those numbers, especially within, for black men. And then it raises the question, well, why is it still, why the numbers that now given all the information that we have, and I may, have my own opinions on why that conversation around.
prostate cancer is not as strong as it should be, but I would love to hear your thoughts on why, you know, why still now 2024, are we still having, there's this huge disparity gap when it comes to prostate cancer and men of color.
Kris Bennett (06:55.714)
Absolutely. Absolutely. So I mean, I think there are there are so many different factors that kind of go into it. Right. And I think, you know, as someone who, of course, spends a lot of time in this in this space, you hear about the advancements, you hear about how numbers look like they're getting better. Right. And there's and there really has been there really has been a lot of there have been a lot of advancements in the cancer space. And I would say honestly, over the last like five to 10 years, right. Like, while I've been doing this, there's been a lot of advancements that have occurred.
Corey Dion Lewis (07:02.392)
Mm
Kris Bennett (07:25.686)
But to your point, Corey, there are still those disparities that exist within black and brown communities, predominantly in black communities. And so for me, some of those factors, again, that kind of contribute to that are really, you have the pre, so you have the genetic predispositions, right? That's one big piece of it. Again, the socioeconomic status piece that goes into place there.
access to healthcare, right? You know, especially in the United States. One thing that I think is really interesting is, you know, the access that you get to healthcare really is just, it's determined on if your job has good healthcare or not, right? And that's something that obviously, you know, I don't believe that should be what it is. I believe healthcare is a human right. And I believe everybody should have access to that. But unfortunately, that's not how things work in the United States, right?
So that access to healthcare piece is a big thing. And then I think that last piece that you kind of maybe potentially alluded to are those kinds of cultural barriers, right? Black men in general, we're not necessarily having those types of conversations around prostate health, right? I know one thing I've traveled, I've been very fortunate to travel across the world, across the country to have these types of conversations with a lot of folks everywhere. And one of the things that I consistently hear is most men don't even know what a prostate is.
until they're diagnosed with prostate cancer, right? And that to me is an issue. And so I think that's why, you we talk about prostate cancer awareness month. Well, we don't really talk about it. I hope we talk more about it. But, you know, you mentioned the awareness piece at the beginning of this conversation. And I think that is a big piece to what we should be kind of having that conversation and starting that conversation. That should be a probably a top five conversation starting point, right? Is what is a prostate?
Corey Dion Lewis (08:49.624)
That's real.
Corey Dion Lewis (08:57.474)
Damn.
Kris Bennett (09:13.994)
Why is it important, especially in Black and brown communities? Why should we start having these types of conversations earlier to kind of normalize and socialize these types of things?
Corey Dion Lewis (09:23.384)
Yeah, you'd be surprised how many conversations I have in my office, Chris, explaining to men the difference between a colonoscopy and a prostate exam, because they think it's the same thing. You know that?
Kris Bennett (09:31.444)
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I can't tell you the amount of times there's actually a really great documentary that's out there. you can access it on Tubi. It's also on Amazon Prime. It's called The Silent Killer by Londi Maduro, a really great film. And it's a little bit older now, but there's one part that's really interesting. And it's pretty much this guy that's just going around streets of LA. So in my backyard.
just kind of walking down the streets asking people, do you know where your prostate is? And the amount of folks that don't know where their prostate is, that don't know what a prostate is, where it's located, I don't know. As someone that spends a lot of time in this space, of course I recognize my privileges of understanding these types of things, but I do really want this conversation to be more normalized, right?
Corey Dion Lewis (10:17.752)
Right.
Kris Bennett (10:23.086)
And I grew up with all women. So for me, I've always been somebody that does like to talk about health, right? Women are obviously much more socialized and it's much more common for women to kind of talk about these types of things from an earlier age. And so I'm really hoping that's a conversation that we can start to have with our younger men at an earlier age, not to scare people, but just to have them just kind of up on game a little bit more.
