PRESS RELEASE - 25 SEPTEMBER 2025

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WOW - WOMEN OF THE WORLD AND JORDAN STEPHENS ANNOUNCE SPECIAL EVENT FOCUSING ON MEN, BOYS AND MODERN MASCULINITY

• HOSTED BY WOW GUEST CURATOR JORDAN STEPHENS, THE ONE-OFF EVENING WILL EXPLORE THE MOST PRESSING ISSUES AFFECTING MEN AND BOYS TODAY.

• THE INITIAL LINE-UP INCLUDES INEQUALITY ECONOMIST GARY STEVENSON, POET SAM BROWNE AND WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY WOW FOUNDER DIRECTOR JUDE KELLY CBE AND MORE SPECIAL GUESTS TO BE ANNOUNCED.

• WOW PRESENTS… AN EVENING WITH JORDAN STEPHENS AND FRIENDS WILL TAKE PLACE AT SHOREDITCH TOWN HALL ON 15 NOVEMBER 2025. TICKETS ARE ON SALE NOW.

WOW - Women of the World have today announced WOW Presents… An Evening with Jordan Stephens and Friends, a one-off event held at Shoreditch Town Hall on Saturday 15 November. Presented in partnership with Equimundo – the global leader dedicated to engaging men and boys in championing gender equality and preventing violence - this timely event will delve into what it really means to be a boy or man in today’s society. Tickets are on sale now.

Hosted by broadcaster, Rizzle Kicks musician, actor and activist Jordan Stephens with an introduction by WOW Founder Jude Kelly CBE, the evening will feature thought-provoking conversations, performances and moments of laughter as they explore some of the urgent issues surrounding modern masculinity – from money and mental health to stereotypes, fatherhood, sex, care, power and vulnerability. The event marks long-term WOW collaborator and speaker Stephens’ first time in the role as WOW Guest Curator.

Throughout the evening, they will be joined by a line-up of special guests including Inequality Economist and best-selling author Gary Stevenson who will tackle some of the big questions about money and how inequality impacts men and award-winning poet Sam Browne whose poems on masculinity have gone viral in recent months, with further guests to be announced.

Since its inception in 2010, WOW has created many projects and programmes that explore being a man in the 21st century, believing it to be vital that people of all genders are involved in advancing gender inequality. This event marks the beginning of a new component of work from WOW in its 15th anniversary year to explore with Equimundo and partners across the globe how to apply WOW’s methodology to men and boys; taking an unflinching look at often taboo and tough conversations that need to be mainstreamed to achieve a gender equal world.

Jordan Stephens says: “I’m so excited to join WOW on this incredible journey. I've supported and collaborated with WOW for a long time and it has always been such a powerful voice for gender equity, always creating a space for difficult conversations, but also joy and fun. I can’t wait to bring more men and boys into the conversation in bold, creative ways. This is about sparking energy, connection and real change together.”

Jude Kelly, WOW’s Founder Director, says: “We are thrilled to be working with Jordan Stephens as WOW's first ever male Guest Curator. Jordan has been part of many WOW events and is always astute, observant in discussions around masculinity and life as a man today, not to mention hilarious. He is a close WOW ally in our commitment to engaging men and boys in the journey to gender equality, and I'm very excited to bring this event to London – the first in the WOW's chapter of work dedicated to exploring what it means to be a man in the world today.”

Founded by Jude Kelly, WOW - Women of the World, is a global alliance of 33 partners working together to drive an equal and inclusive future for women, girls and non-binary people. Since 2010, WOW has delivered 150 festivals and programmes, across 71 places and six continents, inspiring millions of participants to take action and make change. Attracting five million people worldwide, WOW has supported thousands of activists, brought previously taboo subjects into mainstream dialogue and acted as a catalyst for the launch and success of countless campaigns. In its 15th anniversary year, events and festivals take place in Baltimore, Athens, Istanbul, Lahore, Rio, Rotherham, Edinburgh, across the North East and Brisbane and Gladstone in Australia.

The WOW Foundation is proudly supported by its Global Founding Partner Bloomberg.