Corey Dion Lewis (10:47.588)
Yeah, 100%, 100%. There's something I wanna touch on that you said earlier when we were talking about barriers to care and having access to care. And there's something that I've been really, it's funny we're having this conversation now because there's something that I have been really thinking hard about the last couple of weeks. And that's having true access to care, meaning,
Kris Bennett (10:59.937)
Mm
Corey Dion Lewis (11:16.632)
There are people who have insurance, I have insurance, I have that privilege, but do I have access to a provider that understands me? Right, so I have access to care, but do I really have true access to care because I may have a mistrust of my provider? And I don't, if my provider's listening, I trust you, but not everybody's me, it has that experience. So when we're thinking about, you know,
Kris Bennett (11:25.344)
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Kris Bennett (11:32.36)
Mm -hmm.
Kris Bennett (11:41.014)
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Corey Dion Lewis (11:45.602)
those men out there that may have access to care, what are some of your thoughts or ideas about getting comfortable with a provider or what does that look like?
Kris Bennett (11:54.572)
Yeah, yeah, I always tell people and I'm so I'm so glad that you brought this up because I think this is such this flies under the radar a lot of the time, right is what does trust actually look like, especially in the healthcare space? And I think, know, from I mean, we all know about it, right? We could talk about this Tuskegee experiment. We can talk about Henrietta Lacks. There is such a deeply ingrained distrust of the medical system and rightfully so, right. And so I think as medical professionals and this is something that
Corey Dion Lewis (12:04.931)
Yeah.
Kris Bennett (12:23.05)
Again, I see this as a privilege that I have right now being in the space and really, you know, being able to help folks. I'm grateful for this opportunity because I think this is the opportunity for us as the kind of medical professionals to extend the olive branch to the folks and to those communities that have, again, been historically and intentionally excluded from these types of conversations for us as those medical professionals to say,
This is something that we've done wrong. Extend that olive branch, admit that we've done these types of things wrong to communities, and then try to really build that trust. And I think this is something that really does need to start out an earlier. It needs to start much earlier, right? I know I have my MPH, so I really do think of things from preventative standpoint. But I think as providers too, right? A lot of providers have a hard time understanding that.
Trust is a big piece of kind of engaging the folks that are seeing them, right? So what does being a trustworthy partner kind of look like? I mean, that means showing up as competent, reliable, and honest, right? So if you can have those three types of characteristics as a provider, I'm really hoping that providers listen to these types of things and then say, hey, what can I do to really engage the folks that don't look like me, that don't come from the same types of communities? I mean, I've been at federally qualified health centers that are kind of working with
populations that are really, really, really tough to work with because of all those kind of barriers that they're facing, right? And I'll just give you an example. One time I was working with a provider who was talking about a patient who was homeless, right? And so this provider kept saying, like, I can't get this person to show up for a sleep study. Like, I can't get them to do their sleep study. And I think it was a conversation that this provider had to have with the community health worker who was working with that patient to say, hey,
this person is actually like does not have a house to go to, right? So I think these are the types of things that, know, providers sometimes, you know, everybody gets stuck in their job, right? Like everybody, you know, everybody really thrives in their job, hopefully, and really enjoys their job, hopefully. And sometimes it's hard to look outside of what you're doing. And so I would definitely challenge providers, healthcare administrators to really look outside of just the systems in which they're looking at things, that lens in which they're looking at things.
Kris Bennett (14:38.786)
and really try to take a more holistic approach because I think, you know, those are the types of things that do kind of go on outside of this. And to your point of being able to trust people, you know, like you're gonna have to build up that trust. And a lot of times the populations that we're trying to work with do have a lot of things that are going on outside of just, you know, that 15 minute, 20 minute appointment that they're going to. So, you know, I think there's a lot of things from a, you know, I don't like the word, I don't like the term culturally competent.
cause I think it just, it kind of feels, I don't know, it feels a little safe. but from that perspective, right. from that culturally competent perspective, those are the types of things that I really hope that providers can work on. and again, health administrators and health systems in general, to make populations feel more comfortable and also make them feel like they are being engaged in those types of conversations. Right. you know, I think, I think we try to have these types of conversations where
Corey Dion Lewis (15:10.883)
Mm -hmm.
Corey Dion Lewis (15:32.94)
Right.
Kris Bennett (15:36.97)
Again, as healthcare leaders, we're trying to propose these solutions without actually involving people that are from the communities in those conversations. And so when we're talking about like, hey, we really want to hear your voice, like how much do we really want to hear those voices, right? And so that's going to be that kind of readiness piece that I think is, you know, we have to take into account.
Corey Dion Lewis (15:55.692)
Yeah. Well, and you know, all of that and the customer is changing. before, you you have a patient, there was a generation where a doctor can tell a patient anything and they will just do it. But now, you know, you know, these cast these days, including we have questions we want to ask, you know, we have, and if you can't answer those questions in a, you know, in a genuine way or whatever, like that will break that trust for some people.
Kris Bennett (15:59.765)
Yeah, absolutely.
Kris Bennett (16:09.44)
You should believe it, right? Yeah. Yeah.
Kris Bennett (16:15.744)
Yeah.
Kris Bennett (16:25.09)
Absolutely, absolutely. think it's, you know, that is so accurate. And I think that is something that, you know, I tell people all the time, one of the biggest things that I would tell folks was if someone was diagnosed with prostate cancer, you took your PSA test and then you got numbers back and they were elevated, I would always say, hey, go get a second opinion, right? I think oftentimes people forget that providers or doctors are, they're low key working for us, right? So.
Corey Dion Lewis (16:52.654)
Yeah.
Kris Bennett (16:53.052)
We do, we should feel empowered. And I think this is again, this is something that I want to be more involved in and why I got into this space, because I want people to feel empowered enough to do those types of things, right? If you don't feel comfortable with your provider, and I mean, I hope people listen to this, right? If you don't feel empowered or listened to or respected or valued by your provider,
there could potentially be somebody else out there that's better for you, right? Like I understand that there's gonna be barriers. Sometimes you might live in a rural area where there might only really be one provider. But I would definitely say there are resources out there for folks to be able to access those types of things. American Cancer Society is a really great one. Zero prostate cancer in the United States are really another really good one. Movember is another really good resource. Fenn, there's so many great,
Corey Dion Lewis (17:37.228)
Mm -hmm.
Kris Bennett (17:43.52)
resources out there. So if there are those types of things that kind of come up and you don't necessarily feel heard or respected by your provider, I always tell people, hey, you have the ability to find somebody else and you don't have to do it alone, right? And that's the piece that I really want people to hear and understand.
Corey Dion Lewis (18:00.196)
No, that's real. That's real. I would love to talk to you about age. And I didn't know if you had any information. You know, there are a lot of cancers. know colon cancer, where it was, hey, you need to get it at this age, your colonoscopy. For black men, that age has, hey, now it's like 45 or 40 or something like that.
Kris Bennett (18:21.345)
Yeah.
Kris Bennett (18:25.206)
Yeah.
Corey Dion Lewis (18:28.086)
Are you, is there data, are you seeing that men of color are getting prostate cancer younger and younger?
Kris Bennett (18:36.642)
Yeah, so that is cancer in general. That was something that came out in the previous ACS report. They're kind of like 2024 report that just came out a few months ago, actually. know, cancer diagnosis age is actually is decreasing. So we're seeing younger people being diagnosed with cancer. And I think, you know, that's for a whole host of reasons. I'm not a provider.