ENDS

For further information please contact:

Kate Hassell kate@breadandbutterpr.uk

Chloe Heard chloe@breadandbutterpr.uk

LISTINGS

WOW Presents… An Evening with Jordan Stephens and Friends

Saturday 15 November, 2025

Shoreditch Town Hall

380 Old St, London EC1V 9LT

£16 (£12 concessions)

BSL Interpreted by Performance Interpreting

Tickets on sale here

WOW Presents… An Evening with Jordan Stephens and Friends is commissioned and produced by WOW - Women of the World in partnership with Equimundo

About The WOW Foundation

The WOW Foundation was created by Jude Kelly CBE in 2018 to run the global movement that is WOW - Women of the World Festivals. The Festivals began in the UK in 2010, launched by Kelly at the Southbank Centre London, where she was Artistic Director, to celebrate women and girls, taking a frank look at what prevents them from achieving their potential, raising awareness globally of the issues they face, and discussing solutions together.

To date, WOW has reached six million people in 45 locations on six continents, in locations including Australia, Brazil, China, Egypt, Finland, Greece, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Somaliland, the UK and the USA.

Over the last 15 years the Festivals have developed a reputation as a space for world renowned artists, activists, thinkers and performers including Angela Davis, Malala Yousafzai, Annie Lennox, Patrick Stewart, Baroness Doreen Lawrence and Salma Hayek, to come and participate, alongside thousands of women and girls who don’t have public profiles but are doing amazing things. WOW provides platforms for people of all kinds, changes attitudes, brings communities together and provides a unique space for people to work together towards gender equity in their own communities.

One example of the Festival’s impact came in 2015, with the founding of the Women’s Equality Party by Sandi Toksvig and Catherine Mayer.

In 2018 Kelly left the Southbank Centre to run The WOW Foundation full time as a charity working to build, convene and sustain a global movement that believes a gender equal world is possible and desirable through festivals and empowering women and girls. The unique festival model creates numerous pathways for participants to take part in WOW projects, amplify their own causes, or start new initiatives which have a wide impact on communities. It is the biggest, most comprehensive and most significant festival dedicated to presenting work by women and promoting equity for women and girls.

WOW Festival was originally produced and presented by Southbank Centre.

The President of WOW - Women of the World is Her Majesty The Queen.

About Equimundo

Equimundo: Center for Masculinities and Social Justice is the world’s leading applied research organization dedicated to advancing healthy masculinity to achieve gender equality and wellbeing for all. Equimundo and its many partners work globally, including the United States, to build structural solutions that facilitate healthier boyhoods, caring men, and social connection. Equimundo manages the MenCare Campaign, which engages men as fathers and caregivers to advance gender equality through the work of more than 132 partner organizations all over the world.

www.equimundo.org

About Jordan Stephens

Jordan is a writer and performer, best known as one half of the chart-topping duo, Rizzle Kicks. As a screenwriter Jordan is developing his television series with Watford & Essex, based on his book The Wolf You Feed, following a competitive bidding situation for the rights. Having been publicly open with his own struggles surrounding mental health, Jordan has been very active in creating awareness around the stigma and he wrote an article in The Guardian about the negative effects that machoism has on men’s wellbeing, which served as the inspiration for The Wolf You Feed.

Jordan’s mental health campaign #Iamwhole reached over 120 million people online and was mentioned in the Houses of Parliament and he has regularly been invited on television and to festivals to further discuss the matter. His children’s book The Missing Piece was recently shortlisted for the Waterstone’s Children’s Prize.

As an actor, Jordan has appeared in television series Catastrophe, Feel Good and Glue, and films including Stars Wars: Rogue One and most notably Tucked, in which he played drag queen Faith. Jordan is currently making his stage debut in Entertaining Mr Sloane at the Young Vic. Jordan received an RTS nomination for his presenting of the ITV2 show Don’t Hate The Playaz, which was also the first show on television to have an all-black all female panel. Jordan has also made music as part of Wildhood and is currently making new music under his full name Jordan Stephens. He lives and works in London.