But I definitely feel like if you were to read the report, you would get a pretty good sense as to why. But yeah, especially with black men, right? You see that age being significantly younger than potentially their white counterparts. And so I know there's a lot of research, a lot of data right now that's actually suggesting, and I tell people all the time too, I feel comfortable saying this, if you are...
if you are a black man or of African descent or Caribbean descent, you know, we want you to get that PSA test, which is a simple blood draw, by the way. We want you to get that a little bit earlier. We also want to make sure that if you have a history of prostate cancer, that you're getting that test done earlier. We also want to make sure, again, even if you're a veteran, again, get that test done a little bit earlier. And then I think one of the pieces that doesn't necessarily
get a ton of, it's not highlighted a ton, but it is something that there's a lot of studies being done on is the BRCA gene mutation. So for my personal family history, my mother had breast cancer. And so for me, I want to go get my PSA test as soon as I turn 40, I want to go get my PSA test done because I want to make sure that I'm not at higher risk because there is a correlation between breast cancer as well as prostate cancer.
want to say ovarian cancer is in there as well. And unfortunately, if someone does have breast cancer, ovarian cancer, there could be a more aggressive form of prostate cancer that you could be diagnosed with. So we want to make sure that folks are getting tested earlier. that PSA test, super easy, simple blood draw. There's definitely, can check, again, you can check on resources on kind of advocacy groups, zeroprostatecancer .org does a really great job of that.
Kris Bennett (20:56.998)
where you can actually go get, can check out where there are free testings being done. I know if you're in the New York area, Mount Sinai does, they actually have a mobile unit that goes around and you can go do that. UCSD here in San Diego where I'm located, they do a really good job of making sure that folks can get tested as well. there is a whole host of free access to PSA tests and then they will make sure that you're connected to people that can then take care of you if something does pop up.
so yeah, so again, from the age piece, they are, folks are being diagnosed a bit earlier, especially if you are, if you kind of have those, if you have those, if you have that kind of background, if you're a black black man, have a family history, of the, of the disease, or veteran, those types of things. want to make sure that people are being tested earlier. because unfortunately what happens is the, U S preventative task force actually says around 50.
40 to 50 is a 10 year gap, right? So you could potentially go from being diagnosed at stage one to stage four. And I've seen that happen quite a bit, to be honest with you, where I've seen men that just were like, you know what, like very active. I'll just use a quick example, really active cat, played basketball, dude that I knew, really never talked about like, never, never talked about like cancer was never really unhealthy, always, always kind of active.
Corey Dion Lewis (22:06.595)
Mm
Kris Bennett (22:25.314)
Unfortunately, I think he was 45, 44 actually, and then was diagnosed with stage four prostate cancer and it had metastasized. So these are the types of things that like do happen, unfortunately. There's, mean, I could give you a whole list of cats that are diagnosed with late stage prostate cancer. So definitely one thing is to just kind of stay on top of it, understand what your numbers are, what your PSA numbers are, just like everything else, right? Like you want to take care of your body.
I'm an ex -athlete, I always said, you know what, it's just good to keep that maintenance going right. And it's better to know because your quality of life is going to be significantly better if you do catch it earlier.
Corey Dion Lewis (23:05.9)
Yeah, I'm catching it earlier. And that brings up my next thought and question is understanding maybe some of the symptoms. You know, one thing that I realized is that there are men out there that don't know what to look for, or maybe they've had symptoms and just thought it was just natural or normal. Your thoughts on that and also where people can find resources and what...
Kris Bennett (23:13.473)
Yeah.
Kris Bennett (23:23.057)
Yeah.
Kris Bennett (23:27.062)
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Corey Dion Lewis (23:34.188)
What experiences do you have with that?
Kris Bennett (23:36.022)
Yeah, absolutely. So prostate cancer is one of those, it's one of those weird ones, right? It's actually called the silent killer because there really aren't a lot of symptoms with prostate cancer, which is why I always tell people, again, just kind of stay on top of it. You want to make sure that you're getting those tests. You want to make sure that you're staying engaged and actually seeing a provider. I think this is...
kind of the plight of being a black man, right, is we think that we're superheroes until we're not, right? And so I've always been one of, I actually went to, again, went to a random church in Albany, Georgia. And I remember sitting there with a black woman who had lost her husband to prostate cancer. So we were just kind of chopping it up there.
Corey Dion Lewis (24:07.384)
You
Kris Bennett (24:28.482)
And she just said, you know what, I wish that he wouldn't have sat there and gone through it alone. And I wish that he would have just continued to go see his provider and doctor and not felt like he had to be so strong. That's unfortunately something that I've heard quite a bit. And so again, I'm just really urging, know, if I had a call to action, I guess this would be it is to just, you know, go see it, go see a doctor, go, go see your doctor, challenge yourself to get engaged.
with a provider, go get that PSA test if you're eligible for it. Just make sure that you're doing that maintenance that you need. As somebody that I'm not old enough to do it yet, but again, as somebody who has the privileges that I have and has the platform that I have, I wanna make sure that people are doing those types of things because we want you here, right? I've had family members that were diagnosed with prostate cancer and
Corey Dion Lewis (25:19.725)
Right.
Kris Bennett (25:24.418)
I've heard these stories again where people are diagnosed with prostate cancer, die from prostate cancer, and then don't talk about it. And then it's like, another generation gets diagnosed with it. And you're like, why didn't I know about this? And you're like, right. My uncle was diagnosed with the cancer, but we didn't know that it was prostate cancer, right? Because they're not having those types of conversations. So I definitely want to continue to challenge.
Corey Dion Lewis (25:41.1)
Right.
Right.
Kris Bennett (25:48.706)
us as a people to continue to have these types of conversations and just again normalize it, socialize it, right? These are are conversations that are going to keep us alive. They're not conversations that are going to hurt us. We don't even know if we're going to be diagnosed, right? Like we might not be diagnosed, but and I know it's scary, but it's so much better to know because this is such a survivable cancer. mean, again, as someone who sits with statistics all day, I can tell you it's like 98 % of the people that are diagnosed with prostate cancer if caught early enough.
you're going to have within five years, you'll still be alive, right? Like you will be alive if you catch this disease early enough. And on top of that, your quality of life will be much better. So we want to make sure, again, that people are kind of having these types of conversations, just, you know, again, challenging folks to really have these types of conversations to ready the community. Because I think oftentimes we just haven't had those types of conversations in our community. So we're not necessarily even ready to have those things.
Corey Dion Lewis (26:21.731)
Mm -hmm.
Corey Dion Lewis (26:47.703)
Right.
Kris Bennett (26:47.936)
So would say again, I guess in terms of resources, know, Fenn does a really great job of reaching black men in the United States, zero prostate cancer. They do a really good job of that. Of course, Movember does a really great job of that. American Cancer Society is another really good resource that even provides access to specific programming where if you need transportation services after you're diagnosed with cancer, they will help you.
do all of that. They also help on that advocacy side too, right? Because I think I'm definitely somebody, my dad is linked in with the Black Panthers, so I'm somebody who loves protest, right? But I also understand the policy side, of course, coming from it. So I always say you need that policy and protest to really make things happen. And so American Cancer Society does a really great job of advocacy.
Corey Dion Lewis (27:30.883)
Right.
Kris Bennett (27:39.746)
And you know, again, you can kind of link in with your local senators to kind of have those types of conversations, go visit them, drop in, ask about the PSA for Him Act, see what they're doing about that. The PSA for Him Act actually is a specific policy piece that is working to really help reduce some of those barriers to PSA tests. you know, somebody in the rural kind of black belt, right, in the South,
might be having to go get a PSA test and it might cost $40. For me, I'm very fortunate, right? I live on the coast. I'm very fortunate to have a job where I'm like $40 isn't, it's a lot of money, but it's not a lot of money, right? I'm not gonna miss a bill. I'm not gonna miss childcare. can take a day off from work to go do that. For somebody who might not necessarily have those same resources.
Corey Dion Lewis (28:23.928)
Mm -hmm.
Kris Bennett (28:33.314)
you're missing out on, know, now you're having to pay $40 and you're missing out on work. And this is the difference between, you know, going to the grocery store or paying for your child's, you know, whatever it is. So we want to make sure that we're eliminating some of those barriers. So that PSA for Him Act actually does help eliminate those barriers. So then it's a free PSA test and that's across the board. That's federally. So we want to, again, just those types of things, protest policy.
Corey Dion Lewis (28:36.278)
Right?
Kris Bennett (28:58.882)
You know, there are really good groups out there that are doing really great work locally and also kind of at that federal national level. And I just, again, kind of want to make sure that we're having those types of conversations.
Corey Dion Lewis (29:11.992)
Perfect, no, I love that. So like I said earlier in our conversation, Chris, that Movember is one of the leading voices in men's health. Talk to us a little bit about some of the initiatives and things that you guys are working on.
Kris Bennett (29:20.758)
Mm
Kris Bennett (29:28.832)
Yeah, absolutely. So there's one initiative that I'm a little biased because I oversee it, right? But it's our prostate cancer health equity initiative. And so I love this because one thing that I constantly say is you have to give the folks closest to the pain the power. And so this specific initiative is doing just that. We're working with partners just nationally.
Corey Dion Lewis (29:35.34)
You
Kris Bennett (29:55.814)
And all of those groups are specifically focused on different kinds of barriers or different kind of populations across the United States. And they're working with community -based partners to then say, hey, what are those types of things that are going on? How do we help you actually kind of those goals that you want to achieve and also help reduce those barriers to prostate cancer?
So I can't give away too much because we're just kind of we're in the contract phase right now of getting all those contracts signed. But the biggest thing that I love about it is a we're breaking down those silos where now we're having organizations that are working with community partners. We're having big institutions working with community partners. We're having community partners actually come into the table now. Right. They're building their own tables and then they're bringing it to these institutions who do have a lot of pull in these places. So then we can really see sustainable change.
So I'm really excited about this specific project just because again, it's giving people the power that need it, right? It's leveraging the bigger organizations like the Movembers or the bigger academic institutions to leverage their powers and really work on that power sharing dynamic to make sure that folks that are experiencing that pain, that are experiencing those barriers and those challenges, that they have a voice at the table to say, hey, this is what we need.
versus these bigger institutions or bigger organizations or foundations just kind of coming in, dropping money, and then once that dries up, leaving. And so I think that's one thing that I'm really excited about with this specific project. again, I'm really grateful that Movember did a lot of this work, even before I came in, to be intentional about these types of things. They're not just checking boxes off. They're genuinely trying to figure out what it is that
Corey Dion Lewis (31:27.118)
Right.
Kris Bennett (31:47.35)
that these communities actually need. So I'm grateful to be a part of this project. I'm grateful to be overseeing it. It'll be rolling out in the next couple of months. So I'm really excited to see what that looks like. And yeah, just again, just in terms of a future oriented piece, I think it's going to be something that we'll get a lot of really great learnings from. And hopefully we'll be able to continue that work moving forward.
Corey Dion Lewis (32:10.018)
Man, that's so dope. That's so dope. Well, Chris, thank you so much for being on the podcast with me today. For those listening or watching, if they want to learn more about you, learn more about Movember or whatever, where can they find you?
Kris Bennett (32:17.25)
Appreciate you.
Kris Bennett (32:26.186)
Yeah, Movember .com for Movember information. I'm on Instagram as well, That Kid Juice. And then I'm also on LinkedIn and just Chris Bennett. You'll find me on LinkedIn, Chris Bennett. And then you can just look up my masters in management and all that other good stuff and I'll be there. But yeah, please, if there's any questions, if you find me on LinkedIn, Instagram, whatever.
please feel free to ask and again, let's just continue to have these types of conversations. Corey, I appreciate you putting on this type of platform to be able to share these types of messages. It's great to see folks that look like us doing these types of things. And again, just really, really happy to be here and grateful for you to be able to share this message.
Corey Dion Lewis (33:10.156)
Yeah, man, I appreciate it. I appreciate it. Well, again, Chris, thank you so much and everybody. Thank you for listening to the Healthy Project podcast. I'll holla at you next time.